posted on: October 19, 2020
“She spoke French so I was able to understand what she was saying,” Martinelli told Cinema Retro in 2012. Italian actress Elsa Martinelli, known to U.S. audiences her breakout role in 1955's The Indian Fighter opposite Kirk Douglas, died Saturday in Rome at the age of 82. It was during Hollywood’s international years that Martinelli starred opposite Kirk Douglas, John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Charlton Heston and Anthony Quinn, and, both in the US and Italy, worked with directors such as André De Toth, Guy Hamilton, Dino Risi, Howard Hawks and Orson Welles. 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. Her film break was thanks to the wife of Kirk Douglas, who owned a fashion house and drew the actor’s attention to the elegant model, who had appeared in Vogue and on the cover of Life magazine. She was very much at home as the daughter of an Italian partisan in Nazi-occupied Rome in the comedy-drama The Pigeon That Took Rome (1962), opposite Heston as a GI spying on the Germans. She was 82. One of 12-year-old Elisa’s jobs was delivering groceries. As Onahti, daughter of the Sioux chief Red Cloud, Martinelli was introduced to international audiences while frolicking modestly nude in a mountain stream. Pier Paolo Pasolini, who wrote the cynical and sharply observed script, wanted the director to cast nonprofessional actors, but Bolognini insisted on rising young stars such as Martinelli, Jean-Claude Brialy, Laurent Terzieff and Mylène Demongeot. Born Elisa Tia in Grosseto, Tuscany, she moved to Rome with her family. Her subsequent films were an eclectic bunch, among them Blood and Roses (1960), Roger Vadim’s vampire movie in which Martinelli, engaged to Mel Ferrer’s decadent count, is a target of her jealous rival; and the swashbuckler Captain Blood (1960), starring Jean Marais in the title role, in which she was, according to one French critic, “une belle contessa, Mamma mia!”. She then began taking on smaller roles in films, becoming one of the first models to make the crossover into film and paving the way for stars like Cameron Diaz, Sofia Vergara, and Charlize Theron. [2], 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. When the contract with Douglas came to nothing after The Indian Fighter, Martinelli returned to Italy to take the title role in Mario Monicelli’s Donatella (1956), as a humble secretary in a wealthy household mistaken by a visiting lawyer for the heiress to the family fortune. Her final acting appearance was in the 2005 European television series Orgoglio as the Duchessa di Monteforte. For more than a decade from the mid-1950s, the film star Elsa Martinelli, who has died aged 82, was one of the most prominent female Italian exports to Hollywood, along with her compatriots Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida and Claudia Cardinale. Get push notifications with news, features and more. Her cosmopolitan career was further boosted by the British-made Manuela (1957), directed by Hamilton. Martinelli was born Elisa Tia in the Tuscan city of Grosseto. Throughout it all, she took chances. “…I like to take risks. She was red-haired and freckled in the title role of The Belle Starr Story (1968), said to be the only spaghetti western directed by a woman (Lina Wertmüller). In 1953 was discovered by Roberto Capucci who introduced her to the world of fashion. In 1957 she married Count Franco Mancinelli Scotti di San Vito, but her mother-in-law was so against the marriage that she expelled her son from their Rome palace. • Elsa Martinelli (Elisa Tia), actor, born 30 January 1935; died 8 July 2017, Versatile star of Hollywood’s international years whose work spanned romantic comedies, period epics and spaghetti westerns. Her lasted credited part was in 2005 on the Italian television series Orgoglio. Martinelli is the naive titular stowaway on a tramp ship captained by the surly, hard-drinking Trevor Howard. [5][6], Martinelli died of cancer[7] in Rome on 8 July 2017, at the age of 82. (1962) in which she plays a freelance wildlife photographer in Africa, holding her own in a macho group of animal trappers led by John Wayne. Willy died in 2013. Her charming performance, in a film that was reminiscent of US romantic comedies of mistaken identity, won her the best actress award at the Berlin film festival. Born in Tuscany, Martinelli began her career as a model — appearing in the pages of Vogue and on the cover of Life. She became a model and began playing small roles in films. Martinelli’s biggest Hollywood hit was Hawks’s Hatari! Introducing ... PEOPLE's Products Worth the Hype. While Martinelli famously passed up a role in 1960’s Spartacus to have her daughter Cristiana, she would continue to have a prosperous career on screen — appearing in over 40 films including Hatari! Last modified on Sun 4 Mar 2018 07.44 EST. Two of Martinelli’s sketch movies were The Oldest Profession, in which she played a Roman empress, and Vittorio De Sica’s Woman Times Seven (both 1967). At 16, she got her first modelling job in Rome. Nothing says a family vacation like an RV, Princess Diana died when Harry was just 12 years old, It's looked — and felt — like a whole different world as we've been social distancing and attempting to keep each other safe, See All the Celebs Taking RV Trips This Summer, The Sweetest Photos of Princes Harry with Diana, From Empty Streets to Virtual Weddings: What Life Has Looked Like During the Coronavirus Pandemic. Douglas put her under contract for his newly formed production company, casting her opposite himself in De Toth’s left-of-centre The Indian Fighter (1955). You'll get the latest updates on this topic in your browser notifications. At first he is against her remaining aboard, until she melts his heart. Her father, Alfredo, worked at the railway station, while her mother, Santina, was kept occupied with her eight children. Kirk Douglas’ wife Anne Buydens noticed too and approached her about playing a part in The Indian Fighter, which Douglas was producing. One of Martinelli’s few art films was Mauro Bolognini’s La Notte Brava (Night Heat, 1959) in which she played a prostitute. For more than a decade from the mid-1950s, the film star Elsa Martinelli, who has died aged 82, was one of the most prominent female Italian exports to … Roles on TV would follow. As she then had only basic English, it helped that her character, who falls for Douglas, had very little to say. In addition, Martinelli’s appearance seemed to be the sine qua non of Italian co-productions of period epics, romantic comedies, erotic sketch movies and spaghetti westerns. Martinelli died of cancer in Rome on 8 July 2017, at the age of 82. Her last English language role was as Carla the Agent in Once Upon a Crime (1992) with John Candy. Elsa Martinelli dead: Italian actress passes away aged 82 ITALIAN actress Elsa Martinelli has passed away at the age of 82, it has been confirmed. If you would like to opt out of browser push notifications, please refer to the following instructions specific to your device and browser: Italian Actress Elsa Martinelli, Who Famously Starred in. [8][9], "6th Berlin International Film Festival: Prize Winners", "Willy Rizzo, celebrated photographer, dies at 84", https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/10/movies/elsa-martinelli-italian-model-and-actress-dies-at-82.html, "È morta Elsa Martinelli, i mille volti dell'attrice che da Cinecittà arrivò a Hollywood", "Elsa Martinelli, Star of 'The Indian Fighter,' Dies", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elsa_Martinelli&oldid=981936630, Deaths from cancer of unknown primary origin, Wikipedia articles with CANTIC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Count Franco Mancinelli di San Vito (1957–1960; 1 child), This page was last edited on 5 October 2020, at 08:02. Elsa Martinelli, the Italian bombshell actress known for her classic looks and jet-set lifestyle, working between Hollywood, Paris and Rome, died Saturday in Rome. She is survived by her daughter, Cristiana, from her first marriage. (1962), The V.I.P.s (1963), The 10th Victim (1965) and Madigan’s Millions (1968). Apart from her busy film career, Martinelli was a member of the glitterati, with friends such as Maria Callas, Aristotle Onassis and Jackie Kennedy. Italian actress Elsa Martinelli, known to U.S. audiences her breakout role in 1955’s The Indian Fighter opposite Kirk Douglas, died Saturday in Rome at the age of 82, according to Italian media. Martinelli was married twice — first to Count Franco Mancinelli Scotti di San Vito, whom she divorced in 1966, and then to Paris Match photographer and 1970s furniture designer, Willy Rizzo, who died in 2013 at the age of 84. this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. The couple separated in 1960 but, because there was no divorce in Italy, it took six years to get an annulment so that Martinelli could marry the Paris Match photographer Willy Rizzo, which she finally did in 1968. Elsa Martinelli (born Elisa Tia; 30 January 1935[1] – 8 July 2017) was an Italian actress and fashion model. In Rampage (1963), back in Africa, Martinelli is a mistress again, this time of the much older Jack Hawkins, who is insanely jealous of big-game trapper Mitchum. Naturally, he objects to her presence and they bicker constantly, which signifies, in Hawksian terms, that they really love each other. Text us for exclusive photos and videos, royal news, and way more. From the late 1960s, she worked in Europe in mostly foreign language productions. Elsa Martinelli, who has died aged 82, was an Italian model turned Hollywood actress best remembered for her leading role opposite John Wayne in Howard Hawks’s African adventure Hatari! One of her last films before retiring was the Italian representative in the episodic comedy If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969). Her slim, elfin looks led to her being described by one newspaper in the 1950s as a “kind of Audrey Hepburn with sex appeal”. “I’ve made movies with directors who never did direct before, at least five or six films with novice directors,” she told Cinema Retro. She then appeared alongside Welles as his bimbo protege mistress in The VIPs (1963), supporting Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. (1962) with John Wayne, 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, Rampage (1963) with Robert Mitchum, Woman Times Seven (1967) with Shirley MacLaine, and Candy (1968) with Marlon Brando. Elsa Martinelli with Kirk Douglas in the western The Indian Fighter, 1955. Italian actress Elsa Martinelli, known to U.S. audiences her breakout role in 1955's The Indian Fighter opposite Kirk Douglas, died Saturday in Rome at the age of 82 …Because if it’s a special story, I sense that somebody special might be behind it.”. [3], 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) with Julie Adams, Manuela (1957) with Trevor Howard, Prisoner of the Volga (1959) with John Derek, Hatari! A role in 1954’s Le Rouge et le Noir — the French drama film directed by Claude Autant-Lara based on the novel The Red and the Black by Stendhal — would get her noticed by European audiences. [4], Martinelli was first married to Count Franco Mancinelli Scotti di San Vito, by whom she had a daughter, Cristiana Mancinelli (born 1958), also an actress.
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