Franca Valeri

Born in Milan as Alma Franca Maria Norsa, she was able to survive 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 and Il vedovo, although in the majority of her films, she appeared in supporting roles.

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 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).

During the 2005–2006 theatrical season, 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 Les Bonnes at Milan's Piccolo Teatro.

On 8 May 2020, Valeri received an Honorary David di Donatello Award.

• Emanuela Martini, Franca Valeri: una signora molto snob, Lindau, 2000, ISBN 887180290X

• Franca Valeri on IMDb