Franca Valeri
Franca Valeri | |
---|---|
| |
Born |
Alma Franca Maria Norsa 31 July 1920 Milan, Lombardy, Italy |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1949-present |
Spouse(s) | |
Partner(s) | Maurizio Rinaldi (?-?) |
Children | Stefania Bonfadelli |
Life and career
Valeri was born in Milan as Alma Franca Maria Norsa
Franca survived the Holocaust in Milan with her non-Jewish mother due to a fake I.D. which purported that she was the illegitimate daughter of a gentleman from Pavia. Her father and brother were able to flee to Switzerland.[1]
Norsa adopted the surname Valeri in the 1950s as an homage to French critic and poet Paul Valéry.[2]
Valeri started her career on the radio, where she created the characters of "Signorina Cesira" and "Signora Cecioni".[2] She co-starred in such films as The Sign of Venus or Il vedovo, although most of her characters are supporting role.
In the 1960s Valeri also frequently worked for Italian TV. Directed by Antonello Falqui, she starred in Studio Uno, Le divine and Sabato Sera.
In the 1980s and early 1990s she starred in a series of successful commercials for Pandoro Melegatti, which were well received and stretched over a number of years (Pandoro being a seasonal product tied to the Christmas holidays).
Despite old age, she's still very active on the Italian theatrical stage. Across the season 2005-2006 she performed her own monologue La Vedova di Socrate ("Socrate's Widow") and Les Bonnes, by Jean Genet. In January 2008, she played the role of "Solange" in Jean Genet's "Le bonnes" at Milan's Piccolo Teatro.
Filmography
- Luci del varietà (1951) - Mitzy - hungarian designer
- The Two Sergeants (1951)
- Toto in Color (1952) - Giulia Sofia
- Solo per te Lucia (1952)
- Villa Borghese (1953) - Elvira (segment: Concorso di bellezza)
- Questi fantasmi (1954)
- Le signorine dello 04 (1955) - Carla, capoturno
- The Sign of Venus (1955) - Cesira
- Piccola posta (1955) - Lady Eva
- Il bigamo (1956) - Isolina Fornaciari
- Un eroe dei nostri tempi (1957) - Vedova De Ritis
- Mariti in città (1957) - Olivetti
- La ragazza del palio (1958) - Contessa Bernardi
- Non perdiamo la testa (1959) - Beatrice
- Il moralista (1959) - Virginia
- Arrangiatevi! (1959) - Marisa, 'Siberia'
- Il vedovo (1959) - Elvira Almiraghi
- Rocco and His Brothers (1960) - Widow (uncredited)
- Mariti in pericolo (1960) - Gina
- Crimen (1960) - Giovanna Filonzi
- Leoni al sole (1961) - Giulia
- I motorizzati (1962) - Velia
- Parigi o cara (1962) - Delia Nesti
- Le motorizzate (1963)
- The Shortest Day (1963)
- Gli onorevoli (1963) - Bianca Sereni
- I cuori infranti (1963) - Fatma Angioj (segment "La manina di Fatma")
- I maniaci (1964) - The wife (segment "il pezzo antico")
- Io, io, io... e gli altri (1966) - Journalist
- La ragazza del bersagliere (1967) - Bice Marinetti
- Scusi, facciamo l'amore? (1968) - Diraghi
- Basta guardarla (1970) - Pola Prima
- Nel giorno del Signore (1970) - Vedova Anticoli
- Ettore lo fusto (1972) - Cassandra
- Ultimo tango a Zagarolo (1974) - La regista
- La signora gioca bene a scopa? (1974) - Giulia Nascimbeni
- L'Italia s'è rotta (1976)
- Come ti rapisco il pupo (1976) - Dada
- La Bidonata (1977) - Giovanna Bronchi
- Grazie tante - Arrivederci (1977) - The Lady on the Bus
- Tanto va la gatta al lardo... (1978) - Maria
- It's Not Me, It's Him (1980) - Carla Weiss
- Un amore in prima classe (1980) - Signora Della Rosa
- Non ti riconosco più amore (1980) - Maritza
- Paulo Roberto Cotechiño centravanti di sfondamento (1983) - Contessa
- Tosca e le altre due (2003) - Emilia
- Alberto il grande (2013) - Herself
References
- ↑ Interview with Franca Valeri (Kolot, 23 giugno 2014).
- 1 2 Laura Peja. Strategie del comico. Le Lettere, 2009. ISBN 886087212X.
Further reading
- Emanuela Martini, Franca Valeri: una signora molto snob, Lindau, 2000, ISBN 887180290X