Athina Cenci (; born 13 March 1946) is a Greek-born Italian former actress, stand-up comedian and politician.

Life and career

Born in

Kos Kos or Cos (; ) is a Greek island, which is part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 37,089 (2021 census), making ...

, Greece, Cenci was co-founder and member, together with

Francesco Nuti Francesco Nuti (17 May 1955 – 12 June 2023) was an Italian actor, film director and screenwriter. Biography Born in Prato, Nuti began his professional career as an actor in the late 1970s, when he formed the cabaret group ''Giancattivi'' tog ...

and

Alessandro Benvenuti Alessandro Benvenuti (born 31 January 1950) is an Italian actor, film director and screenwriter. He was co-founder, together with Francesco Nuti and Athina Cenci, of the comedy ensemble "GianCattivi" with whom he achieved his first successes on ...

, of the comedy ensemble "GianCattivi" with whom she achieved her first successes on stage and on television.Giorgio Dell’Arti, Massimo Parrini. ''Catalogo dei viventi''. Marsilio, 2009. . She made her film debut with GianCattivi in '' West of Paperino'' (1982), then, after the group split, she started a successful solo career winning two

David di Donatello for Best Supporting Actress The David di Donatello Award for Best Supporting Actress () is a film award presented annually by the Accademia del Cinema Italiano (ACI, ''Academy of Italian Cinema'') to recognize the outstanding performance in a supporting role of an actres ...

for her performances in

Mario Monicelli Mario Alberto Ettore Monicelli (; 16 May 1915 – 29 November 2010) was an Italian film director and screenwriter, one of the masters of the ''commedia all'italiana'' ("Italian-style comedy"). He was nominated six times for an Academy Awards, Os ...

's '' Let's Hope It's a Girl'' and

Carlo Verdone Carlo Gregorio Verdone (born 17 November 1950) is an Italian actor, screenwriter and film director. Best known for his comedic roles in Italian classics which he also wrote and directed such as ''Fun Is Beautiful'' and ''Bianco, rosso e Verdone ...

's ''

Compagni di scuola ''Compagni di scuola'' is a 1988 Italian comedy-drama film directed by and starring Carlo Verdone. It was shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy at the 67th Venice International Film Festival. Plot Federica is a 35 years old a kept ...

''. She later also worked with other notable directors, including

Paolo and Vittorio Taviani Paolo Taviani (; 8 November 1931 – 29 February 2024) and Vittorio Taviani (; 20 September 1929 – 15 April 2018), collectively referred to as the Taviani brothers, were Italian film directors and screenwriters who collaborated on numerous fi ...

and

Ettore Scola Ettore Scola (; 10 May 1931 – 19 January 2016) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He received a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film in 1978 for his film ''A Special Day'' and over ...

, and was active on stage and on television, in TV-series and variety shows. In 1999 Cenci was elected with the

Democrats of the Left The Democrats of the Left (, DS) was a social-democratic political party in Italy. Positioned on the centre-left, the DS, successor of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and the Italian Communist Party, was formed in 1998 upon the merger ...

in the city council of Florence. In 2001 she suffered a stroke that forced her to interrupt her artistic and political activities for many years. She reappeared in public in 2014 and the year after returned on stage as protagonist.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cenci, Athina Italian film actresses Italian television actresses Italian stage actresses 1946 births People from Kos People from Prato Actresses from Tuscany Living people David di Donatello winners Ciak d'oro winners Democrats of the Left politicians Italian actor-politicians Greek emigrants to Italy Italian people of Greek descent Italian women comedians Italian stand-up comedians