Ines Pellegrini (born 7 November 1954) is an Italian retired actress of Eritrean origin.

Life and career

Though born in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Italy, Pelligrini spent her childhood in the former Italian colony of

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

during the

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

occupation and colonization of the territory, attending Italian schools, before returning to Italy with her adoptive father in the 1970s. She made her film debut in 1973 in ''Il brigadiere Pasquale Zagaria ama la mamma e la polizia'' but her career was launched by

Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, film director, writer, actor and playwright. He is considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th-century Italian history, influential both as an artist ...

, who chose her for the role of Zumurrud in ''

Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition () ...

'' (1974); she also appeared in Pasolini's last film, ''

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom ''Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom'' (), billed on-screen as ''Pasolini's 120 Days of Sodom'' on English-language prints and commonly referred to as simply ''Salò'' (), is a 1975 political art horror film directed and co-written by Pier Paolo P ...

'' (1975). About her Pasolini wrote: "When I noticed a half-caste Eritrean-Italian, I almost cried looking at her small, somewhat irregular features, perfect as those of a metal statue, hearing her chirpy, interrogatory Italian, and seeing those eyes, lost in a pleading uncertainty." Later Pellegrini became a minor starlet in Italian films including ''

Eyeball An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the eye ...

'' (1975), ''

La madama ''Sexycop'' () 1976 Italian crime comedy film directed by Duccio Tessari. It is based on the novel with the same name written by Massimo Felisatti and Fabio Pittorru. Plot Cast * Christian De Sica as Vito Militiello * Carole André as ...

'' (1976), ''

Blue Belle ''Blue Belle'', also known as ''Annie'', is a 1976 drama film directed by Massimo Dallamano and starring Annie Belle, Felicity Devonshire, and Maria Rohm. Its Italian title is ''Fine dell'innocenza'' (). Premise A young woman meets up with he ...

'' (1976), ''

Una bella governante di colore ''Una bella governante di colore'' is a 1976 Italian commedia sexy all'italiana directed by Luigi Russo and starring Renzo Montagnani with Pasolini muse Ines Pellegrini. In France, the film was released in an adult version with addition of tw ...

'' (1978) and '' War of the Robots'' (1978), appearing in 16 films between 1974 and 1981. In the mid-1980s, she left show business and moved to Los Angeles, where she opened a downtown antiques shop and promoted volunteering.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pellegrini, Ines 1954 births Living people Actresses from Milan Italian film actresses Eritrean actresses 21st-century Eritrean women 21st-century Eritrean people 20th-century Italian actresses Italian people of Eritrean descent