VALLI, ALIDA

(1921-2006)

Actress. Born Baroness Alida Maria Altenburger in Pola (then Istria, now part of Croatia), Valli moved to Rome in 1935 to become one of the first students at theCentro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. She abandoned the Centro after only a year in order to take a small part inEnrico Guazzoni'sI due sergenti(The Two Sergeants, 1936) and then a more substantial role inMario Bonnard'sIl feroce saladino(The Fierce Sultan, 1937), for which she first assumed the stage name of Alida Valli. In the following years she gained wide popularity playing the young innocent in a number of the so-calledwhite telephone filmsand by the end of the 1930s had achieved star status. Her reputation as a serious actress was then consolidated by her moving interpretation of Luisa inMario Soldati'sPiccolo mondo antico(Old-Fashioned World, 1941), for which she received the Best Actress award at theVenice Festival, and her stirring performance as Kira inGoffredo Alessandrini'sNoi vivi(We the Living, 1942).

Immediately after the war, Valli appeared inMario Mattoli'sLa vita ricomincia(Life Begins Anew, 1945) and was again chosen by Soldati to play the lead inEugenia Grandet(Eugenie Grandet, 1947), a performance that brought her aNastro d'argentoand also to the attention of David O. Selznick, who lured her to Hollywood to play opposite Gregory Peck in Alfred Hitchcock'sThe Paradine Case(1947).After again playing the female lead opposite Fred MacMurray and a very young Frank Sinatra in Irving Pichel'sThe Miracle of the Bells(1948), she was called to England to play Anna Schmidt in Carol Reed'sThe Third Man(1949).

Having returned to Europe in the early 1950s, she made a number of minor films, both in Italy and in France, before providing one of the best performances of her career as the Countess Livia Serpieri inLuchino Visconti'sSenso(The Wanton Countess, 1954). She was subsequently the protagonist's wife, Rosetta, inGillo Pontecorvo's debut film,La grande strada azzurra(The Wide Blue Road, 1957), Irma inMichelangelo Antonioni'sIl grido(The Outcry, 1957), Queen Merope inPier Paolo Pasolini'sEdipo Re(Oedipus Rex, 1967), and then Draifa, the enigmatic former mistress of the protagonist's father, inBernardo Bertolucci'sLa strategia del ragno(The Spider's Stratagem, 1970). In the following years, while continuing to work with auteurs likeValerio Zurlini—she was Vanina's mother inLa prima notte di quiete(The Professor, 1972)—and with Bertolucci again inNovecento(1900, 1976) andLa luna(Luna, 1979), she also took on cameo roles in a number of B-gradehorrorthrillers such asMario Bava'sLa casa dell'esorcismo(The House of Exorcism, 1973), Pierre Grunstein'sTendre Dracula(Tender Dracula, 1974), and Giulio Berruti'sSuor omicidi(Killer Nun, 1978). She is particularly remembered by horror buffs for her part as Miss Tanner inDario Argento's horror classicSuspiria(1977). From the mid-1950s onward she alternated between film and theater and often appeared on television, both in Italy and abroad. After hosting the television music showMusic Rama(1966), she also tried her hand at producing and codirecting thedocumentaryL'amore in tutte le sue espressioni(Love in All Its Manifestations, 1968). She continued to work throughout the 1980s and 1990s, although mostly in supporting roles, earning aDavid di Donatellofor Best Supporting Actress inMarco Tullio Giordana'sLa Caduta degli angeli ribelli(The Fall of the Rebellious Angels, 1981), and a year later the Italian theater critics' Ennio Flaiano Award for her performance onstage in the Renaissance comedyLa Venexiana. After a host of other prizes and recognitions, including the honorific title of Cavaliere della Repubblica, she was awarded aDavid di Donatellofor her career achievements in 1991 and in 1997 a Golden Lion at theVenice Festivalfor her contribution to world cinema.