Beryl Cunningham (8 August 1946 – 11 December 2020) was a Jamaican actress and model, mainly active in Italian cinema.

Life and career

Born in

Montego Bay Montego Bay is the capital of the parish of St. James in Jamaica. The city is the fourth-largest urban area in the country by population, after Kingston, Spanish Town, and Portmore, all of which form the Greater Kingston Metropolitan Area, ho ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

, the daughter of a university professor, after the high school graduation Cunningham moved to London to attend the university and to pursue a modeling career. Cunningham's career, after some secondary roles, was launched in the late 60's by the erotic drama '' Le salamandre'', directed by Alberto Cavallone, that she accepted to shoot for free. Shortly after she obtained three more commercial successes, '' The Weekend Murders'', directed by

Michele Lupo Michele Lupo (4 December 1932 – 27 June 1989) was an Italian film director. He directed 23 films between 1962 and 1982. He was born in Corleone, Italy, and died in Rome, Italy. Selected filmography * '' Colossus of the Arena'' (1962) * ...

, and '' Il dio serpente'' and ''

The Black Decameron ''The Black Decameron'' ( Italian: ''Il decamerone nero'') is a 1972 Italian costume drama comedy film directed by Piero Vivarelli. Background An adaptation of five stories from the anthology ''Der schwarze Dekameron: Belege und Aktenstücke � ...

'', both directed by Piero Vivarelli, her partner at the time. Later starred in several genre films and in

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

's ''

Brutti, sporchi e cattivi ''Ugly, Dirty and Bad'' (''Brutti, sporchi e cattivi'') is an Italian grotesque film directed by Ettore Scola and released in 1976. Ettore Scola won the Prix de la Mise en scène at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival. Plot The film tells the grotesqu ...

'', but failed to capitalize on her early success and retired from acting in the early 1980s. During her career Cunningham was also a presenter, hosting among others the 1971 edition of Cantagiro, and a singer, recording among others a cover of the Jula de Palma's hit "Tua". In 1979 she was a regular guest of the television program ''Playboy di mezzanotte''. In 1981, she also published a book of Jamaican aphrodisiac recipes, ''La cucina giamaicana'', published by Crochet Edizioni."Beryl: ricette dai caraibi", ''La Stampa'', 19 January 1981, p. 32.

References

External links

*
Beryl Cunningham
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

2020 deaths Jamaican film actresses Jamaican female models 1946 births People from Montego Bay 20th-century Jamaican women singers Jamaican expatriates in Italy 20th-century Jamaican actresses {{Jamaica-actor-stub