Rosanna Schiaffino
Encyclopedia
Rosanna Schiaffino was an Italian
film actress. She appeared on the covers of Italian, German, French, British and American magazines.
, into a well-off family. Her mother encouraged her showbusiness ambitions, helping her to study privately at a drama school. She also took part in beauty contests. When she was 14 she won the Miss Liguria beauty contest, moving into modelling jobs, with photographs in important magazines, including Life
.
of the 1950s. She was noticed by film producer Franco Cristaldi
, who paired her with Marcello Mastroianni
in Piece of the Sky
in 1959. More important was her second film for him, La sfida
(The Challenge), directed by Francesco Rosi
, where she made a name for her powerful but sensitive performance as a Neapolitan girl, inspired by the real-life character of Pupetta Maresca
. The film was well received at the 1958 Venice festival.
Schiaffino was launched as the "Italian Hedy Lamarr
". However, she would have been more appropriately introduced as the new Italian sex goddess after Gina Lollobrigida
and Sophia Loren
, but in the early 1960s that role was passing to Claudia Cardinale
.
In 1966 she married producer Alfredo Bini
. After many further films, none of them particularly notable, she decided to give up the cinema and divorced Bini in 1976, with whom she had had a daughter.
, she met the handsome playboy and steel industry heir Giorgio Enrico Falck, who had also just divorced. Their affair was big news for the gossip tabloids.
In 1981 she gave birth to their son, Guido, and in 1982 she married Falck. The marriage and its gradual decline after she had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 1991, and the later divorce, led to unpleasant recriminations over the custody of their son and the inheritance, before they came to an agreement prior to Falck’s demise in 2004.
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...
film actress. She appeared on the covers of Italian, German, French, British and American magazines.
Early life
She was born in GenoaGenoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
, into a well-off family. Her mother encouraged her showbusiness ambitions, helping her to study privately at a drama school. She also took part in beauty contests. When she was 14 she won the Miss Liguria beauty contest, moving into modelling jobs, with photographs in important magazines, including Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
.
Film career
She began a promising acting career in the post-neorealist cinemaItalian neorealism
Italian neorealism is a style of film characterized by stories set amongst the poor and working class, filmed on location, frequently using nonprofessional actors...
of the 1950s. She was noticed by film producer Franco Cristaldi
Franco Cristaldi
Franco Cristaldi was an Italian film producer, credited with producing more than 60 feature films from the 1950s to the 1990s.-Career:...
, who paired her with Marcello Mastroianni
Marcello Mastroianni
Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni, Knight Grand Cross was an Italian film actor. His honours included British Film Academy Awards, Best Actor awards at the Cannes Film Festival and two Golden Globe Awards.- Personal life :...
in Piece of the Sky
Piece of the Sky
Piece of the Sky is a 1959 Italian comedy film directed by Aglauco Casadio.-Cast:* Silvio Bagolini* Nicola Bongiorno* Salvatore Cafiero* Marina De Giorgio - Mary II* Luigi De Martino* Franca Droghetti* Lia Ferrel - Mary I* Ettore Jannetti...
in 1959. More important was her second film for him, La sfida
La sfida
La sfida is a 1958 Italian film by Francesco Rosi. It stars José Suárez as a gang leader who challenges a local Camorra boss for supremacy...
(The Challenge), directed by Francesco Rosi
Francesco Rosi
Francesco Rosi is an Italian film director. He is the father of actress Carolina Rosi.-Biography:After studying Law, but hoping to study film, Rosi entered the industry as an assistant to Luchino Visconti on La Terra trema...
, where she made a name for her powerful but sensitive performance as a Neapolitan girl, inspired by the real-life character of Pupetta Maresca
Pupetta Maresca
Assunta Maresca better known as known as Pupetta was a former beauty queen who became a well-known figure in the Camorra...
. The film was well received at the 1958 Venice festival.
Schiaffino was launched as the "Italian Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian-American actress celebrated for her great beauty who was a major contract star of MGM's "Golden Age".Lamarr also co-invented – with composer George Antheil – an early technique for spread spectrum communications and frequency hopping, necessary to wireless...
". However, she would have been more appropriately introduced as the new Italian sex goddess after Gina Lollobrigida
Gina Lollobrigida
Gina Lollobrigida is an Italian actress, photojournalist and sculptress. She was one of the most popular European actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s. She was also an iconic sex symbol of the 1950s. Today, she remains an active supporter of Italian and Italian American causes, particularly the...
and Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren, OMRI is an Italian actress.In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance...
, but in the early 1960s that role was passing to Claudia Cardinale
Claudia Cardinale
Claudia Cardinale is an Italian actress, and has appeared in some of the most prominent European films of the 1960s and 1970s. The majority of Cardinale's films have been either Italian or French...
.
In 1966 she married producer Alfredo Bini
Alfredo Bini
Alfredo Bini was an Italian film producer. He produced 32 films between 1958 and 1979.He was born in Livorno, Italy.-Selected filmography:* The Law Is the Law * Il bell'Antonio...
. After many further films, none of them particularly notable, she decided to give up the cinema and divorced Bini in 1976, with whom she had had a daughter.
Jet set
Schiaffino began a new life with the jet set. During the summer of 1980, in PortofinoPortofino
Portofino is a small Italian fishing village, comune and tourist resort located in the province of Genoa on the Italian Riviera. The town is crowded round its small harbour, is closely associated with Paraggi Beach, which is a few minutes up the coast...
, she met the handsome playboy and steel industry heir Giorgio Enrico Falck, who had also just divorced. Their affair was big news for the gossip tabloids.
In 1981 she gave birth to their son, Guido, and in 1982 she married Falck. The marriage and its gradual decline after she had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 1991, and the later divorce, led to unpleasant recriminations over the custody of their son and the inheritance, before they came to an agreement prior to Falck’s demise in 2004.
Death
Rosanna Schiaffino died of cancer after a long, gruelling illness on October 17, 2009, aged 69.Filmography
- Totò, lascia o raddoppia? (1956)
- Orlando e i Paladini di Francia (1956)
- La sfidaLa sfidaLa sfida is a 1958 Italian film by Francesco Rosi. It stars José Suárez as a gang leader who challenges a local Camorra boss for supremacy...
(1958) - Il vendicatore (1959)
- Un ettaro di cielo (1959)
- La notte brava (1959)
- Ferdinando I, re di NapoliFerdinando I, re di NapoliFerdinando I, re di Napoli is a 1959 Italian comedy film directed by Gianni Franciolini.-Cast:* Peppino De Filippo - Ferdinand I.* Eduardo De Filippo - Pulcinella* Titina De Filippo - Titina* Vittorio De Sica - Seccano* Aldo Fabrizi - A peasant...
(1959) - Minotaur, the Wild Beast of CreteMinotaur, the Wild Beast of CreteMinotaur, the Wild Beast of Crete is a 1960 historical drama film loosely based on the Greek legend of Theseus, the Athenian hero who is said to have slain a minotaur on Minoan Crete around 1500 or 1450 BC...
(1960) - Le bal des espions (1960)
- L'onorata societàL'onorata societàL'onorata società is a 1961 Italian comedy film directed by Riccardo Pazzaglia. It was shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.-Cast:* Franco Franchi - Salvatore* Ciccio Ingrassia - Rosolino...
(1961) - Lafayette (film) (1961)
- Teseo contro il minotauro (1961)
- Le miracle des loupsLe Miracle des loups (1961 film)Le Miracle des loups is a French action adventure drama film from 1961, directed by André Hunebelle, written by Henry Dupuis-Mazuel, starring Jean Marais. The scenario was based on a novel of Maria Luisa Linarès...
(1961) - Il ratto delle sabineIl ratto delle sabineIl ratto delle sabine is a Italian adventure comedy film from 1961, directed by Richard Pottier, written by Edoardo Anton, starring Roger Moore and Jean Marais. The scenario was based on a novel of André Castelot...
(1961) - I briganti italiani (1962)
- Le Crime ne paie pasLe Crime ne paie pasLe Crime ne paie pas is a 1962 French drama film directed by Gérard Oury. The film stars Danielle Darrieux, Michèle Morgan, Edwige Feuillère and Annie Girardot...
(1962) - Two Weeks in Another TownTwo Weeks in Another TownTwo Weeks in Another Town is a 1962 drama film based on a novel by Irwin Shaw, directed by Vincente Minnelli, and starring Kirk Douglas, Edward G. Robinson, Cyd Charisse, Claire Trevor, Daliah Lavi, George Hamilton, and Rosanna Schiaffino....
(1962) - Axel Munthe - Der Arzt von San Michele (1962)
- La corruzione (1963)
- Ro.Go.Pa.G.Ro.Go.Pa.G.Ro.Go.Pa.G. is a 1963 film, which consists of four segments, each written and directed by one of the four film directors - French Jean-Luc Godard , and three Italian: Ugo Gregoretti , Pier Paolo Pasolini and Roberto Rossellini .The movie title is an...
(1963) - The VictorsThe Victors (film)-Overview:The film follows a group of U.S. soldiers through Europe during World War II, from Britain in 1942, through the fierce fighting in Italy and France, to the uneasy peace of Berlin. It is adapted from a collection of short stories called The Human Kind by British author Alexander Baron,...
(1963) - The Long ShipsThe Long Ships (1963 film)The Long Ships is a 1964 British-Yugoslavian adventure film directed by Jack Cardiff and vaguely based on the Swedish novel The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson. It was intended to capitalise on the success of recent Viking and Moorish dramas such as The Vikings and El Cid, and was later followed...
(1964) - Sette contro la morte (1964)
- Das Geheimnis der drei Dschunken (1965)
- The Mandrake (1965)
- La strega in amore (1966)
- El Greco (1966)
- Drop Dead DarlingDrop Dead DarlingDrop Dead Darling is a 1966 British comedy crime film directed by Ken Hughes and starring Tony Curtis, Rosanna Schiaffino, Lionel Jeffries and Zsa Zsa Gabor.-Plot:...
(1966) - L'avventuriero (1967)
- Encrucijada para una monja (1967)
- Scacco alla regina (1969)
- Simon Bolivar (1969)
- La betìa ovvero in amore per ogni gaudenza ci vuole sofferenza (1971)
- 7 fois... par jour (1971)
- Trastevere (1971)
- Il magnate (1973)
- Un hombre llamado Noon (1973)
- Gli eroi (1973)
- Il testimone deve tacere (1974)
- Cagliostro (1974)
- L'assassino ha riservato nove poltrone (1974)
- Ettore lo fusto (1974)
- Commissariato di notturna (1974)
- La trastienda (1975)
- La ragazza dalla pelle di corallo (1976)
- Don Giovanni in Sicilia (1977, TV miniseries)
External links
- Rosanna Schiaffino at Allmovie