Teresa Ann Savoy,

FRSA The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

(18 July 1955 – 9 January 2017) was a British

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

who appeared in a number of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

Biography

Savoy was 18 years old when she appeared in the October 1973 edition of Italian adult magazine ''

Playmen ''Playmen'' was an Italian adult entertainment magazine. It was founded in 1967 by a mother of three, Adelina Tattilo, achieving fame as Italy's version of ''Playboy'' magazine. The magazine was published monthly and featured photographs of nude ...

'', using an alias of "Terry." Savoy, who fled from home at 16, was living in a

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...

community in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

and soon came to the attention of the press. Savoy's acting career began in 1974 when film director

Alberto Lattuada Mario Alberto Lattuada (; 13 November 1914 – 3 July 2005) was an Italian film director. Career Lattuada was born in Vaprio d'Adda, the son of composer Felice Lattuada. He was initially interested in literature, becoming, while still a studen ...

gave her her first role. She played Clotilde in the film ''(

I'll Take Her Like a Father I'll may refer to * "I'll", meaning "I will" or "I shall", a contraction (grammar) * ''I'll'' (manga) * "I'll", a song by Band-Maid from '' Unleash'' * "I'll", a song by Dir En Grey Dir En Grey (stylized as DIR EN GREY and previously as Dir en ...

).'' Her next film was in 1975 in ('' Private Vices, Public Pleasures'') directed by the Hungarian director

Miklós Jancsó Miklós Jancsó (; 27 September 192131 January 2014) was a Hungarian people, Hungarian film director and screenwriter. Jancsó achieved international prominence starting in the mid-1960s with works including ''Szegénylegények, The Round-Up'' ...

. The film told the story of the Crown Prince Rudolf, son of the Austrian-Hungarian Emperor

Franz Joseph Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...

, and his rebellion against his father. Savoy played the baroness Mary Vetsera, Rudolf's lover, but in Jancso's vision, she appears as an

intersex Intersex people are those born with any of several sex characteristics, including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binar ...

person. Savoy met

Tinto Brass Giovanni "Tinto" Brass (born 26 March 1933) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. In the 1960s and 1970s, he directed many critically acclaimed avant-garde films of various genres. Today, he is mainly known for his later work in the Erot ...

in 1975 and worked with him the following year in the film ''

Salon Kitty Salon Kitty was a high-class Berlin brothel used by the Nazi intelligence service, the ''Sicherheitsdienst'' (SD), for espionage purposes during . Created in the early 1930s by Katharina "Kitty" Schmidt, the salon was taken over by Nazi secre ...

''. She played a young girl in the League of German Maidens who becomes a spy that poses as a

prostitute Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...

for the SS Nazi paramilitary organization. In 1979, Brass directed her again as Drusilla in the controversial film ''

Caligula Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), also called Gaius and Caligula (), was Roman emperor from AD 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the Roman general Germanicus and Augustus' granddaughter Ag ...

''. In 1977, Savoy played Jamilah in the made-for-TV Italian film '' Sandokan alla riscossa!'' (''Sandokan to the Rescue'') based on the

Sandokan Sandokan is a fictional late 19th-century pirate created by Italian people, Italian author Emilio Salgari. His adventures first appeared in publication in 1883. Sandokan is the hero of 11 adventure novels. Within the series, Sandokan is known ...

novels by

Emilio Salgari Emilio Salgari (, but often erroneously ; 21 August 1862 – 25 April 1911) was an Italian writer of action adventure swashbucklers and a pioneer of science fiction. In Italy, his extensive body of work was more widely read than that of Dante ...

. Savoy made a return to cinema in 1981 with '' La disubbidienza'' (''Disobedience'') by Aldo Lado, where she played Edith, an attractive Jewish governess. The film covered events under the reign of the

Republic of Salò The Italian Social Republic (, ; RSI; , ), known prior to December 1943 as the National Republican State of Italy (; SNRI), but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò (, ), was a List of World War II puppet states#Germany, German puppe ...

. She worked with Miklós Jancsó again in the film '' A zsarnok szíve, avagy Boccaccio Magyarországon'' (''The Tyrant's Heart'') the same year. At this point, Savoy's stardom had faded and she was relegated to supporting roles in obscure movies and television series. In 1982, she had a cameo in the mini-series (''The Charterhouse of Parma''). In 1984, she was a terrorist in the low budget movie ''Il ragazzo di Ebalus'' (''The Boy from Ebalus''). In 1986, she took the part of Maria di Gallese, the first wife of the writer and poet Gabriele D'Annunzio (played by

Robert Powell Robert Thomas Powell ( ; born 1 June 1944) is an English actor who is known for the title roles in '' Mahler'' (1974) and '' Jesus of Nazareth'' (1977), and for his portrayal of secret agent Richard Hannay in '' The Thirty Nine Steps'' (1978) ...

), in the film '' D'Annunzio''. The same year, she appeared in ''La Donna del Traghetto (The Woman of the Ferry)''. Savoy received the title of

Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

in 1989. Savoy made her last film appearance in 2000 in ''La fabbrica del vapore (The Steam Factory)'', the first Italian digital movie.

Death

Savoy died of cancer on 9 January 2017 in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, where she lived with her husband and two children.

Legacy

In 2021, Spanish journalist and writer Martín Llade published the novel (What I'll Never Know About Teresa), in which he reconstructs Savoy's life and career.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Savoy, Teresa Ann 1955 births 2017 deaths English film actresses Actresses from London English expatriates in Italy