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DIED
September 26, 1973

RECENT CREDITS
Roma (FILM)  Jan. 1, 1972
The Secret of Santa Vittoria (FILM)  Jan. 1, 1968
Mamma Roma (FILM)  Jan. 1, 1962
The Wild, Wild Women (FILM)  May. 24, 1961
The Fugitive Kind (FILM)  May. 1, 1960

BIOGRAPHY
A volatile, commanding star of post-war Italian cinema, Anna Magnani was once described by director William Dieterle as "the last of the great shameless emotionalists". She gained international attention for her....
A volatile, commanding star of post-war Italian cinema, Anna Magnani was once described by director William Dieterle as "the last of the great shameless emotionalists". She gained international attention for her impassioned performance in Roberto Rossellini's "Open City" (1945). Though her early career had encompassed repertory work, musical comedy and vaudeville, Magnani subsequently tended to appear in tempestuous, earthy and maternal roles, such as the overbearing stage mother in Visconti's "Bellismima" (1951) and the passionate widow in her Oscar-winning Hollywood turn in "The Rose Tattoo" (1955), written by Tennessee Williams with her in mind.

Wild-eyed, with a dumpy, matronly figure, and a disheveled appearance, Magnani nonetheless became a symbol of seething, earthy, mature sexuality in the postwar years and throughout the 1950s. She was outstanding as the commedia dell'arte actress in Jean Renoir's "The Golden Coach" (1952) and her performance as a deranged peasant who believes herself impregnated by St. Joseph in Rossellini's "L'Amore" (1948) was condemned by American censors as blasphemous. Magnani's last really important performance in film came with her galvanizing work in the title role of Pier Paolo Pasolini's powerful "Mamma Roma" (1962), though she was quite pleasingly robust and lusty in the enjoyable comedy "The Secret of Santa Vittoria" (1969). Her last screen role was a cameo in Fellini's "Roma" (1972).



Headlines

Jun. 4, 2001
On Saturday, Anthony Quinn passed away from respiratory failure, robbing Hollywood of a true legend. He was 86. The two-time Academy Award winner's tempestuous screen image matched his much-publicized, unquenchable thirst for life.




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Recently Worked With...

Roma
Released: Jan. 1, 1972

The Secret of Santa Vittoria
Released: Jan. 1, 1968

Mamma Roma
Released: Jan. 1, 1962

The Godfather Movie Still: Marlon Brando
The Fugitive Kind
Released: May. 1, 1960

The Wild, Wild Women
Released: Jan. 1, 1958


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