Alessandra Martines (born 19 September 1963) is an Italian French dancer and actress mainly working in the English-, French-, and Italian-speaking worlds. She started young in ballet on opera stages in Switzerland, France, the United States and then Italy before becoming a lead on television for

RAI (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

captured ballets and entertainment shows (the Italian national

public broadcasting Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive f ...

) in the eighties. She is primarily known for portraying the main role in the cult '' Fantaghirò series'', consisting of five films (1991–1996) still regularly re-run across Europe as of 2020, and for her work in ''

auteur An (; , ) is an artist with a distinctive approach, usually a film director whose filmmaking control is so unbounded and personal that the director is likened to the "author" of the film, thus manifesting the director's unique style or thematic ...

'' productions such as nine films by

Claude Lelouch Claude Barruck Joseph Lelouch (; born 30 October 1937) is a French film director, writer, cinematographer, actor and producer. Lelouch grew up in an Algerian Jewish family. He emerged as a prominent director in the 1960s. Lelouch gained critical ...

to whom she was married until 2009. She was awarded numerous prizes including the Best Actress

Telegatto Telegatto (a composition of ''television'' and ''gatto'', meaning "cat", after the trophy, which is a small statue representing a cat), was an Italian television award first conceived in 1971 following the contest ''Gran Premio internazionale de ...

for ''

The Cave of the Golden Rose ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' (1991), the

Grolla d'oro The ("Golden Grole"; pl.: ) is one of the oldest Italian film awards. The award was founded in 1953 and ran until 1981; after some years of hiatus, it was relaunched in 1989 by journalist Maurizio Costanzo and, above all, by the film critic ( ...

for ' (2005), the

Silver Hugo The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

for Best Actress at the

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

(1998) for '' Chance or Coincidence'', the Diamanti al Cinema Award in

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

(2007) or the 2009 European

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...

in Rome. In 2008, she was made Knight of the

Ordre national du Mérite The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...

awarded by the

President of the French Republic The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the pos ...

. She received the lifetime achievement Kineo Award at the

71st Venice International Film Festival The 71st annual Venice International Film Festival , was held from 27 August to 6 September 2014, at Venice Lido in Italy. French composer Alexandre Desplat was the jury president for the main competition. Italian actress Luisa Ranieri hoste ...

in 2014.

Early life

Second cousin of

Carla Bruni Carla Bruni-Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (born Carla Gilberta Bruni Tedeschi; ; 23 December 1967) is an Italian and French singer, songwriter and fashion model who served as the List of spouses or partners of the president of France, first lady of Fran ...

and

Valeria Bruni Tedeschi Valeria Carla Federica Bruni Tedeschi, also written Bruni-Tedeschi (; born 16 November 1964), is an Italian and French actress, screenwriter and film director. Her 2013 film, '' A Castle in Italy,'' was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2013 C ...

, she moved to France with her family at the age of five. As a teenager, she enrolled at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

where she studied solfeggio, history and theory of dance and classical music and dance.

Career

Martines debuted at a young age as a dancer at the

Zurich Opera House The Zurich Opera House () is an opera house in the Swiss city of Zurich. Located at the Sechseläutenplatz, it has been the home of the Zurich Opera since 1891, and also houses the Bernhard-Theater Zürich. It is also home to Ballett Zürich. I ...

in 1972. After some time working in the United States, including the Chicago City Ballet, she moved to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

where she worked at the

Teatro dell'Opera Teatro may refer to: * Theatre * Teatro (band) Teatro, Italian for "theatre", is a vocal group signed to the Sony BMG music label. The members of Teatro are Jeremiah James, Andrew Alexander, Simon Bailey and Stephen Rahman-Hughes. Band membe ...

. In 1985 she began her collaboration with

, with the lunchtime chat / quiz show ''Pronto, chi gioca?''; she later gained great popularity with the Saturday Night shows '' Fantastico'' and ''Europa Europa'', and then for her portrayal of Princess Fantaghirò in the '' Fantaghirò series''. In cinema, she is best known for her interpretations under the direction of her ex-husband, the French director

, in several film including ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...

'' and '' And now... Ladies and Gentlemen''. She also starred on stage, most notably in ''L'appartamento'' by

Franca Valeri Alma Franca Maria Norsa (31 July 1920 – 9 August 2020), known professionally as Franca Valeri, was an Italian actress, author, and screenwriter. Life and career Born in Milan as Alma Franca Maria Norsa, she managed to survive the Holocaust in ...

Personal life

Martines has a daughter with

to whom she was married between 1995 and 2009. In 2012, at the age of 49, she had a son with her partner

Cyril Descours Cyril Descours (born 15 July 1983 in Frankfurt) is a French actor. He has appeared in more than twenty feature films since 2000 as well as in French television films and series, and on stage. Career The mother of Cyril Descours was German and he ...

Stage

Dancer

Theatre

Filmography

Cinema

Television

Presenter or Jury member

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martines, Alessandra 1963 births Living people Actresses from Rome Italian film actresses Italian female dancers French film actresses Italian emigrants to France Italian television personalities Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite Italian stage actresses French stage actresses Musicians from Rome Italian television actresses French television actresses 20th-century Italian actresses 21st-century Italian actresses 20th-century French actresses 21st-century French actresses