Giulietta Masina(1921-1994)
- Actress
- Additional Crew
Born in San Giorgio di Piano, Giulietta Masina spent part of her
teenage years living with a widowed aunt in Rome, where she cultivated
a passion for the theater and studied for a degree in Philosophy. She
began her career on the radio with the program "Terzoglio" (1942),
about the adventures of newlyweds Cico and Pallina from scripts written
by Federico Fellini. The series brought
her great success. The following year she married Fellini and became
the inspirational muse for many of his films.
She made her cinema debut in
Without Pity (1948), directed by
Alberto Lattuada, but really
established her reputation with her next few films:
Behind Closed Shutters (1951), directed
by Luigi Comencini,
Variety Lights (1950), which
also marked Fellini's debut as director (the film credits both Fellini
and Lattuada); and Europe '51 (1952),
directed by
Roberto Rossellini. Her
artistic partnership with her husband really took off with the
Oscar-winning La strada (1954),
followed by The Swindle (1955) and the
widely acclaimed
Nights of Cabiria (1957),
which again won an Oscar and brought her the award for Best Female
Performance at the Cannes Film Festival. Over the following years she
played many memorable roles in such films as
Fortunella (1958), directed by
Eduardo De Filippo;
...and the Wild Wild Women (1959),
directed by Renato Castellani; and
later in
Juliet of the Spirits (1965)
and Ginger & Fred (1986), both
directed by Fellini.
From 1966 to 1969 she hosted the immensely popular radio show "Lettere
aperte a Giulietta Masina" and starred in the television series
Eleonora (1973), by
Tullio Pinelli, directed by
Silverio Blasi, and
Camilla (1976), directed by
Sandro Bolchi, based on the novel by
Fausta Cialente, "Un inverno
freddissimo" (1966).
She died in Rome in 1994, just a few months after the death of her
husband.
teenage years living with a widowed aunt in Rome, where she cultivated
a passion for the theater and studied for a degree in Philosophy. She
began her career on the radio with the program "Terzoglio" (1942),
about the adventures of newlyweds Cico and Pallina from scripts written
by Federico Fellini. The series brought
her great success. The following year she married Fellini and became
the inspirational muse for many of his films.
She made her cinema debut in
Without Pity (1948), directed by
Alberto Lattuada, but really
established her reputation with her next few films:
Behind Closed Shutters (1951), directed
by Luigi Comencini,
Variety Lights (1950), which
also marked Fellini's debut as director (the film credits both Fellini
and Lattuada); and Europe '51 (1952),
directed by
Roberto Rossellini. Her
artistic partnership with her husband really took off with the
Oscar-winning La strada (1954),
followed by The Swindle (1955) and the
widely acclaimed
Nights of Cabiria (1957),
which again won an Oscar and brought her the award for Best Female
Performance at the Cannes Film Festival. Over the following years she
played many memorable roles in such films as
Fortunella (1958), directed by
Eduardo De Filippo;
...and the Wild Wild Women (1959),
directed by Renato Castellani; and
later in
Juliet of the Spirits (1965)
and Ginger & Fred (1986), both
directed by Fellini.
From 1966 to 1969 she hosted the immensely popular radio show "Lettere
aperte a Giulietta Masina" and starred in the television series
Eleonora (1973), by
Tullio Pinelli, directed by
Silverio Blasi, and
Camilla (1976), directed by
Sandro Bolchi, based on the novel by
Fausta Cialente, "Un inverno
freddissimo" (1966).
She died in Rome in 1994, just a few months after the death of her
husband.