Elsa Martinelli

Here are 2 songs chosen to enhance the glamorous beauty of the Italian actress and former fashion model Elsa Martinelli.

Born Elisa Tia in 1935 in Grosseto, Tuscany, she moved to Rome with her family and in 1953 was discovered by Roberto Capucci who introduced her to the world of fashion. She became a model and began playing small roles in films. She appeared in Claude Autant-Lara's Le rouge et le noir (1954), but her first important film role came the following year with The Indian fighter opposite Kirk Douglas. Douglas claims to have spotted her on a magazine cover and hired her for his production company, Bryna Productions. In 1956 she won the Silver Bear for best actress at the 6th Berlin International Film Festival for playing the title role in Mario Monicelli's Donatella.

From the mid-1950s through the late 1960s, she divided her time between Europe and the United States, appearing in films such as Four girls in town (1957) with George Nader, Manuela (1957) with Trevor Howard, Prisoner of the Volga (1959) with John Derek, Captain Blood (1960), Love in Rome (1960), Hatari! (1962) with John Wayne, The pigeon that took Rome (1962) with Charlton Heston, The trial (1962) with Anthony Perkins, The V.I.P.s (1963) with Orson Welles, Rampage (1963) with Robert Mitchum, The 10th victim (1965) with Ursula Andress, Marco the Magnificent (1965), Woman times seven (1967) with Lex Barker, The Belle Starr story (1968). In Candy (1968), her co-stars were Charles Aznavour, Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, James Coburn, Walter Matthau and Ringo Starr.

Since the late 1960s, she has worked in Europe in mostly foreign language productions. Her last English language role was as Carla the agent in 1992s Once upon a crime. Her most recent appearance was in the 2005 European television series Orgoglio as the duchessa di Monteforte.

Enjoy Elsa Martinelli's class!

Elsa Martinelli passed away on 8th July 2017. R.I.P.