Alida Valli
Encyclopedia
Alida Valli sometimes simply credited as Valli, was an Italian actress who appeared in more than 100 films, including Mario Soldati
's Piccolo mondo antico
, Alfred Hitchcock
's The Paradine Case
, Carol Reed
's The Third Man
, Michelangelo Antonioni
's Il Grido
, Luchino Visconti
's Senso
, Bernardo Bertolucci
's 1900
and Dario Argento
's Suspiria
.
, Italy
(today Pula
, Croatia). Her paternal grandfather was the Baron Luigi Altenburger (also: Altempurger), an Austrian-Italian from Trento
, a descendant of the Counts d'Arco; her paternal grandmother was Elisa Tomasi from Trento, a cousin of the Roman senator Ettore Tolomei
. Valli's mother, Silvia Oberecker della Martina, born in Pola, was the daughter of Felix Oberecker (also: Obrekar) from Laibach, Austria (now Ljubljana, Slovenia), her mother was Virginia della Martina from Pola, Istria (then part of Austria). Valli's maternal granduncle, Rodolfo, was a close friend of Gabriele d'Annunzio
. Valli was christened Baroness Alida Maria Laura Altenburger von Marckenstein-Frauenberg of the Holy Roman Empire
of the German Nation. She also gained the titles Dr.h.c. of the III. University of Rome, Chevalier of Arts of France and Cavaliere of the Italian Republic.
, where she attended the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, a school for film actors and directors. At that time, she lived with her uncle Ettore Tolomei. Valli started her movie career in 1934, in Il cappello a tre punte (The Three Cornered Hat) during the so called Telefoni Bianchi cinema era. Her first big success came with the movie Mille lire al mese. After many roles in a large number of comedies, she earned her success as dramatic actress in Piccolo mondo antico
(1941), directed by Mario Soldati
, for which she won a special Best Actress award at Venice Film Festival
. During the Second World War, she starred in many movies including Stasera niente di nuovo
(1942) (whose song "Ma l'amore no" became the leitmotif of the Italian forties) and the diptych
Noi Vivi / Addio Kira! (1943) (based on Ayn Rand
's novel We the Living
). These latter two movies were nearly censored by the Italian government under Benito Mussolini
, but they were finally permitted because the novel upon which were based was anti-Soviet. The films were successful, and the public easily realized that they were as much against Fascism as Communism. After several weeks, however, the films were pulled from theaters as the German and Italian governments, which abhorred communism, found out the story also carried an anti-fascist message.
Valli had a career in English language
films through David Selznick
, who signed her to a contract, thinking that he had found a second Ingrid Bergman
. In Hollywood, she performed in several movies: she was the murder suspect Maddalena Paradine in Alfred Hitchcock
's The Paradine Case
(1947), and the mysterious Czech refugee wanted by the Russians
in post-war Vienna
in Carol Reed
's The Third Man
(1949). But her foreign experience was not a great success due to the financial problems of Selznick's production company.
She returned to Europe
in the early 1950s, and starred in many French and Italian films. In 1954, she had great success in the melodrama Senso
, directed by Luchino Visconti
. In that film, set in mid-19th century Venice
during the Risorgimento, she played a Venetian countess torn between nationalistic feelings and an adulterous love for an officer (played by Farley Granger
) of the occupying Austrian forces.
In 1959, she appeared in Georges Franju
's horror masterpiece Les Yeux sans visage
(Eyes Without a Face). From the 1960s, she worked in several pictures with famous directors, such as Pier Paolo Pasolini
(Edipo re, a.k.a Oedipus Rex, 1967), Bernardo Bertolucci
(La strategia del ragno
, 1972; Novecento
, 1976), and Dario Argento
(Suspiria
, 1977). Her final movie role was in Semana Santa (2002), with Mira Sorvino
. In Italy, she was also well-known for her stage appearances in such plays as Ibsen
's Rosmersholm
; Pirandello
's Henry IV
; John Osborne
's Epitaph for George Dillon
; and Arthur Miller
's A View from the Bridge
. At 1997 Venice Film Festival
Alida Valli obtained the Golden Lion award for her career.
, a fashion model whose body was found on a public beach near Ostia
; prolonged investigations resulted, involving allegations of drug and sex orgies in Roman society. Among the accused – all of whom were acquitted, leaving the case unsolved – was Valli's lover, jazz musician Piero Piccioni
(son of the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs).
Alida Valli had two sons with her husband Oscar de Mejo.
Valli's death at her home on 22 April 2006 was announced by the office of the mayor of Rome
, Walter Veltroni
, whose statement read, "The Italian cinema has lost one of its most intense and striking faces". Another official statement by the Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
read, "La scomparsa di Alida Valli è una grave perdita per il cinema, il teatro e la cultura italiana" ("The death of Alida Valli is a great loss for Italian cinema, theatre and culture").
Valli was buried at Rome's Verano Cemetery.
The critic David Shipman
wrote in his book The Great Movie Stars, "[Y]ou will probably regard her as one of the half-dozen best actresses in the world". The French critic Frédéric Mitterrand
wrote: "[C]ette actrice fut la seule en Europe à égaler Marlène Dietrich ou Garbo" (This was the only actress in Europe to equal Marlene Dietrich
or Greta Garbo
).
Mario Soldati
Mario Soldati was an Italian writer and film director.-Biography:Soldati studied Humanities in his native city, Turin, and History of Art in Rome. He started publishing novels in 1929 although his fame came with America primo amore, published in 1935, a diary about the time he spent teaching at...
's Piccolo mondo antico
Piccolo mondo antico
Piccolo mondo antico , also known as Old-Fashioned World , is a 1941 Italian drama film directed by Mario Soldati and based on the 1895 novel by Antonio Fogazzaro...
, Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's The Paradine Case
The Paradine Case
The Paradine Case is a 1947 American courtroom drama film, set in England, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and produced by David O. Selznick. The screenplay was written by Selznick and an uncredited Ben Hecht, from an adaptation by Alma Reville and James Bridie of the novel by Robert Smythe Hichens...
, Carol Reed
Carol Reed
Sir Carol Reed was an English film director best known for Odd Man Out , The Fallen Idol , The Third Man and Oliver!...
's The Third Man
The Third Man
The Third Man is a 1949 British film noir, directed by Carol Reed and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Many critics rank it as a masterpiece, particularly remembered for its atmospheric cinematography, performances, and unique musical score...
, Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian modernist film director, screenwriter, editor and short story writer.- Personal life :...
's Il Grido
Il grido
Il grido is a 1957 Italian black-and-white drama film, directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. Its title means "The Outcry", but it was originally released in the English-speaking world as The Cry. The DVD release uses the Italian title. The film stars American actor Steve Cochran, Alida Valli, Betsy...
, Luchino Visconti
Luchino Visconti
Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo was an Italian theatre, opera and cinema director, as well as a screenwriter. He is best known for his films The Leopard and Death in Venice .-Life:...
's Senso
Senso (film)
Senso is a 1954 melodrama film, an adaptation of Camillo Boito's Italian novella Senso by the Italian director Luchino Visconti, with Alida Valli as Livia and Farley Granger as Lieutenant Franz Mahler....
, Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci is an Italian film director and screenwriter, whose films include The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900, The Last Emperor and The Dreamers...
's 1900
1900 (film)
1900 is a 1976 Italian epic film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, starring Robert De Niro, Gérard Depardieu, Dominique Sanda, Donald Sutherland, Alida Valli, and Burt Lancaster. Set in Bertolucci's ancestral region of Emilia, the film chronicles the lives of two men during the political turmoils...
and Dario Argento
Dario Argento
Dario Argento is an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in the horror film genre, particularly in the subgenre known as giallo, and for his influence on modern horror and slasher movies....
's Suspiria
Suspiria
Suspiria is a 1977 Italian horror film directed by Dario Argento and co-written by Argento and Daria Nicolodi. The film follows an American ballet student who transfers to a prestigious dance academy in Germany, only to discover that it is controlled by a coven of witches. The film's score was...
.
Early life
Valli was born in Pola, IstriaIstria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
(today Pula
Pula
Pula is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula, with a population of 62,080 .Like the rest of the region, it is known for its mild climate, smooth sea, and unspoiled nature. The city has a long tradition of winemaking, fishing,...
, Croatia). Her paternal grandfather was the Baron Luigi Altenburger (also: Altempurger), an Austrian-Italian from Trento
Trento
Trento is an Italian city located in the Adige River valley in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. It is the capital of Trentino...
, a descendant of the Counts d'Arco; her paternal grandmother was Elisa Tomasi from Trento, a cousin of the Roman senator Ettore Tolomei
Ettore Tolomei
Ettore Tolomei was an Italian nationalist and fascist. He was designated a Member of the Italian Senate in 1923, and ennobled in 1937.- Pre-World War I activism :...
. Valli's mother, Silvia Oberecker della Martina, born in Pola, was the daughter of Felix Oberecker (also: Obrekar) from Laibach, Austria (now Ljubljana, Slovenia), her mother was Virginia della Martina from Pola, Istria (then part of Austria). Valli's maternal granduncle, Rodolfo, was a close friend of Gabriele d'Annunzio
Gabriele D'Annunzio
Gabriele D'Annunzio or d'Annunzio was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist, and dramatist...
. Valli was christened Baroness Alida Maria Laura Altenburger von Marckenstein-Frauenberg of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
of the German Nation. She also gained the titles Dr.h.c. of the III. University of Rome, Chevalier of Arts of France and Cavaliere of the Italian Republic.
Career
At fifteen, she went to RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, where she attended the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, a school for film actors and directors. At that time, she lived with her uncle Ettore Tolomei. Valli started her movie career in 1934, in Il cappello a tre punte (The Three Cornered Hat) during the so called Telefoni Bianchi cinema era. Her first big success came with the movie Mille lire al mese. After many roles in a large number of comedies, she earned her success as dramatic actress in Piccolo mondo antico
Piccolo mondo antico
Piccolo mondo antico , also known as Old-Fashioned World , is a 1941 Italian drama film directed by Mario Soldati and based on the 1895 novel by Antonio Fogazzaro...
(1941), directed by Mario Soldati
Mario Soldati
Mario Soldati was an Italian writer and film director.-Biography:Soldati studied Humanities in his native city, Turin, and History of Art in Rome. He started publishing novels in 1929 although his fame came with America primo amore, published in 1935, a diary about the time he spent teaching at...
, for which she won a special Best Actress award at Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
. During the Second World War, she starred in many movies including Stasera niente di nuovo
Stasera niente di nuovo
Stasera niente di nuovo is an Italian 1942 drama film directed by Mario Mattoli and starring Alida Valli.-Plot:...
(1942) (whose song "Ma l'amore no" became the leitmotif of the Italian forties) and the diptych
Diptych
A diptych di "two" + ptychē "fold") is any object with two flat plates attached at a hinge. Devices of this form were quite popular in the ancient world, wax tablets being coated with wax on inner faces, for recording notes and for measuring time and direction.In Late Antiquity, ivory diptychs with...
Noi Vivi / Addio Kira! (1943) (based on Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism....
's novel We the Living
We the Living
We the Living is the first novel published by the Russian-American novelist Ayn Rand. It was also Rand's first statement against communism. First published in 1936, it is a story of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Rand observes in the foreword to this book that We the Living was the closest she...
). These latter two movies were nearly censored by the Italian government under Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
, but they were finally permitted because the novel upon which were based was anti-Soviet. The films were successful, and the public easily realized that they were as much against Fascism as Communism. After several weeks, however, the films were pulled from theaters as the German and Italian governments, which abhorred communism, found out the story also carried an anti-fascist message.
Valli had a career in English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
films through David Selznick
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
, who signed her to a contract, thinking that he had found a second Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films. She won three Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, and the Tony Award for Best Actress. She is ranked as the fourth greatest female star of American cinema of all time by the American Film Institute...
. In Hollywood, she performed in several movies: she was the murder suspect Maddalena Paradine in Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's The Paradine Case
The Paradine Case
The Paradine Case is a 1947 American courtroom drama film, set in England, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and produced by David O. Selznick. The screenplay was written by Selznick and an uncredited Ben Hecht, from an adaptation by Alma Reville and James Bridie of the novel by Robert Smythe Hichens...
(1947), and the mysterious Czech refugee wanted by the Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
in post-war Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in Carol Reed
Carol Reed
Sir Carol Reed was an English film director best known for Odd Man Out , The Fallen Idol , The Third Man and Oliver!...
's The Third Man
The Third Man
The Third Man is a 1949 British film noir, directed by Carol Reed and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Many critics rank it as a masterpiece, particularly remembered for its atmospheric cinematography, performances, and unique musical score...
(1949). But her foreign experience was not a great success due to the financial problems of Selznick's production company.
She returned to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in the early 1950s, and starred in many French and Italian films. In 1954, she had great success in the melodrama Senso
Senso (film)
Senso is a 1954 melodrama film, an adaptation of Camillo Boito's Italian novella Senso by the Italian director Luchino Visconti, with Alida Valli as Livia and Farley Granger as Lieutenant Franz Mahler....
, directed by Luchino Visconti
Luchino Visconti
Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo was an Italian theatre, opera and cinema director, as well as a screenwriter. He is best known for his films The Leopard and Death in Venice .-Life:...
. In that film, set in mid-19th century Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
during the Risorgimento, she played a Venetian countess torn between nationalistic feelings and an adulterous love for an officer (played by Farley Granger
Farley Granger
Farley Earle Granger was an American actor. In a career spanning several decades, he was perhaps best known for his two collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock, Rope in 1948 and Strangers on a Train in 1951.-Early life:...
) of the occupying Austrian forces.
In 1959, she appeared in Georges Franju
Georges Franju
-External links:* at Allmovie...
's horror masterpiece Les Yeux sans visage
Eyes Without a Face
Eyes Without a Face is a 1960 French-language horror film adaptation of Jean Redon's novel, directed by Georges Franju, and starring Pierre Brasseur and Alida Valli. During the film's production, consideration was given to the standards of European censors by setting the right tone, minimizing...
(Eyes Without a Face). From the 1960s, she worked in several pictures with famous directors, such as Pier Paolo Pasolini
Pier Paolo Pasolini
Pier Paolo Pasolini was an Italian film director, poet, writer, and intellectual. Pasolini distinguished himself as a poet, journalist, philosopher, linguist, novelist, playwright, filmmaker, newspaper and magazine columnist, actor, painter and political figure...
(Edipo re, a.k.a Oedipus Rex, 1967), Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci is an Italian film director and screenwriter, whose films include The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900, The Last Emperor and The Dreamers...
(La strategia del ragno
The Spider's Stratagem
The Spider's Stratagem is a political film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.The screenplay was written by Bertolucci based on "Theme of the Traitor and the Hero" story written by Jorge Luis Borges.-Plot:...
, 1972; Novecento
1900 (film)
1900 is a 1976 Italian epic film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, starring Robert De Niro, Gérard Depardieu, Dominique Sanda, Donald Sutherland, Alida Valli, and Burt Lancaster. Set in Bertolucci's ancestral region of Emilia, the film chronicles the lives of two men during the political turmoils...
, 1976), and Dario Argento
Dario Argento
Dario Argento is an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in the horror film genre, particularly in the subgenre known as giallo, and for his influence on modern horror and slasher movies....
(Suspiria
Suspiria
Suspiria is a 1977 Italian horror film directed by Dario Argento and co-written by Argento and Daria Nicolodi. The film follows an American ballet student who transfers to a prestigious dance academy in Germany, only to discover that it is controlled by a coven of witches. The film's score was...
, 1977). Her final movie role was in Semana Santa (2002), with Mira Sorvino
Mira Sorvino
Mira Katherine Sorvino is an American actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Mighty Aphrodite and is also known for her role as Romy White in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.- Early life :Sorvino was born in Tenafly, New Jersey...
. In Italy, she was also well-known for her stage appearances in such plays as Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
's Rosmersholm
Rosmersholm
Rosmersholm is a play written in 1886 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. In the estimation of many critics the piece is Ibsen's masterwork, only equalled by The Wild Duck of 1884...
; Pirandello
Luigi Pirandello
Luigi Pirandello was an Italian dramatist, novelist, and short story writer awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1934, for his "bold and brilliant renovation of the drama and the stage." Pirandello's works include novels, hundreds of short stories, and about 40 plays, some of which are written...
's Henry IV
Enrico IV
Henry IV is a play by Luigi Pirandello. A study on madness with comic and tragic sides, it has been translated into English by Tom Stoppard and others...
; John Osborne
John Osborne
John James Osborne was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor and critic of the Establishment. The success of his 1956 play Look Back in Anger transformed English theatre....
's Epitaph for George Dillon
Epitaph for George Dillon
Epitaph for George Dillon is an early John Osborne play, one of two he wrote in collaboration with Anthony Creighton . It was written before Look Back in Anger, the play which made Osborne’s career, but opened a year after in Oxford in 1957 and moved to London’s Royal Court theatre, where Look...
; and Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
's A View from the Bridge
A View from the Bridge
A View from the Bridge is a play by American playwright Arthur Miller that was first staged on September 29, 1955 as a one-act verse drama with A Memory of Two Mondays at the Coronet Theatre on Broadway. The play was unsuccessful and Miller subsequently revised the play to contain two acts; this...
. At 1997 Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
Alida Valli obtained the Golden Lion award for her career.
Personal life
Valli's movie career suffered in 1953 from a scandal surrounding the death of Wilma MontesiWilma Montesi
Wilma Montesi was an Italian woman whose body was discovered near Rome. The finding of her lifeless body on a public beach near at Torvajanica, on Rome's littoral, led to prolonged investigations involving sensational allegations of drug and sex orgies in Roman society.The accusation of Ugo...
, a fashion model whose body was found on a public beach near Ostia
Ostia (quarter of Rome)
Ostia is a large neighbourhood in the XIII Municipio of the comune of Rome, Italy. Ostia is also the only municipio or district of Rome on the Tyrrhenian Sea and many Romans spend the summer holidays there. Sometimes it is confused with Ostia Antica, an archaeological area, that is nearby...
; prolonged investigations resulted, involving allegations of drug and sex orgies in Roman society. Among the accused – all of whom were acquitted, leaving the case unsolved – was Valli's lover, jazz musician Piero Piccioni
Piero Piccioni
Piero Piccioni , was an Italian lawyer turned major film score composer. A pianist, organist, conductor, composer, he was also the prolific author of more than 200 film soundtracks.-Early life:...
(son of the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs).
Alida Valli had two sons with her husband Oscar de Mejo.
Valli's death at her home on 22 April 2006 was announced by the office of the mayor of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Walter Veltroni
Walter Veltroni
Walter Veltroni, Knight Grand Cross, is an Italian writer, journalist and politician, who served as the first leader of the Democratic Party within the centre-left opposition, until his resignation on 17 February 2009. He served as Mayor of Rome from 2001 to 2008.-Biography:Walter Veltroni was...
, whose statement read, "The Italian cinema has lost one of its most intense and striking faces". Another official statement by the Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
dr. Carlo Azeglio Ciampi is an Italian politician and banker. He was the 73rd Prime Minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994 and was the tenth President of the Italian Republic from 1999 to 2006...
read, "La scomparsa di Alida Valli è una grave perdita per il cinema, il teatro e la cultura italiana" ("The death of Alida Valli is a great loss for Italian cinema, theatre and culture").
Valli was buried at Rome's Verano Cemetery.
The critic David Shipman
David Shipman
David Shipman is generally considered to be the real-life inspiration for James Fenimore Cooper's character Natty Bumppo in the Leatherstocking Tales along with a pioneer man named Thomas Leffingwell...
wrote in his book The Great Movie Stars, "[Y]ou will probably regard her as one of the half-dozen best actresses in the world". The French critic Frédéric Mitterrand
Frédéric Mitterrand
Frédéric Mitterrand , a Franco-Tunisian citizen, is the French Minister of Culture and Communication. Throughout his career, he has been an actor, screenwriter, television presenter, writer, producer and director.-Biography:...
wrote: "[C]ette actrice fut la seule en Europe à égaler Marlène Dietrich ou Garbo" (This was the only actress in Europe to equal Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
or Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
).
Filmography
- I due sergenti (1936)
- L'ultima nemica (1937)
- Sono stato io! (1937)
- Il feroce Saladino (1937)
- Mille lire al mese (1938)
- Ma l'amor mio non muore (also known as L'amore mio non muore, 1938)
- L'ha fatto una signoraL'ha fatto una signoraL'ha fatto una signora is a 1938 film directed by Mario Mattoli and starring Michele Abruzzo.-Cast:* Michele Abruzzo - Luca Sardo* Rosina Anselmi - Rosa Sardo* Alida Valli - Maria Sardo* Nino Taranto - Nino* Virgilio Riento - Pasquale...
(1938) - La casa del peccato (1938)
- Ballo al castello (1939)
- Assenza ingiustificata (1939)
- Taverna rossa (1940)
- La prima donna che passa (1940)
- Oltre l'amore (1940)
- Manon Lescaut (1940)
- Piccolo mondo antico (1941)
- Luce nelle tenebreLuce nelle tenebreLuce nelle tenebre is a 1941 drama film directed by Mario Mattoli and starring Fosco Giachetti.-Cast:* Fosco Giachetti - Alberto Serrani* Alida Valli - Marina Ferri* Clara Calamai - Clara Ferri* Enzo Biliotti - Il professore Ferri...
(1941) - Ore 9 lezione di chimica (1941)
- L'amante segreta (1941)
- Stasera niente di nuovoStasera niente di nuovoStasera niente di nuovo is an Italian 1942 drama film directed by Mario Mattoli and starring Alida Valli.-Plot:...
(1942) - Catene invisibiliCatene invisibiliCatene invisibili is a 1942 Italian film directed by Mario Mattoli and starring Alida Valli.-Cast:* Alida Valli - Elena Silvagni* Carlo Ninchi - Carlo Danieli* Giuditta Rissone - La signora Matilde Silvagni...
(1942) - Le due orfanelle (1942)
- We the LivingWe the LivingWe the Living is the first novel published by the Russian-American novelist Ayn Rand. It was also Rand's first statement against communism. First published in 1936, it is a story of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Rand observes in the foreword to this book that We the Living was the closest she...
(1942) - Addio Kira (1942)
- T'amerò sempre (1943)
- I pagliacci (1943)
- Apparizione (1943)
- Circo equestre Za-bum (1944)
- La vita ricomincia (1945)
- Il canto della vita (1945)
- Eugenia Grandet (1947)
- The Paradine CaseThe Paradine CaseThe Paradine Case is a 1947 American courtroom drama film, set in England, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and produced by David O. Selznick. The screenplay was written by Selznick and an uncredited Ben Hecht, from an adaptation by Alma Reville and James Bridie of the novel by Robert Smythe Hichens...
(1947) - The Miracle of the BellsThe Miracle of the BellsThe Miracle of the Bells is a 1948 film produced by RKO. It stars Fred MacMurray, Alida Valli, Frank Sinatra, and Lee J. Cobb. Directed by Irving Pichel, with a script by Quentin Reynolds and Ben Hecht.The film is based on a novel by Russell Janney....
(1948) - The Third ManThe Third ManThe Third Man is a 1949 British film noir, directed by Carol Reed and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Many critics rank it as a masterpiece, particularly remembered for its atmospheric cinematography, performances, and unique musical score...
(1949) - The White TowerThe White Tower (film)The White Tower is a 1950 mountain film starring Alida Valli as a woman determined to conquer the mountain that killed her father, and Glenn Ford as the mountaineer who loves her...
(1950) - Walk Softly, StrangerWalk Softly, StrangerWalk Softly, Stranger is a 1950 film that tells the story of a small-time crook on the run who later becomes reformed by the love of a crippled woman. This would be the last RKO credit for famed film producer Dore Schary, who would leave the studio soon after the completion of the film. Privately,...
(1950) - L'ultimo incontro (1951)
- Les Miracles n'ont lieu qu'une foisLes Miracles n'ont lieu qu'une foisLes Miracles n'ont lieu qu'une fois is a 1951 Italian film....
(1951) - La mano dello straniero (1952)
- Il mondo le condanna (1953)
- Les Amants de Tolède (1953)
- Siamo donneSiamo donneWe, the Women is a 1953 Italian pormanteau film divided into five segments and directed by five different directors. Four of these segments focus upon alleged events in the private lives of the film actresses Alida Valli, Ingrid Bergman, Isa Miranda, and Anna Magnani...
(Segment: "Alida Valli", 1953) - SensoSenso (film)Senso is a 1954 melodrama film, an adaptation of Camillo Boito's Italian novella Senso by the Italian director Luchino Visconti, with Alida Valli as Livia and Farley Granger as Lieutenant Franz Mahler....
(1954) - L'amore più bello (1957)
- La grande strada azzurraLa grande strada azzurraLa grande strada azzurra is a 1957 Italian romance drama film directed by Gillo Pontecorvo and Maleno Malenotti.-Plot:...
(1957) - Il gridoIl gridoIl grido is a 1957 Italian black-and-white drama film, directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. Its title means "The Outcry", but it was originally released in the English-speaking world as The Cry. The DVD release uses the Italian title. The film stars American actor Steve Cochran, Alida Valli, Betsy...
(1957) - This Angry AgeThis Angry AgeThis Angry Age' is a 1958 drama film directed by René Clément and produced by Dino De Laurentiis. It is an adaptation of Marguerite Duras' 1950 novel, Un barrage contre le Pacifique. The film stars Anthony Perkins and Silvana Mangano...
(1958) - The Night Heaven FellThe Night Heaven FellThe Night Heaven Fell is a 1958 French-Italian film directed by Roger Vadim. Vadim had already acquired international fame with his daring debut And God Created Woman...
(Les Bijoutiers du clair de lune) (1958) - Signé Arsène Lupin (1959)
- Eyes Without a FaceEyes Without a FaceEyes Without a Face is a 1960 French-language horror film adaptation of Jean Redon's novel, directed by Georges Franju, and starring Pierre Brasseur and Alida Valli. During the film's production, consideration was given to the standards of European censors by setting the right tone, minimizing...
(1960) - Le Dialogue des Carmélites (1960)
- Treno di Natale (1960)
- Il peccato degli anni verdi (1960)
- Le gigolo (1960)
- The Long AbsenceThe Long AbsenceThe Long Absence is a 1961 French film directed by Henri Colpi. It tells the story of Therese , a café owner mourning the mysterious disappearance of her husband sixteen years earlier. A tramp arrives in the town and she believes him to be her husband...
(1961)
- La fille du torrent (1961)
- Il disordine (1962)
- Homenaje a la hora de la siesta (1962)
- The Happy ThievesThe Happy ThievesThe Happy Thieves is a 1962 movie starring Rita Hayworth and directed by George Marshall.-Cast:*Rita Hayworth as Eve Lewis*Rex Harrison as Jimmy Bourne*Joseph Wiseman as Jean Marie Calbert*Alida Valli as Duchess Blanca...
(1962) - Al otro lado de la ciudad (1962)
- L'Autre femme (1963)
- A la salida (1963)
- OpheliaOphelia (film)Ophelia is a 1963 French film directed by Claude Chabrol. Its story mirrors that of Shakespeare's Hamlet.-Plot:Yvan's father has recently died and his mother, Claudia, marries her husband's brother, Adrien. Yvan refuses to accept the new marriage and descends into a fantasy world where he believes...
(1963) - El Valle de las espadasl (1963)
- El hombre de papel (1963)
- Umorismo nero (episode "La vedova", 1965)
- Edipo re (1967)
- La strategia del ragnoThe Spider's StratagemThe Spider's Stratagem is a political film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.The screenplay was written by Bertolucci based on "Theme of the Traitor and the Hero" story written by Jorge Luis Borges.-Plot:...
(1970) - Le champignon (1970)
- La prima notte di quieteLa prima notte di quieteLa prima notte di quiete, released in USA as Indian Summer is a 1972 Italian and French drama film directed by Valerio Zurlini. It is starred and produced by Alain Delon. In France it runs less than the Italian cut...
, directed by Valerio ZurliniValerio ZurliniValerio Zurlini was an Italian film director, stage director and screenwriter.-Biography:During his law studies in Rome, he started working in the theatre. In 1943, he joined the Italian resistance. Zurlini became a member of the Italian Communist Party...
(1972) - L'occhio nel labirinto (1972)
- Diario di un italiano (1973)
- La casa dell'esorcismo (1973)
- No es nada, mamá, sólo un juego (1973)
- Casa dell'esorcismo, La (aka Lisa and the DevilLisa and the DevilLisa and the Devil is a 1972 Italian horror film directed by Mario Bava. The film has developed a cult following among fans of European horror, it is particularly praised by fans of Mario Bava. Like most of Bava's films Lisa and the Devil possesses inventively stylish direction and evokes an...
) - L'Anticristo (1974)
- Tendre Dracula (1974)
- Il caso Raoul (1975)
- La Chair de l'orchidéeLa Chair de l'orchidéeLa Chair de l'orchidée is a 1975 film adaptation of the 1948 novel, The Flesh of the Orchid by mystery writer James Hadley Chase. The story was selected by French director Patrice Chéreau, already well-known for his stage direction, as the subject for his first film.The film stars Charlotte...
(1975) - Ce cher Victor (1975)
- Novecento (1976)
- Le jeu du solitaire (1976)
- Cassandra Crossing (1976)
- Berlinguer ti voglio bene (1977)
- SuspiriaSuspiriaSuspiria is a 1977 Italian horror film directed by Dario Argento and co-written by Argento and Daria Nicolodi. The film follows an American ballet student who transfers to a prestigious dance academy in Germany, only to discover that it is controlled by a coven of witches. The film's score was...
(1977) - Suor Omicidi (Killer NunKiller NunKiller Nun is an Italian nunsploitation film directed/co-written by Giulio Berruti and co-written by Alberto Tarallo...
)(1978) - Un cuore semplice (1978)
- Porco mondo (1978)
- Indagine su un delitto perfetto (1978)
- La lunaLa Luna (film)La Luna, also known as Luna, is a 1979 Italian film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci and starring Jill Clayburgh. The film concerns the troubled life of a teenage boy and his relationship with his parents, including an incestuous relationship with his mother.-Plot:Joe is the son of famous opera...
(1979) - Zoo zéroZoo zéroZoo zéro is a 1979 French film directed by Alain Fleischer and starring Klaus Kinski.-Cast:* Catherine Jourdan - Eva / The singer* Klaus Kinski - Yavé, le directeur du zoo* Pierre Clémenti - Ivo, le bégue* Lisette Malidor - Ivy, l'androgyne...
(1979) - InfernoInferno (1980 film)Inferno is a 1980 Italian supernatural horror film written and directed by Dario Argento. The film stars Irene Miracle, Leigh McCloskey, Eleonora Giorgi, Daria Nicolodi, and Alida Valli. The cinematography was by Romano Albani, and Keith Emerson composed the film's thunderous musical score...
(1980) - Aquella casa en las afueras (1980)
- Sezona mira u Parizu (1981)
- La caduta degli angeli ribelli (1981)
- Sogni mostruosamente proibiti (1982)
- Segreti, segreti (1985)
- Aspern (1985)
- Le jupon rouge (1987)
- À notre regrettable époux (1988)
- La bocca (1991)
- Zitti e mosca (1991)
- Bugie rosse (1993)
- Il lungo silenzio (1993)
- A Month by the LakeA Month by the LakeA Month by the Lake is a 1995 romantic comedy starring Vanessa Redgrave, Edward Fox and Uma Thurman. It is directed by John Irvin and is based on the novel by H.E. Bates.-Plot:...
(1995) - Fotogrammi mortali (1996)
- Il dolce rumore della vita (1999)
- L'amore probabilmente (2000)
- Vino santo (2000)
- Semana santa (2002)
Television
- I Figli di Medea (1959)
- Il caso Mauritius (1961)
- DoughboyDoughboyDoughboy is an informal term for an American soldier, especially members of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I. The term dates back to the Mexican–American War of 1846–48....
(episode of Combat!, 1963) - Desencuentro (series, 1964)
- Rome Will Never Leave You, three episodes of Dr. KildareDr. KildareDr. James Kildare is a fictional character, the primary character in a series of American theatrical films in the late 1930s and early 1940s, an early 1950s radio series, a 1960s television series of the same name and a comic book based on the TV show, and a short-lived 1970s television series...
(1964) - Il consigliere imperiale (1974)
- Les grandes conjurations: Le tumulte d'Amboise (1978)
- L'altro Simenon (series, 1979)
- L'eredità della priora (serial, 1980)
- Dramma d'amore (serial, 1983)
- Piccolo mondo antico (serial, 1989)
- Una vita in gioco 2 (serial, 1992)
- Delitti privatiDelitti privatiPrivate Crimes is a 1993 Italian mystery mini television series directed by Sergio Martino.-Plot:The story, set in Lucca, sees the death of a businessman, Marco Pierboni, killed in the garden of his villa outside the city, even if the body is found near the factory who ran while a young girl...
(1992)
Theatre
- La casa dei Rosmer (1956) Henrik Ibsen (aka Rosmersholm)
- L'uomo, la bestia e la virtù (1956), Luigi Pirandello
- Gli innocenti (1956), William Archibald
- Enrico IVEnrico IVHenry IV is a play by Luigi Pirandello. A study on madness with comic and tragic sides, it has been translated into English by Tom Stoppard and others...
(1958), Luigi Pirandello - Il sole e la luna (1965), Guglielmo Biraghi
- Epitaffo per George Dillon (1966), John Osborne and Anthony Creighton (Epitaph for George Dillon)
- Uno sguardo dal ponte (1967), Arthur Miller (A View from the Bridge)
- La bambolona (1968), Raf Vallone
- Il dio Kurt (1969), Alberto Moravia
- I parenti terribili (1969), Jean Cocteau (Les parents terribles)
- LSD-Lei, scusi, divorzierebbe? (1970), Carlo Maria Pensa
- Uno sporco egoista (1971), Francois Dorin
- Lulu (Lo spirito della terra - Il vaso di Pandora) (1972), Frank Wedekind (Lulu [Erdgeist-Die Büchse der Pandora])
- Le massacre à Paris (1972), Christopher Marlowe (The Massacre at Paris)
- Il Gabbiano (1973), Anton Cechov
- L'uomo che incontrò de stesso (1981), Luigi Antonelli
- La Venexiana (1981), Anonimo del Cinquecento
- La fiaccola sotto il moggio (1981), Gabriele d'Annunzio
- Ekaterina Ivanovna (1983), Leonid Andreev
- Il malinteso (1984), Albert Camus (Le malentendu)
- Romeo e Giulietta (1985), William Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet)
- A porte chiuse, da Sartre a Mishima (1986), di Jean-Paul Sartre e Yukio Mishima (Huis clos - Aoi - Hanjo)
- La città morta (1988), Gabriele D'Annunzio
- La naveLa naveLa nave is an opera in 1 act and 3 scenes by Italian composer Italo Montemezzi. Its Italian language libretto was adapted by Tito Ricordi from Gabriele d'Annunzio's 1908 play of the same name. The opera premiered at La Scala in Milan on November 3, 1918 conducted Tullio Serafin...
(1988), Gabriele D'Annunzio - I paraventi (1990), Jean Genet (Les paravents)
- Improvvisamente l'estate scorsa (1991), Tennessee Williams (Suddenly Last Summer)
- Più grandiose dimore (1993), Eugene O'Neill
- Così è (se vi pare) (1994), Luigi Pirandello
- Questa sera si recita a soggetto (1995), Luigi Pirandello
External links
- Alida Valli webpage
- film noir
- Istria on the Internet, Prominent Istrians
- Alida Valli at Reel Classics
- Obituary in The Telegraph. April 24, 2006.
- Obituary in The Guardian. April 24, 2006.
- Obituary in New York Times. April 25, 2006.
- Photographs of Alida Valli