The 95-year-old director has been described as the "father of Italian comedy," directing evergreen films such as Amici Mei (My Dear Friends) and I Soliti Ignoti (Persons Unknown). Monicelli has been honored with several awards and nominated for Oscars four times.

He started his career as a director in 1949 and won the Golden Lion for his film The Great War at the Venice Film Festival in 1959.

He was reportedly diagnosed with prostate cancer and was receiving treatment at Rome’s San Giovanni Hospital, where he was admitted just a few days ago.

Monicelli also launched the careers of Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale and Vittorio Gassman in 1958. In the U.S., the film, titled Big Deal on Madonna Street, became a huge hit.

In his 60-year career, he directed 70 films and mainly touched stories about common men who faced extraordinary circumstances.

One of his best-known works is A Very Little Man, a film released in 1977 about a man forced to take justice in his hands after his son’s death in a robbery.

President Giorgio Napolitano, in a tribute, said millions of Italians would remember Monicelli for several years for the way he moved them, how he made them laugh and reflect.