Elsa Martinelli

Elsa Martinelli Biography

Elsa Martinelli (born Elisa Tia; 30 January 1935) is an Italian actress and former fashion model.

Biography

Born Elisa Tia in Grosseto, Tuscany, she moved to Rome with her family and in 1953 was discovered by Roberto Capucci who introduced her to the world of fashion. She became a model and began playing small roles in films. She appeared in Claude Autant-Lara's Le Rouge et le Noir (1954), but her first important film role came the following year with The Indian Fighter opposite Kirk Douglas, who claimed to have spotted her on a magazine cover and hired her for his production company, Bryna Productions.

In 1956 she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 6th Berlin International Film Festival for playing the title role in Mario Monicelli's Donatella.

From the mid-1950s through the late 1960s, she divided her time between Europe and the United States, appearing in films such as Four Girls in Town (1957), Manuela (1957), Prisoner of the Volga (1959), Hatari! (1962), The Pigeon That Took Rome (1962), The Trial (1962), The V.I.P.s (1963), Rampage (1963), Woman Times Seven (1967), and Candy (1968). Since the late 1960s, she has worked in Europe in mostly foreign language productions. Her last English language role was as Carla the Agent in 1992s Once Upon a Crime. Her most recent appearance was in the 2005 European television series Orgoglio as the Duchessa di Monteforte.

Personal life

Martinelli was first married to Count Franco Mancinelli Scotti di San Vito, by whom she has a daughter, Cristiana Mancinelli (born 1958), also an actress. In 1968 she married the Paris Match photographer and 1970s furniture designer, Willy Rizzo.

Selected filmography

If You Won a Hundred Million (1953)
The Red and the Black (1954) uncredited
The Indian Fighter (1955) as Onahti
Rice Girl (1956) as Elena
Donatella (1956) as Donatella
Four Girls in Town (1957) as Maria Antonelli
Manuela (1957) as Manuela Hunt
Prisoner of the Volga (1959) as Mascha
Bad Girls Don't Cry (1959) as Anna
Wild Cats on the Beach (1959) as Doriana
Tunis Top Secret (1959) as Kathy Sands
Ciao, ciao bambina! (1959) as Diana
Blood and Roses (1960) as Georgia Monteverdi
Captain Blood (1960) as Gisle d'Angoulme
Love in Rome (1960) as Fulvia
Pelle viva (1962) as Rosaria
Hatari! (1962) as Anna Maria 'Dallas' D'Allesandro
The Pigeon That Took Rome (1962) as Antonella Massimo
The Trial (1962) as Hilda
The V.I.P.s (1963) as Gloria Gritti
Rampage (1963) as Anna
All About Loving (1964) as Mathilde
Je vous salue, mafia! (1965) as Sylvia
Diamonds Are Brittle (1965) as Juliette
The 10th Victim (1965) as Olga
Marco the Magnificent (1965) as The Woman with the Whip
How I Learned to Love Women (1966) as Monica the rallye driver
Maroc 7 (1967) as Claudia
The Oldest Profession (1967) as Domitilla
Woman Times Seven (1967) as Woman at supermarket
Manon 70 (1968) as Annie
The Belle Starr Story (1968) as Belle Starr
Madigan's Millions (1968) as Vic Shaw
Candy (1968) as Livia
Una sull'altra (1969) as Jane
The Pleasure Pit (1969) as Martine
L'amica (1969) as Carla Nervi
If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969) as Maria, Woman on Venetian bridge
OSS 117 Takes a Vacation (1970) as Elsa
The Lion's Share (1971) as Annie
I Am an ESP (1985) as Carla Razzi
Once Upon a Crime (1992) as Carla

This webpage uses material from the Wikipedia article "Elsa_Martinelli" and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. Reality TV World is not responsible for any errors or omissions the Wikipedia article may contain.

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