Elsa Martinelli
Encyclopedia
Elsa Martinelli is 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.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
actress and former fashion model.
Born Elisa Tia in Grosseto
Grosseto
Grosseto is a city and comune in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the Province of Grosseto. The city lies 14 km from the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Maremma, at the centre of an alluvial plain, on the Ombrone river....
, Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
, she moved to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
with her family and in 1953 was discovered by Roberto Capucci
Roberto Capucci
Roberto Capucci is an Italian fashion designer, known for his extravagant and ingeniously constructed outfits.-Biography:...
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
Claude Autant-Lara
Claude Autant-Lara , was a French film director and later Member of the European Parliament .-Biography:...
's Le Rouge et le noir (1954), but her first important film role came the following year with The Indian Fighter
The Indian Fighter
The Indian Fighter is a 1956 Western movie. It is from an original story by Robert L. Richards.-Plot:Johnny Hawks is a man who made his name fighting Indians...
opposite Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
. 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
Silver Bear for Best Actress
The Silver Bear for Best Actress is the Berlin International Film Festival's award for achievement in performance by an actress.-Awards:- External links :*...
at the 6th Berlin International Film Festival
6th Berlin International Film Festival
-Jury:* Marcel Carné* Bill Luckwell* Giuseppe Vittorio Sampieri* Koichi Kawakita* Leo J. Horster* Ilse Urbach* Ludwig Berger-Films in competition:* ...erwachsen sein dagegen sehr by Wolf Hart* Autumn Leaves by Robert Aldrich...
for playing the title role in Mario Monicelli
Mario Monicelli
Mario Monicelli was an Italian director and screenwriter and one of the masters of the Commedia all'Italiana , three times nominated for Oscar.-Biography:...
's Donatella
Donatella
Donatella is a 1956 Italian comedy film directed by Mario Monicelli. At the 6th Berlin International Film Festival Elsa Martinelli won the Silver Bear for Best Actress.-Cast:* Elsa Martinelli - Donatella* Gabriele Ferzetti - Maurizio...
.
From the mid 1950s through the late 1960s, she divided her time between Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the USA appearing films such as Four Girls in Town (1957) with George Nader
George Nader
George Nader was an American film and television actor of Lebanese descent. He appeared in a variety of films from 1950 through 1974, including Phone Call from a Stranger , Congo Crossing , and The Female Animal...
, Manuela
Manuela (1957 film)
Manuela is a 1957 British drama film directed by Guy Hamilton. It was entered into the 7th Berlin International Film Festival.-Cast:* Trevor Howard - James Prothero* Elsa Martinelli - Manuela Hunt* Pedro Armendáriz - Mario Constanza...
(1957) with Trevor Howard
Trevor Howard
Trevor Howard , born Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith, was an English film, stage and television actor.-Early life:...
, Prisoner of the Volga (1959) with John Derek
John Derek
John Derek was an American actor, director and photographer.-Career:His matinee-idol good looks quickly got him supporting roles, most notably as Broderick Crawford's son in All the King's Men , but he also enjoyed leads such as "Nick Romano" in Knock on Any Door opposite Humphrey Bogart John...
, Hatari!
Hatari!
Hatari! is a 1962 American film directed by Howard Hawks and starring John Wayne. The title means "danger" in Swahili, which was mentioned in the film as well...
(1962) with John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
, The Pigeon That Took Rome
The Pigeon That Took Rome
The Pigeon That Took Rome is a 1962 film directed and written by Melville Shavelson and starring Charlton Heston. The film was based upon the novel "The Easter Dinner", written by Donald Downes.-Plot:...
(1962) with Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
, The Trial
The Trial (1962 film)
The Trial is a 1962 film directed by Orson Welles, who also wrote the screenplay based on the novel of the same name by Franz Kafka...
with Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins was an American actor, best known for his Oscar-nominated role in Friendly Persuasion and as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho , and its three sequels.-Early life:...
, The V.I.P.s
The V.I.P.s
The V.I.P.s, also known as Hotel International, is a 1963 British drama film. It was directed by Anthony Asquith, produced by Anatole de Grunwald and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
(1963) with Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
, Rampage
Rampage (1963 film)
Rampage is a 1963 adventure film about big game hunters set in Malaysia and starring Robert Mitchum, Jack Hawkins, and Elsa Martinelli. The movie was directed by Phil Karlson from the novel by Alan Caillou and features a musical score by Elmer Bernstein....
(1963) with Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
, and Woman Times Seven
Woman Times Seven
Woman Times Seven is a 1967 Italian/French/American co-production anthology film of seven different episodes, all starring Shirley MacLaine with most based on aspects of adultery...
(1967) with Lex Barker
Lex Barker
Lex Barker was an American actor best known for playing Tarzan of the Apes and leading characters from Karl May's novels.-Early life:...
. In Candy
Candy (1968 film)
Candy is a 1968 sex farce film directed by Christian Marquand based on the 1958 novel by Terry Southern and Mason Hoffenberg, from a screenplay by Buck Henry. The film satirizes pornographic stories through the adventures of its naive heroine, Candy, played by Ewa Aulin...
(1968), her co-stars were Charles Aznavour
Charles Aznavour
Charles Aznavour, OC is an Armenian-French singer, songwriter, actor, public activist and diplomat. Besides being one of France's most popular and enduring singers, he is also one of the best-known singers in the world...
, Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
, Richard Burton
Richard Burton
Richard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
, James Coburn
James Coburn
James Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
, Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
and Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
.
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
Once Upon A Crime
Once Upon a Crime is a 1992 ensemble comedy film starring, among others; Richard Lewis, John Candy, James Belushi, Cybill Shepherd, Sean Young and Ornella Muti. The film was directed by Eugene Levy.- Plot :...
. Her most recent appearance was in the 2005 European television series Orgoglio
Orgoglio
Orgoglio is a literary character in Edmund Spenser's famous epic "The Faerie Queen". He appears in the seventh canto as a beast and attacks the main character, Redcrosse, who symbolizes the ultimate Christian knight, during a moment of weakness....
as the Duchessa di Monteforte.
Martinelli was first married to Count
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
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
Paris Match
Paris Match is a French weekly magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features. It was founded in 1949 by the industrialist Jean Prouvost....
photographer and 1970s furniture designer Willy Rizzo.
Selected filmography
- Le Rouge et le noir (1954) uncredited
- The Indian FighterThe Indian FighterThe Indian Fighter is a 1956 Western movie. It is from an original story by Robert L. Richards.-Plot:Johnny Hawks is a man who made his name fighting Indians...
(1955) as Onahti - DonatellaDonatellaDonatella is a 1956 Italian comedy film directed by Mario Monicelli. At the 6th Berlin International Film Festival Elsa Martinelli won the Silver Bear for Best Actress.-Cast:* Elsa Martinelli - Donatella* Gabriele Ferzetti - Maurizio...
(1957) as Donatella - Four Girls in Town (1957) as Maria Antonelli
- ManuelaManuela (1957 film)Manuela is a 1957 British drama film directed by Guy Hamilton. It was entered into the 7th Berlin International Film Festival.-Cast:* Trevor Howard - James Prothero* Elsa Martinelli - Manuela Hunt* Pedro Armendáriz - Mario Constanza...
(1957) as Manuela Hunt - Prisoner of the Volga (1959) as Mascha
- Captain BloodCaptain Blood (1960 film)Captain Blood is a 1960 French-Italian swashbuckler film directed by André Hunebelle and starring Jean Marais, Bourvil, Elsa Martinelli and Lise Delamare. It is based on a novel by Michel Zévaco.-Cast:* Jean Marais ... François de Capestan...
(1960) as Gisèle d'Angoulême - Hatari!Hatari!Hatari! is a 1962 American film directed by Howard Hawks and starring John Wayne. The title means "danger" in Swahili, which was mentioned in the film as well...
(1962) as Anna Maria 'Dallas' D'Allesandro - The Pigeon That Took RomeThe Pigeon That Took RomeThe Pigeon That Took Rome is a 1962 film directed and written by Melville Shavelson and starring Charlton Heston. The film was based upon the novel "The Easter Dinner", written by Donald Downes.-Plot:...
(1962) as Antonella Massimo - The TrialThe Trial (1962 film)The Trial is a 1962 film directed by Orson Welles, who also wrote the screenplay based on the novel of the same name by Franz Kafka...
(1962) as Hilda - The V.I.P.sThe V.I.P.sThe V.I.P.s, also known as Hotel International, is a 1963 British drama film. It was directed by Anthony Asquith, produced by Anatole de Grunwald and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
(1963) as Gloria Gritti - RampageRampage (1963 film)Rampage is a 1963 adventure film about big game hunters set in Malaysia and starring Robert Mitchum, Jack Hawkins, and Elsa Martinelli. The movie was directed by Phil Karlson from the novel by Alan Caillou and features a musical score by Elmer Bernstein....
(1963) as Anna - Maroc 7Maroc 7Maroc 7 is a 1967 British thriller film directed by Gerry O'Hara and starring Gene Barry, Elsa Martinelli, Leslie Phillips and Denholm Elliot...
(1967) as Claudia - Woman Times SevenWoman Times SevenWoman Times Seven is a 1967 Italian/French/American co-production anthology film of seven different episodes, all starring Shirley MacLaine with most based on aspects of adultery...
: "Super Simone" (1967) as Pretty woman - CandyCandy (1968 film)Candy is a 1968 sex farce film directed by Christian Marquand based on the 1958 novel by Terry Southern and Mason Hoffenberg, from a screenplay by Buck Henry. The film satirizes pornographic stories through the adventures of its naive heroine, Candy, played by Ewa Aulin...
(1968) as Livia - Madigan's MillionsMadigan's MillionsMadigan's Millions , is a 1968 Italian-Spanish movie directed by Stanley Prager and produced by Sidney W. Pink....
(1968) as Vic Shaw - Once Upon a CrimeOnce Upon A CrimeOnce Upon a Crime is a 1992 ensemble comedy film starring, among others; Richard Lewis, John Candy, James Belushi, Cybill Shepherd, Sean Young and Ornella Muti. The film was directed by Eugene Levy.- Plot :...
(1992) as Carla the Agent