Rubi Dalma (24 April 1906 – 7 August 1994) was an Italian actress.

Life and career

Born Giusta Manca di Villahermosa 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 ...

, she belonged to an aristocratic family from the Sardinian town of

Sassari Sassari ( ; ; ; ) is an Italian city and the second-largest of Sardinia in terms of population with 120,497 inhabitants as of 2025, and a functional urban area of about 260,000 inhabitants. One of the oldest cities on the island, it contains ...

. After a bit part in the

Camillo Mastrocinque Camillo Mastrocinque (11 May 1901 – 23 April 1969) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed more than 60 films between 1937 and 1968, and is known to horror film fans for directing ''Terror in the Crypt'' (1964) starring ...

's film ''Regina della Scala'', in which she basically played herself, Manca di Villahermosa decided to start a career as an actress and she adopted the stage name Rubi Dalma (sometimes spelled as Rubi D'Alma or Ruby Dalma). Her

breakout role A breakthrough role, also known as a breakout role, is a term in the theatre, film and television industry to describe the performance of an actor or actress which contributed significantly to the development of their career and beginning of crit ...

was as the aristocrat donna Paola unsuccessfully courted by

Vittorio De Sica Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement. Widely considered one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, four of the fil ...

Mario Camerini Mario Camerini (6 February 1895 – 4 February 1981) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Camerini began his career in the film industry in 1920, working for his cousin the director Augusto Genina. Camerini went on to direct his own fi ...

's ''

Il signor Max ''Il Signor Max'' is a 1937 Italian " white-telephones" comedy film directed by Mario Camerini and starring Vittorio De Sica and Assia Noris. Plot Gianni is a poor, young newspaper salesman in Rome. However, during his vacations he poses as Count ...

''. From then Dalma started a successful career, even if often limited to stereotyped roles of cold, sophisticated and sometimes snobbish noblewomen. After the war she mainly appeared in character roles and, gradually, moved away from the cinema industry.

Selected filmography

* ''

'' (1937) * ''

Queen of the Scala ''Queen of the Scala'' () is a 1937 Italian drama film directed by Camillo Mastrocinque and Guido Salvini and starring Margherita Carosio, Nives Poli and Giuseppe Addobbati.Lancia & Poppi p.93 The film's sets were designed by the art directors ...

'' (1937) * ''

Hurricane in the Tropics ''Hurricane in the Tropics'' () is a 1939 Italian adventure film directed by Pier Luigi Faraldo and Gino Talamo and starring Fosco Giachetti, Rubi D'Alma, and Osvaldo Valenti.Poppi p.396 The film is based on a novel by Anton Giulio Majano. The f ...

'' (1939) * ''

Heartbeat Heartbeat, heart beat or heartbeats may refer to: Science and technology * Heartbeat (biology), one cardiac cycle of the heart * Heartbeat (computing), a periodic signal to indicate normal operation or to synchronize parts of a system ** Heartbea ...

'' (1939) * ''

Red Roses Red Roses (, 'red moor') is a village in Carmarthenshire, Wales. Situated in south-west Carmarthenshire, the village forms part of the Eglwyscummin community, and with Ciffig and Marros, forms part of the Laugharne Township electoral ward. T ...

'' (1940) * ''

Antonio Meucci Antonio Santi Giuseppe Meucci ( , ; 13 April 1808 – 18 October 1889) was an Italian inventor and an associate of Giuseppe Garibaldi, a major political figure in the history of Italy.

'' (1940) * '' A Pistol Shot'' (1942) * ''

Odessa in Flames ''Odessa in Flames'' (, ) is a 1942 Italian-Romanian propaganda war film directed by Carmine Gallone and starring Maria Cebotari, Carlo Ninchi and Filippo Scelzo. The film is about the Battle of Odessa in 1941, where the city was taken in an ope ...

'' (1942) * '' C'è sempre un ma!'' (1942) * ''

Calafuria ''Calafuria'' is a 1943 Italian drama film directed by Flavio Calzavara and starring Doris Duranti, Gustav Diessl and Olga Solbelli. It is based on the 1929 novel of the same title by Delfino Cinelli.Goble p.84 It was shot at the Pisorno Stud ...

'' (1943) * ''

Daniele Cortis ''Daniele Cortis'' (also known as ''Elena'') is a 1947 Italian drama film directed by Mario Soldati and starring Vittorio Gassman, Sarah Churchill and Gino Cervi. The film (set in nineteenth-century Italy) follows the impossible love affair betw ...

'' (1947) * ''

Heaven over the Marshes ''Heaven over the Marshes'' (Italian language, Italian: ''Cielo sulla palude'') is a 1949 Italian Historical drama, historical melodrama film directed by Augusto Genina and starring Rubi Dalma, Michele Malaspina, Inés Orsini and Domenico Viglion ...

'' (1949) * '' Story of a Love Affair'' (1950, dir.

Michelangelo Antonioni Michelangelo Antonioni ( ; ; 29 September 1912 – 30 July 2007) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and editor. He is best known for his "trilogy on modernity and its discontents", ''L'Avventura'' (1960), ''La Notte'' (1961), and '' ...

) * '' Eager to Live'' (1953)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dalma, Rubi Italian film actresses Actresses from Milan 1906 births 1994 deaths 20th-century Italian actresses