Rossella Falk (10 November 1926 – 5 May 2013) was an Italian actress. She had a long career and is possibly best known for appearing in ''

8½ ''8½'' ( ) is a 1963 Italian avant-garde arthouse comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Federico Fellini. The metafictional narrative centers on famous Italian film director Guido Anselmi ( Marcello Mastroianni) who suffers from writer ...

'' by

Federico Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He is known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and ...

in 1963.

Life and career

Born in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

as Rosa Antonia Falzacappa, Falk graduated from the

Accademia d'Arte Drammatica Accademia Nazionale d'Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico (translation: Silvio d'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Arts) is a national drama school in Rome, Italy. Founded in 1936 by the theatrical theorist, critic, and writer Silvio D'Amico, the a ...

in May 1948, a few months after having received the best new actress award at the World Youth Festival in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. In a few years she established herself as one of the more talented and requested Italian stage actresses. In 1951 she started a long collaboration with the director

Luchino Visconti Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo (; 2 November 1906 – 17 March 1976) was an Italian filmmaker, theatre and opera director, and screenwriter. He was one of the fathers of Italian neorealism, cinematic neorealism, but later ...

with the role of Stella in an adaptation of the play ''

A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pe ...

''. In 1954, after having worked at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan, directed by

Giorgio Strehler Giorgio Strehler (; ; 14 August 1921 – 25 December 1997) was an Italian stage director, theatre practitioner, actor, and politician. Strehler was one of the most significant figures in Italian theatre during his lifetime, described by Mel Gu ...

in ''La mascherata'', Falk started, together with Giorgio De Lullo, Anna Maria Guarnieri, Romolo Valli and

Umberto Orsini Umberto Orsini (born 2 April 1934) is an Italian actor. He achieved prominence as a stage actor in Luchino Visconti's company, before becoming known to general audiences for his roles in RAI television dramas. He won the Nastro d'Argento for B ...

, the stage company "La compagnia dei giovani" with whom she achieved national and international success. Leaving the company in the 1970s, she continued her stage career working among others with Franco Zeffirelli, Gabriele Lavia, Giuseppe Patroni Griffi. Less active in cinema, she is probably best known for her role in

's ''

'', Falk was also active in television series and radio plays. Her last work was the 2009 stage play ''Est Ovest'', in which she was directed by

Cristina Comencini Cristina Comencini (; born 8 May 1956) is an Italian film director, screenwriter and novelist. Biography She is one of four daughters of Italian film director Luigi Comencini Luigi Comencini (; 8 June 1916 – 6 April 2007) was an Italian fil ...

Filmography

* '' Guarany'' (by

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 ...

) (1948) * ''

Angels of Darkness ''Angels of Darkness'' () is a 1954 Italian melodrama film directed by Giuseppe Amato and starring Linda Darnell, Anthony Quinn and Valentina Cortese. The film's sets were designed by the art director Virgilio Marchi. Plot A brothel is ...

'' (by Giuseppe Amato) (1954) - Morena * '' Vento del sud'' (by Franco Provenzale) (1960) - Deodata Macri * ''

'' (by

) (1964) - Rosella * '' Made in Italy'' (by

Nanni Loy Nanni Loy (born Giovanni Loi; 23 October 1925 – 21 August 1995) was an Italian film, theatre and TV director. Specifically, Nanni Loy was Sardinian people, Sardinian, and one of several notable Sardinian film makers, including Franco Solin ...

) (1965) - Erminia, His Wife (segment "5 'La Famiglia', episode 2") * ''

Modesty Blaise ''Modesty Blaise'' is a British comic strip featuring a fictional character of the same name, created by author Peter O'Donnell and illustrator Jim Holdaway in 1963. The strip follows Modesty Blaise, an exceptional young woman with many talen ...

'' (by

Joseph Losey Joseph Walton Losey III (; January 14, 1909 – June 22, 1984) was an American film and theatre director, producer, and screenwriter. Born in Wisconsin, he studied in Germany with Bertolt Brecht and then returned to the United States. Hollywood ...

) (1966) - Mrs. Fothergill * '' The Legend of Lylah Clare'' (by

Robert Aldrich Robert Burgess Aldrich (August 9, 1918 – December 5, 1983) was an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. An iconoclastic and maverick '' auteur'' working in many genres during the Golden Age of Hollywood, he directed main ...

) (1968) - Rossella * '' Run, Psycho, Run'' (by Brunello Rondi) (1968) * '' May Morning'' (by Ugo Liberatore) (1970) - Mrs. Finley * '' The Fifth Cord'' (by Luigi Bazzoni) (1971) - Sophia Bini * '' Black Belly of the Tarantula'' (by

Paolo Cavara Paolo Cavara (4 July 1926 – 7 August 1982) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He is best known for collaborating with Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco E. Prosperi on the 1962 mondo film ''Mondo Cane'', and for directing the ficti ...

) (1971) - Franca Valentino * '' Seven Blood-Stained Orchids'' (by

Umberto Lenzi Umberto Lenzi (6 August 1931 – 19 October 2017) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and novelist. A fan of film since young age, Lenzi studied at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and made his first film in 1958 which went unre ...

) (1972) - Elena Marchi * '' The Killer Is on the Phone'' (by

Alberto De Martino Alberto De Martino (12 June 1929 – 2 June 2015) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Born in Rome, De Martino started as a child actor and later returned to the cinema where worked as a screenwriter, director and dubbing supervis ...

) (1972) - Margaret Vervoort * ''

Days of Inspector Ambrosio ''Days of Inspector Ambrosio'' ( Italian: ''I giorni del commissario Ambrosio'') is a 1988 Italian crime film directed by Sergio Corbucci. It is loosely based on several novels written by Renato Olivieri. Plot A few days before Inspector Ambrosi ...

'' (by

Sergio Corbucci Sergio Corbucci (; 6 December 1926 – 1 December 1990) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and Film producer, producer. He was one of the main exponents of the Spaghetti Western genre during the 1960s and 1970s, with his most notable work ...

) (1988) - Moglie di Vittorio Borghi * '' Love Story with Cramps'' (by

Pino Quartullo Giuseppe "Pino" Quartullo (born 12 July 1957) is an Italian actor, director, screenwriter and playwright. Life and career Born in Civitavecchia, after getting a degree in architecture, Quartullo graduated in directing at the Silvio d’Amico ...

) (1995) - Directrice agenzia * '' Sleepless'' (by

Dario Argento Dario Argento (; born 7 September 1940) is an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. His influential work in the horror film, horror and giallo genres during the 1970s and 1980s has led him to being referred to as the "Master of the ...

) (2001) - Laura de Fabritiis

References

External links

* 1926 births Italian film actresses 2013 deaths Italian stage actresses Italian television actresses Italian radio personalities Actresses from Rome 20th-century Italian actresses 21st-century Italian actresses Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico alumni Burials at the Cimitero Flaminio {{Italy-film-actor-stub

Life and career

Filmography

References

Further reading

External links