SANDRELLI, STEFANIA

(1946-)

Actress. One of the most accomplished actresses of Italian postwar cinema, Sandrelli graduated to the screen after winning the Miss Cinema Viareggio beauty contest in 1960. Following a small part inLuciano Salce'sIl federale(The Fascist, 1961), she played her first significant role as the beautiful young cousin for whom Baron Cefalu (Marcello Mastroianni) kills his wife inPietro Germi'sDivorzio all'italiana(Divorce Italian Style, 1961). She subsequently gave impressive performances as the victimized teenager in Germi'sSedotta e abbandonata(Seduced and Abandoned, 1964) and the defenseless Adriana inAntonio Pietrangeli'sIo la conoscevo bene(I Knew Her Well, 1965).In the following years she played Clerici's wife inBernardo Bertolucci'sIl conformista(The Conformist, 1970), a much less malleable wife in Germi'sAlfredo, Alfredo(1972), where she was pitted against Dustin Hoffman, and then gave one of her finest performances inEttore Scola'sC'eravamo tanto amati(We All Loved Each Other So Much, 1974). After a host of other films in the late 1970s she displayed her versatility but also caused something of a scandal when she starred inTinto Brass's adaptation of Junichiro Tanizaki's explicitly erotic novelLa chiave(The Key, 1983). In subsequent years she alternated between playing similar strongly erotic roles as in Paolo Quaregna'sUna donna allo specchio(A Woman in the Mirror, 1984) andL'attenzione(Attention, 1984), directed by her husband, Giovanni Soldati, and much more demure and vulnerable characters such as the cheerful mother but suffering wife inFrancesca Archibugi'sMignon e partita(Mignon Has Come to Stay, 1988), for which she received both aNastro d'argentoand aDavid di Donatello. After a host of other awards, especially for her performances in Scola'sLa cena(The Dinner, 1998) andGabriele Muccino'sL'ultimo bacio(One Last Kiss, 2001), in 2005 she was awarded a Golden Lion at theVenice Festivalin recognition of her outstanding career.