Elsa Martinelli


Elsa Martinelli was an Italian actress and fashion model. Described by The Guardian as a "versatile star of Hollywood’s international years whose work spanned romantic comedies, period epics and spaghetti westerns", she went on to star opposite Kirk Douglas, John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Charlton Heston, and Anthony Quinn, be directed by André De Toth, Vittorio De Sica, Howard Hawks and Orson Welles on both sides of the Atlantic.
At her peak from the late 1950s into the late 1960s she approached the popularity and status of top rival "Hollywood Italian imports" Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida and Claudia Cardinale. Her slim, sexy figure and elfin looks birthed the quip that she was a “kind of Audrey Hepburn with sex appeal”. Outside her busy film career, Martinelli was a member of the glitterati, married to an Italian count and befriending such international celebrities as Maria Callas, Aristotle Onassis and Jackie Kennedy.
Martinelli made over 50 film appearances between 1954 and 1992.

Life and career

Elsa Martinelli was born Elisa Tia in Grosseto, Tuscany, and moved to Rome with her family. In 1953, she was discovered by Roberto Capucci, who introduced her to the world of fashion. She became a model and began playing small roles in films, such as Le Rouge et le Noir. But her first important film role came the following year in The Indian Fighter opposite Kirk Douglas, who claimed to have spotted her on a magazine cover and hired her for his production company, Bryna Productions. Douglas subsequently signed her to a two-year/two picture a year non-exclusive contract with Bryna Productions in February 1956.
Martinelli was then loaned out to Universal-International Pictures in March 1956 for the film Four Girls in Town. That same year, she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 6th Berlin International Film Festival for playing the titular role in Mario Monicelli's Donatella.
From the mid-1950s through the late 1960s, Martinelli divided her time between Europe and the United States, earning major co-starring roles as the female lead in such Hollywood productions as Hatari! and Rampage. She appeared in an eclectic array of other films, including Manuela ; Bad Girls Don't Cry ; Prisoner of the Volga ; Blood and Roses ; Love in Rome ; The Pigeon That Took Rome ; The Trial ; The V.I.P.s ; The 10th Victim ; Hail, Mafia ; Woman Times Seven ; and Candy.
From the late 1960s onward, Martinelli's output decreased as she worked in mostly European foreign-language productions, such as Manon 70 ; One on Top of the Other ; and L'amica. Her last English-language role was in Once Upon a Crime. Her final acting appearance was in the 2005 European television series Orgoglio, as the Duchessa di Monteforte.

Personal life

Martinelli married Count Franco Mancinelli Scotti di San Vito in 1957, by whom she had a daughter, Cristiana Mancinelli, also an actress. They separated in 1960, but it took six years for an official annulment. In 1968 she married another Italian, Willy Rizzo, the Paris Match photographer and 1970s furniture designer. The marriage ended in divorce in 1978.

Death

Martinelli died of cancer in Rome on 8 July 2017, at the age of 82.

Filmography

  • The Red and the Black
  • If You Won a Hundred Million as Anna
  • The Indian Fighter as Onahti
  • Rice Girl as Elena Nardi
  • Donatella as Donatella Guiscardi
  • Four Girls in Town as Maria Antonelli
  • Manuela as Manuela Hunt
  • ' as Lucia
  • Prisoner of the Volga as Mascha
  • Ciao, ciao bambina! as Diana
  • Tunis Top Secret as Kathy Sands
  • Wild Cats on the Beach as Doriana
  • Bad Girls Don't Cry as Anna
  • Call Girls of Rome as Marisa
  • Blood and Roses as Georgia Monteverdi
  • Il carro armato dell'8 settembre as Mirella
  • Captain Blood as Gisèle d'Angoulême
  • Love in Rome as Fulvia
  • The Menace as Lucile
  • Hatari! as Anna Maria 'Dallas' D'Allesandro
  • The Pigeon That Took Rome as Antonella Massimo
  • Pelle viva as Rosaria
  • The Trial as Hilda
  • The V.I.P.s as Gloria Gritti
  • Rampage as Anna
  • All About Loving as Mathilde
  • Marco the Magnificent as The Woman with the Whip
  • Je vous salue, mafia! as Sylvia
  • Diamonds Are Brittle as Juliette
  • ' as Sonia
  • The 10th Victim as Olga
  • How I Learned to Love Women as Monica the rallye driver
  • Maroc 7 as Claudia
  • The Oldest Profession as Domitilla
  • Woman Times Seven as Pretty woman
  • ' as Laureen
  • Manon 70 as Annie
  • The Belle Starr Story as Belle Starr
  • Madigan's Millions as Vic Shaw
  • Candy as Livia
  • If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium as Maria, Woman on Venetian bridge
  • ' as Gilberte de Baer
  • Una sull'altra as Jane Bleeker
  • The Pleasure Pit as Martine
  • L'amica as Carla Nervi
  • OSS 117 Takes a Vacation as Elsa
  • ' as Inés de Suárez
  • The Lion's Share as Annie
  • ' as Zobeida
  • I Am an ESP as Carla Razzi
  • Once Upon a Crime as Carla the Agent