Mario Bonnard

Mario Bonnard (24 December 1889 – 22 March 1965) was an Italian actor and film director.

Bonnard was born and died in Rome. He began his cinematic career as an actor becoming a popular romantic lead in numerous silent films made before World War I. In 1917, he ventured into film directing for the first time. Before the arrival of sound films he worked for a period in Germany in films directed by Luis Trenker.

Back in Italy in 1932, he became a prolific director working with the major stars of the time as: Assia Noris, Elsa Merlini, Amedeo Nazzari, and Luisa Ferida. Il feroce Saladino (1937) was the most popular of his films of the 1930s.