by Maria Volpe
The widow Bongiorno talks about her 40 years of love with the quiz king, who passed away in 2009, and who would have turned 100 on May 26
You can breathe Mike at the home of Daniela Zuccoli, Bongiorno’s widow. Many photographs: young Mike, elderly, father, host, in the mountains, boyfriend, husband. And then the 25 Telegatti, newspaper covers everywhere, notes. His Mike left us 15 years ago. But now it’s “celebration” time: on May 26th he would have turned 100. She turned 74 yesterday, May 13th. Together they spent 39. Of love, joy, three children, arguments, peace, laughter, small and large follies. She likes to talk about him and their past. She does it laughing and getting emotional several times.
Daniela, it’s an anniversary that everyone talks about. TV and more organize celebrations. On May 26, 2024 Mike would have been 100 years old. For you, from an emotional point of view, what does it mean?
«That he is always with me. Yesterday I wanted to celebrate my birthday on the set of the drama (taken from his autobiography) that Rai is filming, in Turin, about Mike’s life: child, partisan, prison, America, bad marriages, «Rischiatutto». And the meeting in 1971 with me, played by Valentina Romani (the beautiful actress who played Naditza, in «Mare Fuori», ed.), when we fell in love».
Do you feel like you find a bit of him on that set?
«The protagonist Claudio Gioè, made up by Mike, looks crazy like him. Being there next to him gave me a great emotion. It felt like I had a young Mike there, as if I were his mother. An incredible wave of affection. I relive so many sensations.”
Intimate memories and shared memories. Italy has not forgotten Mike.
«People continue to love him so much. He didn’t just do TV, he entered families, homes. He did this job because he loved talking to people.”
He loved to spend time with people even while hosting “Quit or double”, “Rischiatutto”, “Wheel of Fortune”, “Flash”.
«Beyond the quizzes, he really unified the country that was being born, as well as the language. This is why they want to dedicate the exhibition at Palazzo Reale in Milan to him: because he is recognized for his role in having helped Italy. It will be inaugurated on September 16th. Mike worked for 29 years in Rai and 29 in Mediaset. Both will sponsor the exhibition.”
Your love began when Daniela was 20 years old, Mike was 46.
«I was 20, yes, and when he died I was 59 years old. I was with him for almost 40 years. I was just a little girl at first, then I became a woman that he respected and esteemed. And recently he told me: “You are the stick of my old age”.
How have these 15 years gone by without him?
«I don’t want to be pathetic, but I always miss him. Possible suitors, flirts… yes, but no one manages to be him, no one has the charisma of him. He was methodical, he seemed boring, in reality with him every day there was something new. He was never bored. However, there are a lot of boring men around…”
Litigate?
«Of course there have been, in a long marriage like ours. At first he skied a lot and I was left alone with the children. Then we discussed the children: I, an Italian mother, thought it was right to help them, support them; he was very strict about this, he thought they had to figure it out on their own. He was a true American, for him the merit is sacred.”
Hard moments in marriage?
“Yes, certainly. The age difference weighed heavily at first, he was never there. We’ve drifted apart a bit. It happens that he is wrong, but I would never have been able to live without him.”
Beautiful moments, an infinity…
«Certainly the unexpected birth of the third child, 18 years after the first child. It really means that Mike and I wanted to be together. We chose each other a second time.”
Was Mike a different dad with “little” Leo? He was 65 years old when he was born.
«Yes, sweeter. She had more time, she enjoyed it. Leo was 20 when Mike died, but they were together a lot.”
Have you remained in contact with television personalities linked to Mike?
«Yes, Fiorello and Fabio Fazio with whom he has worked in recent years. We talk often. And also Pippo Baudo, so cute: he always sends me oranges at Christmas. The three of them carried the coffin and gave a speech at the funeral. But I have good relationships with everyone, with Gerry, Amadeus, Carlo Conti.”
Of the three children, who is most like Mike?
«All three are a mix of the two of us. The most serious part belongs to Michele, the firstborn, the great sage; the most intimate part is from Nicolò, the scholar who takes care of the Foundation; the most communicative is from little Leo. For years he, young and cute, was asked to advertise, but he always said no.”
Mike, on the other hand, loved publicity and also loved appearing in some way. “Real. We were discussing this too. He liked people talking about him, he loved covers, while I didn’t want to do them. But he was genuine: he didn’t like gossip, he never called photographers. He liked to show off his family and his sporting adventures. And even now, from up there, I think he’s happy that there’s so much talk about him.”
What made you fall in love?
«I fell in love with him because he was charming, he with me because I was a good girl from a good family (I went to the nuns and bowed) but with a rebellious soul. A mixture of the sacred and the profane.”
Have you ever discussed politics? She is more left-wing, he is more right-wing. «I was on the left, I was in the streets in ’68, you couldn’t help but protest then. He had been a partisan. Yes, it’s true he supported Silvio Berlusconi but out of friendship, he supported him because for him the fact of being friends mattered above all else. Mike had an American passport, Silvio wanted him to be a senator, but he should have left his American passport and he said no, because that had saved him from death when he was about to be shot. And up until the end he paid double taxes, in Italy and in the USA.”
A great love for America. Who did you vote for?
«For Obama. We were all rooting for Obama that night and Mike was up all night covering the election. I went to sleep and told him: “Let me write down who won”. And in the morning when I got up, I found his note in the bathroom “Obama won”. I still have it.”
She has 5 grandchildren. What do they know about their grandfather?
«Everything, grandfather is sacred».
Do you feel alone?
“I miss the person with whom you share certain intimate thoughts.”
Would you like a partner?
“It has to be another Mike, it’s not easy.”
It shouldn’t compare.
«I shouldn’t know. But it’s as if he had entered me.”
Are you reviewing your plans?
“No, it hurts to see him again.”
But what is your favourite?
«“Fold or double?”. I love the American Mike with the quiff, who just arrived in Italy.”
What will you do on Sunday 26th?
«I will go as a guest of Mara Venier, on “Domenica in”. I promised him and I like to keep my word.”
If you had Mike here for a few seconds, what would you say to him?
“I’m so happy with you.”
Just this?
“I can explain? The last three days of Mike’s life were symbolic, karmic. He was very well, he was 85 years old, he was healthy, he died standing up, with me close to him, the best one can have in life. He died on September 8, 2009. On the 5th, Leo turned 20 and had organized a party in our lakeside villa. Mike wanted to go there and say hello to the boys, something he never did. And at the cutting of the cake he improvised a beautiful speech: “Never despair, at your age I was about to die, then life has given me beautiful things”. On the morning of the 6th, Luce, Nicolò’s baby, was born and we rushed to Mangiagalli to see her. He was very happy. On the 7th we decide to go to Monte Carlo. He was in a great mood, singing in the car. We had dinner with our dear friends. On the morning of the 8th he wakes me up and puts the newspapers on my pillows, very tenderly. We order breakfast. I butter his bread then the jam. We are sitting in front, chatting. I go back to bed to read, he sits in the armchair. To myself, I think: “how good I feel with him” but I didn’t tell him. Then I get the photo of little Luce on my cell phone. I get up, show it to him and he says “How beautiful, you look like yourself when you sunbathe”. These were his last words. He went to the bathroom, I heard a splash. He loved me so much.”
May 14, 2024 (changed May 14, 2024 | 08:35)
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