Daniela Rocca (12 September 1937 – 28 May 1995) was an Italian actress, model and writer.

Biography

Rocca was born and raised in

Acireale Acireale (; , locally shortened to ''Jaci'' or ''Aci'') is a coastal city and ''comune'' in the north-east of the Metropolitan City of Catania, Sicily, southern Italy, at the foot of Mount Etna, on the coast facing the Ionian Sea. It is home to ...

, a small town near

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

. She became Miss Catania in 1953, and was discovered by talent scouts after competing in a

Miss Italia Miss Italia is a beauty pageant awarding prizes every year to young, female contestants from Italy. Since the first edition of the contest, in 1939, many of the contestants have gone on to notable careers in television and film. History Early ...

competition. Rocca made her film debut in French director

Maurice Cloche Maurice Cloche (17 June 1907, in Commercy, Meuse (department), Meuse – 20 March 1990, in Bordeaux, France) was a French people, French film director, screenwriter, photographer and film producer. Best known for his Oscar-winning film ''Monsieur V ...

's ''Marchands de Filles'' (1957) and also appeared in the

Riccardo Freda Riccardo Freda (24 February 1909 – 20 December 1999) was an Italian film director. He worked in a variety of genres, including sword-and-sandal, horror film, horror, ''giallo'' and spy films. Freda began directing ''I Vampiri'' in 1956. The f ...

film ''

Caltiki – The Immortal Monster ''Caltiki – The Immortal Monster'' () is a 1959 black-and-white science fiction film, science fiction-horror film with similarities to ''The Blob'' that was released in the previous year. The film's storyline concerns a team of archaeologists ...

'' (''Caltiki – il mostro immortale'', 1959), and ''

Esther and the King ''Esther and the King'' () is a 1960 religious epic film produced and directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Joan Collins as Esther, Richard Egan as Ahasuerus, and Denis O'Dea as Mordecai. Walsh and Michael Elkins wrote the screenplay, which was ...

'' (1960). More film roles followed, but Rocca did not garner international attention until '' Divorce, Italian Style'' (''Divorzio all'Italiana'', 1961). Rocca became a star after playing the part of the smothering wife

Marcello Mastroianni Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni (26 September 1924Come da lui stesso dichiarato a 1'10" dquesta intervista/ref> – 19 December 1996) was an Italian actor. He is generally regarded as one of Italy's most iconic male performers of the 20t ...

is desperate to escape in

Pietro Germi Pietro Germi (; 14 September 1914 – 5 December 1974) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor, noted for his development of the Italian neorealism, neorealist and genres. His 1961 film ''Divorce Italian Style'' earned him a Ac ...

's international box-office hit. For her performance she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress in 1963. Rocca fell in love with Germi during filming and attempted suicide when he rejected her. After that, she was considered unstable and was not offered significant roles. A nervous breakdown led to a stay in a mental hospital. After playing minor roles in movies and television, her show business career ended in 1967. She ended her days in a retirement home in Milo, near Catania. There she wrote four books: ''Agente segreto con licenza di vivere; Avvocato offresi; Il condannato a morte''; and ''Psicoanalisi, sogni, fantasie nascosti nella mente''; and a collection of poems, ''Ara''.

Partial filmography

* ''La Luciana'' (1954) * ''Il nostro campione'' (1955) * '' Il padrone sono me'' (1955) - Nunziata * ''Addio sogni di gloria'' (1957) * ''Marchands de filles'' (1957) - Bettina * '' Head of a Tyrant'' (1959) - Naomi * '' Non perdiamo la testa'' (1959) - Volante * ''

'' (1959) - Linda * ''

Legions of the Nile Legion may refer to: Military * Roman legion, the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army *Aviazione Legionaria, Italian air force during the Spanish Civil War * A legion is the regional unit of the Italian carabinieri * Spanish Legion, ...

'' (1959) - Teyrè * ''

The Giant of Marathon ''The Giant of Marathon'' () is a 1959 international co-production sword and sandal film, loosely based on the Battle of Marathon. It was directed by Jacques Tourneur and Mario Bava. It starred Steve Reeves as Phillipides. The film was a co-prod ...

'' (1959) - Karis * '' Austerlitz'' (1960) - Caroline Bonaparte * ''

Colossus and the Amazon Queen ''Colossus and the Amazon Queen'' (/ ''Queen of the Amazons'') is a 1960 Italian sword and sandal comedy film directed by Vittorio Sala. Cast *Rod Taylor as Pirro * Ed Fury as Glauco *Dorian Gray as Antiope * Daniela Rocca as Melitta *Gianna ...

'' (1960) - Melitta * ''

'' (1960) - Queen

Vashti Vashti (; ; ) was a queen of Achaemenid Empire, Persia and the first wife of Persian king Ahasuerus in the Book of Esther, a book included within the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh and the Old Testament which is read on the Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday ...

* ''

Revenge of the Barbarians ''Revenge of the Barbarians'' () is a 1960 film about the sack of Rome in AD 410 by the Visigoths. This film was written by Gastone Ramazzotti and directed by Giuseppe Vari. Cast Production Anthony Steel had moved to Rome following his divorc ...

'' (1960) - Galla Placidia, Onorius' Sister * '' Rome 1585'' (1961) - Princess Alba of Portoreale * '' Divorce, Italian Style'' (1961) - Rosalia Cefalù * ''Peccati d'estate'' (1962) - Teresa * '' The Captive City'' (1962) - Doushka * ''

I Don Giovanni della Costa Azzurra ''I Don Giovanni della Costa Azzurra'' ("Don Juan of the French Riviera"), released in English-speaking countries as ''Beach Casanova'', is a 1962 Italian comedy film, directed by Vittorio Sala. It stars Curd Jürgens, Annette Stroyberg, Martine ...

'' (1962) - Assuntina Greco, aka Géneviève * ''L'attico'' (1963) - Silvana D'Angelo * ''Symphonie pour un massacre'' (1963) - Hélène Valoti * '' The Empty Canvas'' (1963) - Rita * '' Behold a Pale Horse'' (1964) - Rosana, Mistress of Vinolas * '' The Sucker'' (1965) - (uncredited) * ''Assicurasi vergine'' (1967) - Carmela - don Pippo's lover * ''Un giorno, una vita'' (1970) - Olga (final film role)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rocca, Daniela 1937 births 1995 deaths People from Acireale Italian film actresses Actresses from Sicily 20th-century Italian actresses Models from Sicily