History of Italy May") and the Constitutional Referendum that abolished the monarchy; De Gasperi briefly became acting Head of State as well as Prime Minister on 18 June 1946, but ceded the former role to Provisional President Enrico de Nicola ten days later. The aftermath of World War II left Italy with a destroyed economy and a divided society. Following Victor Emmanuel III's abdication, his son, the new king Umberto II, was pressured by the threat of another civil war to call a Constitutional Referendum to decide whether Italy should remain a monarchy or become a republic. On 2 June 1946, the republican
Anthony May and Guildenstern are Dead", "The Launderette", "A Last Belch for the Great Auk" and "The Nuns", which he also directed at the Roundhouse. He was the voice of the King of the Dead in "". In 2011 he played Bootstrap Bill in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" video game, Thompson in the "Tin Tin" video game and Dickson in "Xenoblade Chronicles". He recently played the Queen Elizabeth Hall reading the poetry of Rumi, and appeared as a nobleman in the 2014 fantasy film "Maleficent" starring Angelina Jolie. Anthony May Anthony May (born 23 May 1946) is an English stage, television