Thursday, December 18, 2014

Virna Lisi obit


Italian Actress Virna Lisi Dies At 78


She was not on the list.


ROME – Italian actress Virna Lisi who played memorable roles in European and Hollywood films including 1965 comedy classic “How To Murder Your Wife,” with Jack Lemmon, in which she famously pops out of wedding cake wearing a bikini, and also a masterfully maleficent queen in Patrice Chereau’s “La Reine Margot,” died in Rome on Thursday. She was 78.

Lisi had been recently diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer, according to Italian press reports.

Born in Ancona 1936 as Virna Pieralisi, she began her film career as a teenager in 1953, initially thanks to her stunning looks. Her increasingly important parts in Italian postwar pics include 1957 drama “La Donna Del Giorno,” 1963 crimer “Il Delitto” Dupre, with Alain Delon, and Mario Monicelli’s 1965 Italo comedy classic “Casanova ’70’,” in which she co-starred with Marcello Mastroianni.

In 1965 Lisi was put under contract by Paramount. She debuted in Hollywood as a blue-eyed temptress opposite Jack Lemmon in Richard Quine’s “How To Murder Your Wife,” followed by “Not With My Wife, You Don’t” with Tony Curtis, in 1966, directed by Norman Panama, and “Assault on a Queen” with Frank Sinatra, also in 1966, directed by Jack Donohue.

Tired of being relegated to playing “dumb blonde” roles, Lisi in the late ’60’s broke her seven-year Paramount contract, after paying a costly penalty fee and reportedly turning down the lead role in Roger Vadim’s “Barbarella,” which went to Jane Fonda.

Back in Europe, Lisi struggled to find roles appropriate to her stature. But one came along in 1994 with her performance as the witchy queen Caterina de’ Medici in “La Reine Margot,” which won her the Prix Du Jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and also a Cesar, France’s top film nod. She was honored with a career Italian Golden Globe in 2004 and also received numerous other Italian nods.

More recently, Lisi’s career mostly involved Italian TV series with the notable exceptions of Cristina Comencini’s ensemble drama “The Best Day Of My Life.” Lisi’s last film performance, after a twelve year hiatus, is in Cristina Comencini’s upcoming comedy “Latin Lover,” now in post.

Lisi is survived by a son, Corrado, and three grandchildren, Franco, Federico, and Riccardo.

Filmography
Year       Film       Role       Notes
1953      Naples Sings       Maria Mariani   
1954      Desiderio 'e sole               Laura    
Violenza sul lago               Laura, Marco's daughter              
Letter from Naples          Anna Esposito   
The Steel Rope Stella    
Il cardinale Lambertini   Maria di Pietramelara    
The Courier of Moncenisio           Jeanne Thibaud                
Piccola santa      Maria   
1955      Eighteen Year Olds          Maria Rovani     
Addio Napoli!                    
New Moon          Lucia     
Disowned                           
La rossa                Maria   
Les Hussards      Elisa      
The Bachelor      Extra      Uncredited
1956      Vendicata!                         
1957      La donna del giorno (The Woman of the Day)      Liliana Attenni  
1958      Il Conte di Matera            Greta Tramontana, Rambaldo's daughter             
Toto, Peppino and the Fanatics Girl        
1959      Vite perdute       Anna     
Il padrone delle ferriere                Claire de Beaulieu           
World of Miracles            Laura Damiani  
Caterina Sforza, la leonessa di Romagna                 Caterina Sforza
1960      Un militare e mezzo        Anita Rossi         
1961      Sua Eccellenza si fermò a mangiare          Silvia     
5 marines per 100 ragazze            Grazia  
Romolo e Remo                Julia      
1962      Eva         Francesca Ferrara            
1963      The Shortest Day              Naja, an Austrian spy     
Don't Tempt the Devil    Gina Bianchi      
1964      The Black Tulip Caroline "Caro" Plantin
Coplan prend des risques              Ingrid Carlsen    
1965      How to Murder Your Wife            Mrs. Ford            
The Dolls              Luisa      (segment "La telefonata")
The Possessed   Tilde     
Casanova 70       Gigliola
Made in Italy      Virginia                 (segment "3 'La Donna', episode 1")
Kiss the Other Sheik        Dorothea             (segment "L'ora di punta"), also known as The Man, the Woman and the Money
1966      The Birds, the Bees and the Italians          Milena Zulian    
A Maiden for a Prince     Giulia   
Assault on a Queen         Rosa Lucchesi   
Not with My Wife, You Don't!     Julie Ferris / Lieutenant Julietta Perodi   
1967      The 25th Hour   Suzanna Moritz
The Girl and the General               Ada       
Arabella               Arabella              
1968      Anyone Can Play               Luisa     
The Girl Who Couldn't Say No     Yolanda                Nominated—Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress
Better a Widow                 Rosa Minniti      
1969      If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium       John's Beautiful Cousin in Rome               
The Christmas Tree          Catherine Graziani          
The Secret of Santa Vittoria         Caterina Malatesta         
1970      The Heist             Stella    
The Voyeur         Claude
1971      The Statue          Rhonda Bolt      
Love Me Strangely           Nathalie Revent               
Roma Bene         Duchess Silvia Santi        
1972      The Pebbles of Étretat    Alny      
Bluebeard           Elga       
1973      Night Flight from Moscow            Annabel Lee      
White Fang         Sister Evangelina             
1974      Challenge to White Fang               Sister Evangelina             
1977      Beyond Good and Evil    Elisabeth Nietzsche         Nastro d'Argento for Best Supporting Actress
Golden Grolla for Best Actress
1979      Ernesto                 Ernesto's Mother            
Bugie bianche    Luisa Herrighe  
1980      The Cricket          Wilma Malinverni            David di Donatello for Best Actress
Golden Grolla for Best Actress
1982      Miss Right           Anna     
1983      Time for Loving Adriana Balestra               David di Donatello for Best Supporting Actress
Nastro d'Argento for Best Supporting Actress
1984      Amarsi un po'    Princess Marisa Cellini   
1987      I Love N.Y.           Anna Cotone     
1989      I ragazzi di via Panisperna (Via Panisperna Boys)                 Ettore Majorana's Mother           
Merry Christmas... Happy New Year         Elvira     Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress
Nominated—David di Donatello for Best Actress
1994      La Reine Margot               Catherine de Medici        Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award
Nastro d'Argento for Best Supporting Actress
César Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated—David di Donatello for Best Supporting Actress
1995      One Hundred and One Nights     Herself – in Cannes         
1996      Follow Your Heart            Olga       Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress
Italian Golden Globe for Best Actress
Nominated—David di Donatello for Best Actress
2002      The Best Day of My Life Irene     Nastro d'Argento for Best Supporting Actress
Flaiano Prize for Best Actress – Audience Award
2015      Latin Lover          Rita        Posthumous
Nominated—David di Donatello for Best Actress
Nominated—Italian Golden Globe for Best Actress

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