Olga Villi (20 January 1922 – 12 August 1989), was an Italian model and actress.

Life and career

Born in Suzzara,

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...

as Olga Villani, Villi began to work, only twelve years old, as a saleswoman and seamstress at the

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

ese fashion house Biki. A few years later her employer hired her as a model; noted by Macario, she was hired by him in 1942 for the rivista- operetta ''Il grillo al castello'', where she had to act, sing and dance. Thanks to the success of the show Villi became one of the most quoted

soubrette A soubrette is a type of operatic soprano voice ''fach'', often cast as a female stock character in opera and theatre. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means "conceited" or "coy". Theatre In theatre, a soubrette is a ...

s of the period, working with

Anna Magnani Anna Maria Magnani (; 7 March 1908 – 26 September 1973) was an Italian actress.Obituary ''Variety'', 3 October 1973, pg. 47 She was known for her explosive acting and earthy, realistic portrayals of characters. Born in Rome, she worked her ...

Nino Taranto Nino Taranto (28 August 1907 – 23 February 1986) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1924 and 1971. Life and career Born in Naples, Taranto started his career as a child actor in 1918 starring in some loca ...

and

Alberto Sordi Alberto Sordi (15 June 1920 – 24 February 2003) was an Italian actor, voice actor, singer, comedian, director and screenwriter. Early life Born in Rome to a schoolteacher and a musician and the last of five children, Sordi was named in hon ...

, and in mid-1940s she also starred in several drama plays, working among others with

Luchino Visconti Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo (; 2 November 1906 – 17 March 1976) was an Italian filmmaker, stage director, and screenwriter. A major figure of Italian art and culture in the mid-20th century, Visconti was one of the ...

, Alessandro Blasetti and

Giorgio Strehler Giorgio Strehler (; ; 14 August 1921 – 25 December 1997) was an actor, Italian opera and theatre director. Biography Strehler was born in Barcola, Trieste; His father, Bruno Strehler, was a native of Trieste with family roots in Vienna and die ...

. Also active in films and on television, in 1967 Villi won a

Nastro d'Argento The Nastro d'Argento, also known by its translated name Silver Ribbon, is an Italian film award awarded each year since 1946 by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (Italian: ''Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani ...

for Best Supporting Actress thanks to her performance in Pietro Germi's ''

The Birds, the Bees and the Italians ''The Birds, the Bees and the Italians'' is a 1966 Italian film directed by Pietro Germi. Its original Italian title is ''Signore & Signori'', which means 'Ladies and Gentlemen'. The anthology film is a sex comedy that presents three storylines, ...

''. After having announced her retirement in 1972, she came back on stage in 1984. She was married to the nobleman Raimondo Lanza di Trabia until his suicide in 1954. Villi died after a long illness in

Rapallo Rapallo ( , , ) is a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, located in the Liguria region of northern Italy. As of 2017 it had 29,778 inhabitants. It lies on the Ligurian Sea coast, on the Tigullio Gulf, between Portofino and Chiav ...

, where she lived for about thirty years.

Selected filmography

* ''

Macario Against Zagomar ''Macario Against Zagomar'' (Italian: ''Macario contro Zagomar''; also known as ''Macario Against Fantomas'') is a 1944 Italian comedy film directed by Giorgio Ferroni and starring Erminio Macario. Plot In Paris, the dreaded Zagomar kidnapped the ...

'' (1944) * ''

Christmas at Camp 119 ''Christmas at Camp 119'' (Italian: ''Natale al campo 119'') is a 1947 Italian comedy-drama film directed by Pietro Francisci and starring Aldo Fabrizi, Vittorio De Sica and Peppino De Filippo. A group of Italian prisoners of war being held c ...

'' (1948) * '' Yvonne of the Night'' (1949) * '' Four Red Roses'' (1951) * '' Half a Century of Song'' (1952) * ''

Sex Quartet ''Sex Quartet'' (US title: ''The Queens'', it, Le fate, 'the fairies') is a 1966 Italian-French comedy film directed by Mario Monicelli, Mauro Bolognini, Antonio Pietrangeli and Luciano Salce. It starred Capucine, Claudia Cardinale, Monica Vitti ...

'' (1966) * ''

'' (1966) * '' Il fischio al naso'' (1967)

References

External links

* Italian film actresses Italian television actresses 1922 births Actors from the Province of Mantua Italian stage actresses Nastro d'Argento winners 1989 deaths 20th-century Italian actresses People from Suzzara {{Italy-actor-stub