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'''Elsa Martinelli''' (born '''Elisa Tia'''; 30 January 1935<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cinema-tv.corriere.it/courtesy.shtml|title=Corriere della Sera|website=cinema-tv.corriere.it|accessdate=24 November 2022}}</ref> – 8 July 2017) was an Italian actress and [[fashion model]]. Described by ''[[The Guardian]]'' as a "versatile star of Hollywood’s international years whose work spanned romantic comedies, period epics and spaghetti westerns", she went on to star opposite [[Kirk Douglas]], [[John Wayne]], [[Robert Mitchum]], [[Charlton Heston]], and [[Anthony Quinn]], be directed by [[André De Toth]], [[Vittorio DeSica]], [[Howard Hawks]] and [[Orson Welles]] on both sides of the Atlantic.<ref name=TG>{{cite web|last1=Bergan|first1=Ronald|title=Elsa Martinelli obituary|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jul/14/elsa-martinelli-obituary|website=The Guardian|date=14 July 2017|access-date=1 August 2017}}</ref>
'''Elsa Martinelli''' (born '''Elisa Tia'''; 30 January 1935<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cinema-tv.corriere.it/courtesy.shtml|title=Corriere della Sera|website=cinema-tv.corriere.it|accessdate=24 November 2022}}</ref> – 8 July 2017) was an Italian actress and [[fashion model]]. Described by ''[[The Guardian]]'' as a "versatile star of Hollywood’s international years whose work spanned romantic comedies, period epics and spaghetti westerns", she went on to star opposite [[Kirk Douglas]], [[John Wayne]], [[Robert Mitchum]], [[Charlton Heston]], and [[Anthony Quinn]], be directed by [[André De Toth]], [[Vittorio De Sica]], [[Howard Hawks]] and [[Orson Welles]] on both sides of the Atlantic.<ref name=TG>{{cite web|last1=Bergan|first1=Ronald|title=Elsa Martinelli obituary|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jul/14/elsa-martinelli-obituary|website=The Guardian|date=14 July 2017|access-date=1 August 2017}}</ref>


At her peak from the late 1950s into the late 1960s she was a rival of top "Hollywood Italian imports" [[Sophia Loren]], [[Gina Lollobrigida]] and [[Claudia Cardinale]]. Her slim, sexy figure and elfin looks birthed the quip that she was a “kind of [[Audrey Hepburn]] with sex appeal”. Outside her busy film career, Martinelli was a member of the [[jet set|glitterati]], married to an Italian count and befriending such international celebrities as [[Maria Callas]], [[Aristotle Onassis]] and [[Jackie Kennedy]].<ref name=TG/>
At her peak from the late 1950s into the late 1960s she was a rival of top "Hollywood Italian imports" [[Sophia Loren]], [[Gina Lollobrigida]] and [[Claudia Cardinale]]. Her slim, sexy figure and elfin looks birthed the quip that she was a “kind of [[Audrey Hepburn]] with sex appeal”. Outside her busy film career, Martinelli was a member of the [[jet set|glitterati]], married to an Italian count and befriending such international celebrities as [[Maria Callas]], [[Aristotle Onassis]] and [[Jackie Kennedy]].<ref name=TG/>

Revision as of 10:03, 4 February 2024

Elsa Martinelli
Martinelli in the movie The Rogues (1964)
Born
Elisa Tia

(1935-01-30)30 January 1935
Grosseto, Kingdom of Italy
Died8 July 2017(2017-07-08) (aged 82)
Rome, Italy
Occupations
  • Actress
  • model
Years active1953–2005
Spouses
  • Count Franco Mancinelli di San Vito
    (m. 1957⁠–⁠1960)
  • (m. 1968⁠–⁠1978)
ChildrenCristiana Mancinelli

Elsa Martinelli (born Elisa Tia; 30 January 1935[1] – 8 July 2017) was an Italian actress and fashion model. Described by The Guardian as a "versatile star of Hollywood’s international years whose work spanned romantic comedies, period epics and spaghetti westerns", she went on to star opposite Kirk Douglas, John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Charlton Heston, and Anthony Quinn, be directed by André De Toth, Vittorio De Sica, Howard Hawks and Orson Welles on both sides of the Atlantic.[2]

At her peak from the late 1950s into the late 1960s she was a rival of top "Hollywood Italian imports" Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida and Claudia Cardinale. Her slim, sexy figure and elfin looks birthed the quip that she was a “kind of Audrey Hepburn with sex appeal”. Outside her busy film career, Martinelli was a member of the glitterati, married to an Italian count and befriending such international celebrities as Maria Callas, Aristotle Onassis and Jackie Kennedy.[2]

Martinelli made over 50 film appearances between 1954 and 1992.

Life and career

Martinelli was born Elisa Tia in Grosseto, Tuscany, and moved to Rome with her family. In 1953, she 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.[3] Douglas subsequently signed her to a two-year/two pictures a year non-exclusive contract with Bryna Productions in February 1956.[4] She was loaned out to Universal-International Pictures in March 1956 for the film Four Girls in Town.[5]

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.[6]

From the mid-1950s through the late 1960s, she divided her time between Europe and the United States, earning major co-starring roles as the female lead in such Hollywood productions as Hatari! (1962, opposite John Wayne), and Rampage (1963, with Robert Mitchum), and appearing in other films, including Four Girls in Town (1957) with Julie Adams, Manuela (1957) with Trevor Howard, Prisoner of the Volga (1959) with John Derek, The Pigeon That Took Rome (1962) with Charlton Heston, The Trial (1962) directed by Orson Welles, The V.I.P.s (1963) with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Woman Times Seven (1967) with Shirley MacLaine, and Candy (1968) with Marlon Brando. From the late 1960s, she worked in Europe in mostly foreign language productions. Her last English language role was as Carla the Agent in Once Upon a Crime (1992) with John Candy. Her final acting appearance was in the 2005 European television series Orgoglio as the Duchessa di Monteforte.[7]

Personal life

Martinelli married Count Franco Mancinelli Scotti di San Vito in 1957, by whom she had a daughter, Cristiana Mancinelli (born 1958), also an actress. They separated in 1960, but it took until six years for an official annulment. In 1968 she married Willy Rizzo, the Paris Match photographer and 1970s furniture designer.[2][8] The marriage ended in divorce in 1968.

Death

Martinelli died of cancer[9] in Rome on 8 July 2017, at the age of 82.[10][11]

Filmography

Martinelli in Donatella (1956)
Charles Boyer and Elsa Martinelli in The Rogues (1964)
Martinelli in Rice Girl (1956)
Martinelli in The 10th Victim (1965)
Martinelli in Orson Welles's The Trial with Anthony Perkins in 1963

References

  1. ^ "Corriere della Sera". cinema-tv.corriere.it. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Bergan, Ronald (14 July 2017). "Elsa Martinelli obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  3. ^ Profile, cinemaretro.com; accessed 18 March 2015.
  4. ^ Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1956). MBRS Library of Congress. Quigley Publishing Company. January 1956.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  5. ^ "Boxoffice-March.24.1956". yumpu.com. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  6. ^ "6th Berlin International Film Festival: Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  7. ^ IMDb profile; accessed 18 March 2015.
  8. ^ Chilton, Martin. "Willy Rizzo, celebrated photographer, dies at 84". The Telegraph. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  9. ^ Sandomir, Richard (11 July 2017). "Elsa Martinelli, Italian Model and Actress, Dies at 82". The New York Times.
  10. ^ "È morta Elsa Martinelli, i mille volti dell'attrice che da Cinecittà arrivò a Hollywood". La Repubblica (in Italian). 8 July 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  11. ^ Vivarelli, Nick (10 July 2017). "Elsa Martinelli, Star of 'The Indian Fighter,' Dies".

Media related to Elsa Martinelli at Wikimedia Commons