Giuseppe Mazzullo, the Italian actor known for providing the voice of the beloved puppet character Topo Gigio for more than four decades, died Wednesday at his home in Santo Stefano di Briga, Sicily. He was 100 years old. Italian media widely reported his passing, though no cause of death was disclosed.

Mazzullo’s career spanned over 60 years, during which he worked extensively in theater, radio, and television across Italy. However, his most enduring legacy remains his association with Topo Gigio, a floppy-eared mouse puppet created by Italian puppeteer Maria Perego in the late 1950s. The character first appeared on the Italian musical variety show “Canzonissima” and later starred in the 1961 Italian film “The Magic World of Topo Gigio,” as well as numerous comics and magazines. Topo Gigio’s appeal extended internationally, becoming a television staple in Europe and Latin America.

American audiences came to know Topo Gigio in the 1960s and early ’70s through recurring appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” where the small, expressive puppet captured viewers with its animated mouth and blinking eyes — movements controlled by several operators using rods and cables. Mazzullo was the most consistent voice behind the character, known for his spontaneous and natural delivery.

In one memorable bit, Topo Gigio would request a goodnight kiss from a stiff and reserved Ed Sullivan, donning pajamas and singing a bedtime song. Ron Simon, head curator at the Paley Center for Media, noted that Topo Gigio softened Sullivan’s stern public persona, bringing “humanity to a very cold, very solitary, very stone-faced” television host. The mouse’s innocence and charm resonated broadly with audiences.

Giuseppe Mazzullo was born June 6, 1926, one of five children to Domenico, a traffic officer, and Antonina Busà Mazzullo. He grew up in Santo Stefano di Briga and initially worked as a lathe operator at a shipyard in Messina while participating in amateur theater. After graduating from a dramatic theater school in Milan in 1950, he began appearing on Italy’s RAI radio network by 1952.

Throughout his career, Mazzullo collaborated with prominent Italian entertainers. As Topo Gigio, he performed musical numbers alongside Raffaella Carrà, including a song-and-dance routine titled “Strapazzami di Coccole” (“Spoil Me With Cuddles”) and a playful rendition of “Strangers in the Night” that contrasted with Frank Sinatra’s original.

Mazzullo retired from voicing Topo Gigio in 2006 and spent his later years running a theater and acting school in Messina. Reflecting on the character, he described Topo Gigio as “the joy of living,” an extension of his most genuine self and a source of creative fulfillment. Details about his survivors have not been publicly released.