Bella Cortez (born Alicia Paneque, also known as Bella Cortese) is a
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
n actress and dancer known for her work in Italian
sword-and-sandal
Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum (: pepla), is a subgenre of largely Italy, Italian-made historical, mythological, or biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget ...
films of the 1960s.
Career
Alicia Paneque was spotted by an Italian film producer visiting Cuba. She accepted the proposal and moved to Italy.
Her first release was
Primo Zeglio's ''
The Seven Revenges'' (1961).
Cortez played niece to
Orson Welles character and formed "an attractive pair of young lovers" with
Luciano Marin in the international film ''
The Tartars'' (1961). The same year, she was paired opposite
Gordon Mitchell in the Seven Arts production ''
The Giant of Metropolis'' (1961), directed by
Umberto Scarpelli.
[ ] They appeared together in two more films; ''
Vulcan Son of Jupiter'' (1962) and ''
Ali Baba and the Seven Saracens'' (1964).
Cortez's characters were that of and Greco-Roman mythological
Aetna an Arabian princess, respectively in these films. She continued her starring roles with
Antonio Leonviola
Antonio Leonviola, sometimes Leon Viola (13 May 1913 – 4 August 1995), was an Italian screenwriter and film director and co-founder of the "Libera Università del Cinema di Roma".
Life and career
Leonviola was born in 1913 in Montagnana as ...
-directed epic drama ''Taur, The Mighty'' (1963).
Cortez played the female lead in ''Ali Baba and the Sacred Crown'', directed by Erminio Salvi. The book ''Italian Sword and Sandal Films, 1908-1990'' noted that Cortez was a "major asset to the production". She made appearance in a supporting character in Gothic horror ''
Katarsis'' (1963).
Beside starring in 11 films, Cortez also did print modelling for cars and graced the covers of several European magazines. Following her marriage, she left the film industry.
Personal life
Cortez was romantically involved with Emimmo Salvi.
After her marriage, she relocated to the United States and as of 2011 Cortez was living at her daughter's house.
References
Bibliography
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cortez, Bella
1944 births
Living people
Cuban film actresses
Italian film actresses