| Virna Lisi | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Virna Lisa Pieralisi |
| Born | September 8 1937 Ancona, Marches, Italy |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1953-2007 |
Virna Lisi (b September 8, 1937) is a Cannes and César awards-winning Italian film actress.
Life and career
She was born in Ancona, Marche, as Virna Lisa Pieralisi. Lisi began her film career in her teens, in 1953. Cast more for her stunning looks than her talent, her early films included La Donna del Giorno (1956), Eva (1962), and the Italian-made spectacle Romolo e Remo (1961). The pert and sexy star also made a decorative dent in Hollywood comedy as a tempting blue-eyed blonde starring opposite Jack Lemmon in How to Murder Your Wife (1965), and appearing with Tony Curtis in Not with My Wife, You Don't! (1966). Confined to glamour roles, she returned to Europe within a few years, but fared little better in such mediocre movies as Arabella (1967). In Europe she starred in films such as La Ragazza e il Generale, co-starring with Rod Steiger, and two films with Anthony Quinn, The Secret of Santa Vittoria, directed by Stanley Kramer, and the war drama The 25th Hour. In later decades, however, a career renaissance occurred for Virna. She began to be perceived as more than just a tasty dish, giving a wide variety of mature, award-winning performances. It all culminated in the role of a lifetime with the film La Reine Margot (1994), in which she played a marvelously malevolent Catherine de' Medici and won both the César and Cannes Film Festival awards, along with the David di Donatello award, the Italian equivalent of the Oscar.
Trivia
- Alternated filming activity with television and stage acting, namely at Piccolo Teatro di Milano, where she performed in I giacobini by Federico Zardi, under the direction of Giorgio Strehler.
- She was one of the stars launched as a successor to Marilyn Monroe in the United States, in the late 1960s.
- The 1980s Argentinian band Sumo (led by Luca Prodan), made a song for her. The singer's brother is the actor Andrea Prodán, who appeared with her in the movie I ragazzi di via Panisperna (1988).
- Lisi was cast in the title role in Barbarella (1968), but turned it down and returned to Italy.
- Lisi's height was 5"5.
- Brazil has a rock band, Virna Lisi, named after her.
External links
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| La Donna del Giorno (1956) • Eva (1962) • Signore & Signori (1965) • Oggi, domani, dopodomani (1965) • How to Murder Your Wife (1965) • Casanova 70 (1965) • Una Vergine per il Principe (1965) • Assault on a Queen (1966) • Not with My Wife, You Don't! (1966) • The 25th Hour (1967) • La Ragazza e il Generale (1967) • Arabella (1967) • If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969) • The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969)• The Statue (1971) • Roma Bene (1971) • Al di là del bene e del male (1977) • La Cicala (1980) • Queen Margot (1994) |
