Leon Vitali

Alfred Leon Vitali (26 July 1948 – 19 August 2022) was an English actor, best known for his collaborations with film director, Stanley Kubrick, as his personal assistant, and as an actor, most notably as Lord Bullingdon in Barry Lyndon. Life and career As he was growing up Vitali became interested in drama and decided to attend the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art after his English teacher sent him a prospectus. Vitali guest-starred in a number of TV series in the early 1970s, appearing in Softly, Softly, Follyfoot, Roads to Freedom, Z Cars, Public Eye, The Fenn Street Gang, and Notorious Woman, among others. In 1973, he made his feature film debut in two movies: the Italian Super Bitch, directed by Massimo Dallamano, who had previously worked with Sergio Leone as a cinematographer in the first two of his Dollars Trilogy, and the television film Catholics, alongside Martin Sheen and Michael Gambon. In 1974 Vitali met Stanley Kubrick, with whom he had a professional relationship for the rest of Kubrick's career. Vitali played Lord Bullingdon in Barry Lyndon, the title character's stepson. Kubrick and Vitali bonded during the shoot. As filming concluded, Vitali asked Kubrick if he could stay on, without pay, to observe the editing process, to which Kubrick agreed. Five years later, Kubrick sent Vitali a copy of Stephen King's The Shining and asked him to join the production of his next film. Vitali is credited in The Shining (1980) as "personal assistant to director". In 1977 he portrayed Victor Frankenstein in Terror of Frankenstein, Calvin Floyd's adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, where he met his future wife Kersti, who worked as costume designer on the shoot. The Vitalis then worked as costume designers in Birgitta Svensson's Mackan, after which Leon played a bit part in Svensson's next film, Inter Rail (1981). Leon and Kersti had two children, actress Vera Vitali and a son, videographer Max Vitali. Vitali also had a daughter, producer Masha Vitali, from his previous marriage to Helen Broom. Leon and Kersti eventually divorced. Leon was married to Sharon Messer from 2005 to his death in 2022.