He was born from the affair between playwright and actor Eduardo Scarpetta and theatre seamstress and costumier Luisa De Filippo.

After several attempts with different acting companies, as a utility player, in 1931 he and his siblings founded the Compagnia Teatro Umoristico: i De Filippo.

The separation would allow him to find his own stylistic footprint as an author, being easily distinguishable from Eduardo's: Peppino's comedies are usually easier and more brilliant.

Peppino repeatedly showed his extraordinary versatility; particularly noteworthy are his performance in The Caretaker by Harold Pinter and in The Miser by Molière (as Harpagon), where he proved to be a skillful actor whose ability had grown beyond brilliant and dialect plays.

He represented a humble servant of Cummendatore Peppino De Filippo (the title of Commendatore is a public honour of the Italian Republic).

He performed as a sort of usher, a typical character of the Neapolitan theatre, and coined many funny phrases and an own jargon, that would transform into popular sayings.