Anna Magnani (7 March 1908 – 26 September 1973) was an Italian
stageTheatre is a branch of the performing arts. While any performance may be considered theatre, as a performing art, it focuses almost exclusively on live performers creating a self contained drama. A performance qualifies as dramatic by creating a representational illusion...
and film actress. Magnani won the Oscar for her lusty portrayal of a Sicilian widow in
The Rose TattooThe Rose Tattoo is a 1955 film adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play of the same name. It was adapted by Williams and Hal Kanter and directed by Daniel Mann, with stars Anna Magnani, Burt Lancaster, Marisa Pavan and Jo Van Fleet.-Plot:...
.
Biography
Born in
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
, she was raised by her maternal grandmother and grew up stricken by poverty in a slum district of the city. After some education at a convent school, she enrolled at Rome's Academy of Dramatic Art. To support herself, Magnani sang in nightclubs and
cabaretCabaret is a form of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue—a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance being introduced by a master of ceremonies, or MC.Cabaret...
s leading to her being dubbed "the Italian
Édith PiafÉdith Piaf, born Édith Giovanna Gassion , was a French singer and cultural icon who "is almost universally regarded as France's greatest popular singer." Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads...
".
In 1927 she acted in the screen version of
La Nemica e Scampolo. She had also been in the stage production. She met Italian filmmaker
Goffredo AlessandriniGoffredo Alessandrini was an Italian script writer and film director. He also acted, edited, and produced some films.-Biography:...
in 1933 and the couple married in 1935. He was one of the first Italian filmmakers to make use of sound. Her marriage to Alessandrini ended in 1950; she never remarried. Magnani once said: "Women like me can only submit to men capable of dominating them, and I have never found anyone capable of dominating me."
Later, she had a relationship with actor
Massimo SeratoMassimo Serato, born Giuseppe Segato, was an Italian film actor with a career spanning over 40 years.Serato was born in Oderzo, Veneto, Italy and started appearing in films in 1938. He played leading roles in several historical dramas and sword and sandal epics, mainly Italian, as well as roles in...
, which produced her son, Cellino, affectionately called Luca. He contracted polio at an early age: Magnani tried everything to find a cure.
In 1941, Magnani starred in
Teresa Venerdì, (
Friday Theresa) which the writer and director,
Vittorio De SicaVittorio De Sica was a Italian director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement.-Biography:...
, called Magnani’s "first true film". In it she plays Loletta Prima, the girlfriend of Di Sica’s character, Pietro Vignali. De Sica had called her laugh, "loud, overwhelming, and tragic".
International career
Her film career had spread over almost 20 years before she gained international renown as Pina in
Roberto RosselliniRoberto Rossellini was an Italian film director. Rossellini was one of the directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing films such as Roma città aperta to the movement.-Early life:...
's neorealist milestone
Roma, Cittá Aperta. (also known as
Rome, Open CityRome, Open City is a 1945 Italian war drama film, directed by Roberto Rossellini. The picture features Aldo Fabrizi, Anna Magnani and Marcello Pagliero, and is set in Rome during the Nazi occupation in 1944...
, 1945). Her harrowing death scene remains one of cinema's most devastating moments. In Italy (and gradually elsewhere) she soon became established as a star, although she lacked the conventional beauty and glamour often associated with the term. Slightly plump and rather short in stature with a face framed by unkempt raven hair and eyes encircled by deep, dark shadows, she smouldered with seething earthiness and volcanic temperament.
Magnani was Rossellini’s second choice to play the role of Pina. He had originally wanted
Clara CalamaiClara Calamai was an Italian actress.Her debut was in 1938 with Pietro Micca, directed by Aldo Vergano....
, the lead of
OssessioneOssessione is a 1943 film based on the novel, The Postman Always Rings Twice, by James M. Cain. Luchino Visconti’s first feature film, it is considered by many to be the first Italian neorealist film, though there is some debate about whether such a categorization is accurate.- Historical context...
(1942), (a part
Luchino ViscontiLuchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo was an Italian theatre, opera and cinema director and writer, best known for films such as The Leopard and Death in Venice . He died in Rome of a stroke at the age of 69...
had originally offered Magnani) but she was already under contract and working on another film. Rossellini almost had to resort to his third actress choice because Magnani demanded she be paid the same amount of money the male lead
Aldo FabriziAldo Fabrizi was an Italian actor and cinema and theatre director.-Actor Filmography:* Avanti, c'è posto... by Mario Bonnard...
was earning. The difference in salary was only 100,000 lire, and more about principle than price. (Nevertheless, she needed the money for her son's expensive medical treatments for polio.) Rossellini, whom she called "this forceful, secure courageous man", was her lover at the time, and she collaborated with him on other films.
Other collaborations with Rossellini include
L'AmoreL'Amore is an anthology film directed by Roberto Rossellini starring Anna Magnani and Federico Fellini. The two segments are "Il Miracolo" and "Una Voce Umana", the latter based on the play The Human Voice by Jean Cocteau...
, a two part film from 1948 which includes "The Miracle" and "The Human Voice" ("Il miracolo", and "Una voce umana"). In the former, Magnani, playing a peasant outcast who believes the baby she's carrying is Christ, plumbs both the sorrow and the righteousness of being alone in the world. The latter film, based on
Jean CocteauJean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, boxing manager, playwright, artist and filmmaker...
's play about a woman desperately trying to salvage a relationship over the telephone, is remarkable for the ways in which Magnani's powerful moments of silence segue into cries of despair. One could surmise that the role of this unseen lover was Rossellini, and was based on conversations that took place throughout their own real-life affair.
In
Luchino ViscontiLuchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo was an Italian theatre, opera and cinema director and writer, best known for films such as The Leopard and Death in Venice . He died in Rome of a stroke at the age of 69...
's
Bellissima (1951) she plays Maddalena, a blustery, obstinate stage mother who drags her daughter to
CinecittàCinecittà is a large film studio in Rome that is the hub of Italian cinema.-History:The studios were founded in 1937 by Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and his head of cinema Luigi Freddi for propaganda purposes, under the slogan "Il cinema è l'arma più forte"...
for the 'Prettiest Girl in Rome' contest. When she realizes that the studio heads are laughing at her daughter's screen test, a shattering close-up of Magnani's face reveals rage, humiliation, and maternal love. She starred as Camille, a woman torn between three men, in
Jean RenoirJean Renoir , born in the Montmartre district of Paris, France, was a film director, actor and author. He was the second son of Aline Charigot and the French painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir...
’s film
Le Carrosse d'orThe Golden Coach is a 1953 film directed by Jean Renoir that tells the story of a commedia dell'arte troupe in eighteenth century Peru. The screenplay was written by Renoir, Jack Kirkland, Renzo Avanzo and Giulio Macchi and is based on the play, Le Carrosse du Saint-Sacrement by Prosper Mérimée...
(also known as
The Golden Coach, 1953). Renoir called her "the greatest actress I have ever worked with".
As the widowed mother of a teenage daughter in
Daniel MannDaniel Mann, also known as Daniel Chugerman , was an American film and television director.Daniel Mann was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was a stage actor since childhood, and attended Erasmus Hall High School, New York's Professional Children's School and the Neighborhood Playhouse...
's 1955 film of
Tennessee WilliamsTennessee Williams , né Thomas Lanier Williams, was an American playwright who received many of the top theatrical awards for his works of drama...
's
The Rose TattooThe Rose Tattoo is a 1955 film adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play of the same name. It was adapted by Williams and Hal Kanter and directed by Daniel Mann, with stars Anna Magnani, Burt Lancaster, Marisa Pavan and Jo Van Fleet.-Plot:...
, Magnani's adroit, mercurial performing offsets the
Method actingMethod acting is a technique in which actors try to engender in themselves the thoughts and emotions of their characters in an effort to create lifelike performances. It can be contrasted with more classical forms of acting, in which actors simulate thoughts and emotions through external means,...
style of co-star
Burt LancasterBurton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor and star, noted for his athletic physique, distinct smile and, later, his willingness to play roles that went against his initial "tough guy" image...
. It wasn’t until then that she broke into Hollywood mainstream cinema with her first English speaking role. Playing Serafina Delle Rose in
The Rose Tattoo, she won the Best Actress in a Leading Role Oscar. Tennessee Williams wrote it and based the character of Serafina on Magnani, since the two were good friends. It was originally put on stage starring
Maureen StapletonLois Maureen Stapleton was an American actress in film, theater and television. She was also elected to the American Theatre Hall of Fame.-Early life:...
, because Magnani’s English was too limited at the time for her to star. Magnani worked with Williams again in his 1959 film,
The Fugitive KindThe Fugitive Kind is a 1959 American drama film directed by Sidney Lumet. The screenplay by Meade Roberts and Tennessee Williams was based on the latter's 1957 play Orpheus Descending, itself a revision of his unproduced 1939 work Battle of Angels....
, where she played Lady Torrance and starred with
Marlon BrandoMarlon Brando, Jr. was an American actor whose body of work spanned over half a century. He was named the fourth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute, and part of Time magazine's Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century He is widely considered one of the...
.
The Wild, Wild Women (1958) paired Magnani, as an unrepentant streetwalker, with
Giulietta MasinaGiulia Anna Masina was a Italian film actress. She starred in La strada and Nights of Cabiria, both winners of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, in 1956 and 1957, respectively...
in a women-in-prison film. In
Pier Paolo PasoliniPier Paolo Pasolini was an Italian poet, intellectual, film director, and writer. Pasolini distinguished himself as a journalist, philosopher, linguist, novelist, playwright, filmmaker, newspaper and magazine columnist, actor, painter and political figure...
's
Mamma Roma-Story:An ex-prostitute, Mamma Roma , tries to start a new life selling vegetables with her 16 year old son Ettore . When he later finds out she was a prostitute he succumbs to the dark side with the petty theft of a radio in a hospital and goes to prison...
(1962), Magnani is both the mother and the whore, playing an irrepressible prostitute determined to give her teenage son a respectable middle-class life.
Mamma Roma, while one of Magnani's critically acclaimed films, was not released in the United States until 1995, deemed too controversial thirty years earlier. By now she was frustrated at being typecast in parts as poor women. Magnani in 1963 commented: "I’m bored stiff with these everlasting parts as hysterical, loud, working-class women".
Her final film performances were in
The Secret of Santa VittoriaThe Secret of Santa Vittoria is a 1969 film made by Stanley Kramer Productions and distributed by United Artists. It was produced and directed by Stanley Kramer and co-produced by George Glass from a screenplay by Ben Maddow and William Rose. It was based on the novel by Robert Crichton...
(1969) as Rosa and (uncredited) as herself (within a dramatic context) in
FelliniFederico Fellini, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian film director. Known for a distinct style that blends fantasy and baroque images, he is considered one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers of the 20th century.- Rimini :Federico Fellini was born on January 20, 1920 to...
's
RomaRoma, also known as Fellini's Roma, is a 1972 semi-autobiographical, poetic film depicting director Federico Fellini's move from his native Rimini to Rome as a youth. It is formed by a series of loosely connected episodes. The plot is minimal, and the only character to develop significantly is...
(1972). Towards the end of her career, Magnani was quoted as having said, "The day has gone when I deluded myself that making movies was art. Movies today are made up of…intellectuals who always make out that they’re teaching something"
She died at the age of 65 in Rome, after a long battle with
pancreatic cancerPancreatic cancer is a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. Each year in the United States, about 42,470 individuals are diagnosed with this condition and 35,240 die from the disease. The prognosis is generally poor; less than 5 percent of those diagnosed are still alive five years after diagnosis...
. A huge crowd gathered for her funeral in a final salute that Romans usually reserve for Popes. She was provisionally laid to rest in the
Roberto RosselliniRoberto Rossellini was an Italian film director. Rossellini was one of the directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing films such as Roma città aperta to the movement.-Early life:...
's family
mausoleumA mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
, her favorite director and longtime friend. She now rests in the Cimitero Comunale,
San Felice CirceoSan Felice Circeo is a town and comune in the province of Latina, in the Lazio region of central Italy.It is included in that Circeo National Park. Sites include the Grotta Guattari, one of the oldest Neanderthal man finding sites in Italy.-History:...
, Lazio,
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
.
Family
- Francesco Magnani: Father
- Marina Casadei: Mother
- Luca: Son
- Olivia Magnani: Granddaughter
Relationships
- Goffredo Alessandrini
Goffredo Alessandrini was an Italian script writer and film director. He also acted, edited, and produced some films.-Biography:...
(husband 1935-1950)
- Massimo Serato
Massimo Serato, born Giuseppe Segato, was an Italian film actor with a career spanning over 40 years.Serato was born in Oderzo, Veneto, Italy and started appearing in films in 1938. He played leading roles in several historical dramas and sword and sandal epics, mainly Italian, as well as roles in...
- Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini was an Italian film director. Rossellini was one of the directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing films such as Roma città aperta to the movement.-Early life:...
- Walter Chiari
Walter Chiari, stage name of Walter Annichiarico , was a hugely succesful Italian stage and screen actor, mostly in comedy roles....
Filmography and awards
| Year |
Film |
Role |
Notes |
| 1928 |
Scampolo |
|
|
| 1934 |
La Cieca di Sorrento |
Anna, la sua amante |
|
| Tempo massimo |
Emilia |
|
| 1935 |
Quei due |
|
|
| 1936 |
Cavalleria |
Fanny |
|
| Trenta secondi d'amore |
|
|
| 1938 |
La Principessa Tarakanova |
Marietta, la cameriera |
|
| 1940 |
Una Lampada alla finestra |
Ivana, l'amante di Max |
|
| 1941 |
Teresa Venerdì Teresa Venerdì is a 1941 Italian comedy film directed by Vittorio De Sica.-Plot summary:A film is a comedy of errors in which the sweetly incompetent Dr. Pietro Vignali has been run deep into debt by his girlfriend, Loletta Prima...
|
Maddalena Tentini/Loretta Prima |
|
| La Fuggitiva |
Wanda Reni |
|
| 1942 |
La Fortuna viene dal cielo |
Zizì |
|
| Finalmente soli |
Ninetta alias "Lulù" |
|
| 1943 |
L'Ultima carrozzella The Last Wagon is a 1943 comedy film directed by Mario Mattoli and starring Aldo Fabrizi.-Cast:* Aldo Fabrizi - Antonio Urbani, detto "Toto"* Anna Magnani - Mary Dunchetti, la canzonettista* Anita Durante - Adele Urbani...
|
Mary Dunchetti, la canzonettista |
|
| Gli Assi della risata |
|
segment "Il mio pallone" |
Campo de' fioriCampo dei Fiori is a rectangular piazza near Piazza Navona in Rome, Italy, on the border of rione Parione and rione Regola. Campo dei Fiori, translated literally from Italian, means "field of flowers." The name was first given during the Middle Ages when the area was actually a meadow.In Ancient...
|
Elide |
|
| La Vita è bella |
Virginia |
|
| L'Avventura di Annabella |
La mondana |
|
| 1944 |
Il Fiore sotto gli occhi |
Maria Comasco, l'attrice |
|
| 1945 |
Abbasso la miseria! |
Nannina Straselli |
|
| Roma, città aperta |
Pina |
National Board of Review Award Italian National
Nastro d'argentoNastro d'Argento is a movie award assigned each year, since 1947 for cinematic performances and production by Sindacato Nazionale dei Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani, the association of Italian film critics...
|
| Quartetto pazzo |
Elena |
|
| 1946 |
Abbasso la ricchezza! |
Gioconda Perfetti |
|
| Il bandito |
Lidia |
|
| Avanti a lui tremava tutta Roma |
Ada |
|
| Lo Sconosciuto di San Marino |
Liana, la prostituta |
|
| Un Uomo ritorna |
Adele |
|
| 1947 |
L'onorevole Angelina L'onorevole Angelina is a 1947 film directed by Luigi Zampa. The star of the film is Anna Magnani, who won Volpi Cup prize for "Best Actress" at the Venice Film Festival. Zampa was nominated for a Golden Lion...
|
Angelina Bianchi |
Nastro d'argento Nastro d'Argento is a movie award assigned each year, since 1947 for cinematic performances and production by Sindacato Nazionale dei Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani, the association of Italian film critics...
Venice Film FestivalThe Venice Film Festival is the oldest film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the Lido, Venice,...
- Volpi Cup |
| 1948 |
Assunta Spina Assunta Spina is a 1948 drama film directed by Mario Mattoli and starring Anna Magnani. -Cast:* Anna Magnani - Assunta Spina* Antonio Centa - Federico Funelli* Maria Donini - Ernestina* Aldo Bufi Landi - Marcello Flaiano...
|
Assunta Spina |
|
| L'Amore L'Amore is an anthology film directed by Roberto Rossellini starring Anna Magnani and Federico Fellini. The two segments are "Il Miracolo" and "Una Voce Umana", the latter based on the play The Human Voice by Jean Cocteau...
|
The Woman*/Nanni** |
* in segment "Una voce umana"/** in segment "Il miracolo"
Nastro d'argentoNastro d'Argento is a movie award assigned each year, since 1947 for cinematic performances and production by Sindacato Nazionale dei Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani, the association of Italian film critics...
|
| Molti sogni per le strade |
Linda |
|
| 1950 |
Vulcano |
Maddalena Natoli |
|
| 1951 |
Bellissima Bellissima is an Italian neorealism film by Italian director Luchino Visconti. The film is about and was shot at Cinecittà. Alessandro Blasetti, the film director, appears as himself....
|
Maddalena Cecconi |
Nastro d'argento Nastro d'Argento is a movie award assigned each year, since 1947 for cinematic performances and production by Sindacato Nazionale dei Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani, the association of Italian film critics...
|
| 1952 |
Camicie rosse |
Anita Garibaldi |
|
| 1953 |
The Golden Coach The Golden Coach is a 1953 film directed by Jean Renoir that tells the story of a commedia dell'arte troupe in eighteenth century Peru. The screenplay was written by Renoir, Jack Kirkland, Renzo Avanzo and Giulio Macchi and is based on the play, Le Carrosse du Saint-Sacrement by Prosper Mérimée...
|
Camilla |
|
| 1955 |
The Rose Tattoo The Rose Tattoo is a 1955 film adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play of the same name. It was adapted by Williams and Hal Kanter and directed by Daniel Mann, with stars Anna Magnani, Burt Lancaster, Marisa Pavan and Jo Van Fleet.-Plot:...
|
Serafina Delle Rose |
Academy Award for Best Actress Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
BAFTA Award
Golden Globe
National Board of Review Award
New York Film Critics Circle Award |
| Carosello del varietà |
|
|
| 1957 |
Wild Is the Wind Wild Is the Wind is a 1957 film which tells the story of a rancher who marries his Italian sister-in-law after the passing of his wife, but she falls in love with his young ranch-hand. It stars Anna Magnani, Anthony Quinn and Anthony Franciosa....
|
Gioia |
Berlin International Film FestivalThe Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
- Silver Berlin Bear
Nominated - Academy Award for Best ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
Nominated - BAFTA Award
Nominated - Golden Globe |
| Suor Letizia |
Sister Letizia |
Nastro d'argento Nastro d'Argento is a movie award assigned each year, since 1947 for cinematic performances and production by Sindacato Nazionale dei Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani, the association of Italian film critics...
|
|
Nella città l'inferno |
Egle |
| 1960 |
Risate di gioia |
Gioia Fabbricott |
|
The Fugitive Kind The Fugitive Kind is a 1959 American drama film directed by Sidney Lumet. The screenplay by Meade Roberts and Tennessee Williams was based on the latter's 1957 play Orpheus Descending, itself a revision of his unproduced 1939 work Battle of Angels....
|
Lady Torrance |
| 1962 |
Mamma Roma -Story:An ex-prostitute, Mamma Roma , tries to start a new life selling vegetables with her 16 year old son Ettore . When he later finds out she was a prostitute he succumbs to the dark side with the petty theft of a radio in a hospital and goes to prison...
|
Mamma Roma |
|
| 1969 |
The Secret of Santa Vittoria The Secret of Santa Vittoria is a 1969 film made by Stanley Kramer Productions and distributed by United Artists. It was produced and directed by Stanley Kramer and co-produced by George Glass from a screenplay by Ben Maddow and William Rose. It was based on the novel by Robert Crichton...
|
Rosa |
Nominated - Golden Globe |
| 1971 |
1870 1870 is a 1971 Italian drama film directed by Alfredo Giannetti.-Cast:* Anna Magnani* Marcello Mastroianni* Osvaldo Ruggeri* Mario Carotenuto* Franco Balducci* Gastone Bartolucci* Silla Bettini* Duilio Cruciani...
|
|
|
External links