Background
Born in Milan, Simonetta grew up in Switzerland where his father had been forced to move as an anti-fascist.
Born in Milan, Simonetta grew up in Switzerland where his father had been forced to move as an anti-fascist.
He was described as "an unclassifiable artist" and "a wanderer between different genres". He started his career working in couple with Guglielmo Zucconi as a radio writer and a playwright. He wrote several novels, some of them adapted into films such as Normal Young Manitoba by Dino Risi and I viaggiatori della sera by Ugo Tognazzi.
He directed the Teatro Gerolamo in Milan from 1979 until its close in 1983.
As a lyricist, he often collaborated with Giorgio Gaber. In his later years Simonetta collaborated with the newspaper Il Giornale as a theatrical critic and was one of the screenwriters of the sitcom Nonno Felice.
He died of tumor.