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Elsa Martinelli

Elsa Martinelli

Elsa Martinelli (3 August 1932 or 30 January 1935, according to different sources) was an Italian actress and former fashion model.

Born Elisa Tia in Grosseto, Tuscany, she moved to Rome with her family and in 1953 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. Douglas claims to have spotted her on a magazine cover and hired her for his production company, Bryna Productions. 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.

From the mid 1950s through the late 1960s, she divided her time between Europe and the USA appearing films such as Four Girls in Town (1957) with George Nader, Manuela (1957) with Trevor Howard, Prisoner of the Volga (1959) with John Derek, Hatari! (1962) with John Wayne, The Pigeon That Took Rome (1962) with Charlton Heston, The Trial with Anthony Perkins, The V.I.P.s (1963) with Orson Welles, Rampage (1963) with Robert Mitchum, and Woman Times Seven (1967) with Lex Barker. In Candy (1968), her co-stars were Charles Aznavour, Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, James Coburn, Walter Matthau and Ringo Starr.

Since the late 1960s, she has worked in Europe in mostly foreign language productions. Her last English language role was as Carla the Agent in 1992s Once Upon a Crime. Her most recent appearance was in the 2005 European television series Orgoglio as the Duchessa di Monteforte.

Martinelli was first married to Count Franco Mancinelli Scotti di San Vito, by whom she has a daughter, Cristiana Mancinelli (born 1958), also an actress. She later was married to the Paris Match photographer and 1970s furniture designer Willy Rizzo.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Elsa Martinelli, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

  • BIRTH 30/01/1935
  • DEATH 08/07/2017
  • Country Italy
  • SHOWS 2
  • MOVIES 23

Shows (2)

Return of the Saint
Return of the Saint
Renata Lucci
Sanremo Music Festival
Sanremo Music Festival
Self - Host

Movies (23)

Le Capitan
Le Capitan
Gisèle d'Angoulême
Le Procès
Le Procès
Hilda
Hatari!
Hatari!
Anna Maria 'Dallas' D'Allesandro
The Indian Fighter
The Indian Fighter
Onahti
La Menace
La Menace
Lucile
Le Plus Vieux Métier du monde
Le Plus Vieux Métier du monde
Domitilla (segment "Nuits romaines")
Et mourir de plaisir
Et mourir de plaisir
Georgia Monteverdi
La decima vittima
La decima vittima
Olga
OSS 117 prend des vacances
OSS 117 prend des vacances
Elsa
La notte brava
La notte brava
Anna
Les Chemins de Katmandou
Les Chemins de Katmandou
Martine
De l'amour
De l'amour
Mathilde
Maldonne
Maldonne
Gilberte de Baer
Maroc 7
Maroc 7
Claudia
Il mio corpo per un poker
Il mio corpo per un poker
Belle Starr
Woman Times Seven
Woman Times Seven
Pretty Woman
Once Upon a Crime
Once Upon a Crime
Carla the Agent
Manuela
Manuela
Manuela Hunt
Je vous salue, mafia!
Je vous salue, mafia!
Sylvia
Candy
Candy
Livia
Manon 70
Manon 70
Annie
Una sull'altra
Una sull'altra
Jane Bleeker
La Fabuleuse Aventure de Marco Polo
La Fabuleuse Aventure de Marco Polo
The Woman with the Whip