Maria Michi (24 May 1921 – 7 April 1980) was an Italian supporting actress who worked with

Roberto Rossellini Roberto Gastone Zeffiro Rossellini (8 May 1906 – 3 June 1977) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He was one of the most prominent directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing to the movement with films such a ...

on his two early neorealism films: ''

Rome, Open City ''Rome, Open City'' (), also released as ''Open City'', is a 1945 Italian Italian neorealism, neorealist war film, war drama film directed by Roberto Rossellini and co-written by Sergio Amidei, Celeste Negarville and Federico Fellini. Set in Rom ...

'' and '' Paisà''. Michi worked first as a typist at a law firm, then as an usherette at Teatro Quattro Fontane in Rome. She was noticed and given small parts in the company of

Sergio Tofano Sergio Tòfano (20 August 1886 – 28 October 1973) was an Italian actor, theatre director, playwright, scene designer and illustrator. As a comics artist, he is best-known for creating '' Signor Bonaventura''. Biography Tofano was born in ...

and Diana Torrieri during the 1942–1943 season. Critic Irene Bignardi called her "a woman very near the resistance and the Communist Party". In 1948, she worked with

Christian-Jaque Christian-Jaque (byname of Christian Maudet; 4 September 1904 – 8 July 1994) was a French filmmaker. From 1954 to 1959, he was married to actress Martine Carol, who starred in several of his films, including ''Lucrèce Borgia'' (1953), ''M ...

in ''La Chartreuse de Parme''. She was married in September 1949 to Duke Augusto Torlonia, and left the world of cinema for the theater, particularly working with director Guido Salvini. The marriage was annulled in San Marino in 1956. She resumed her film career in the 1960s and 1970s, when she did 12 films, including

Bernardo Bertolucci Bernardo Bertolucci ( ; ; 16 March 1941 – 26 November 2018) was an Italian film director and screenwriter with a career that spanned 50 years. Considered one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema, Bertolucci's work achieved inte ...

's ''

Last Tango in Paris ''Last Tango in Paris'' (; ) is a 1972 Erotic film, erotic Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. The film stars Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider (actor), Maria Schneider and Jean-Pierre Léaud, and portrays a rec ...

'' and

Tinto Brass Giovanni "Tinto" Brass (born 26 March 1933) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. In the 1960s and 1970s, he directed many critically acclaimed avant-garde films of various genres. Today, he is mainly known for his later work in the Erot ...

's '' Salon Kitty'', her last film.

Filmography

*1945: '' Roma, città aperta'' (directed by

) - Marina Marini *1946: '' Paisà'' (''Paisan'') (directed by Roberto Rossellini) - Francesca *1947: '' Fatalità'' (directed by Giorgio Bianchi) - Paola *1947: '' The Other'' (directed by

Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia (8 July 1894 – 4 January 1998) was an Italian film director whose career spanned from the 1930s to the mid-1960s. He mainly directed adventure pictures and popular comedies, including some starring Totò. His 1942 f ...

) - Thea 'Angelo' Morelli *1947: '' Preludio d'amore'' (''Shamed'') (directed by Giovanni Paolucci) - Alida *1947: '' La Chartreuse de Parme'' (''The Charterhouse of Parma'') (directed by

) - Marietta *1961: ' (''Law of War'') (directed by Bruno Paolinell) - Signora Macumer *1969: '' The Lady of Monza'', (original title is La monaca di Monza") (directed by Eriprando Visconti) - Sister Bianca Homati *1970: '' The Breach'' (directed by Claude Chabrol) - La troisième parque *1970: ''Mont-Dragon'' (directed by Jean Valère) - Hortense Dubois - la femme d'Armand *1972: '' What Have You Done to Solange?'' (directed by Massimo Dallamano) - Brenda's mother (uncredited) *1972: ''

'' (directed by

) - Rosa's mother *1973: ''

Redneck ''Redneck'' is a derogatory term mainly applied to white Americans perceived to be crass and unsophisticated, closely associated with rural whites of the southern United States.Harold Wentworth, and Stuart Berg Flexner, ''Dictionary of American ...

'' (directed by Silvio Narizzano) - Princess *1973: ''Blu Gang e vissero per sempre felici e ammazzati'' (directed by Luigi Bazzoni) - Mama Blue *1975: '' Down the Ancient Staircase'' (directed by Mauro Bolognini) - Folle *1975: ''Irene, Irene'' (directed by Peter Del Monte) - Maria *1976: '' Salon Kitty'' (directed by

) - Ilde

References

External links

* 1921 births 1980 deaths Actresses from Rome 20th-century Italian actresses People from Grottaferrata {{Italy-film-actor-stub