Valentina Cortese

Actor · 1923–2019 · Milan, Lombardy, Italy

Highest rated as cast or director

Biography

Valentina Cortese (January 1, 1923 - July 10, 2019) was an Italian film actress. The Milan-born actress starred in The House on Telegraph Hill (1951) directed by Robert Wise, and costarring Richard Basehart and William Lundigan. Cortese, aged 28, married Basehart in 1951, and had one son with him before they divorced in 1960. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1975 for her performance in François Truffaut's Day for Night. Cortese appeared in Jules Dassin's Thieves' Highway (1949), Joseph L. Mankiewicz's The Barefoot Contessa (1954), Michelangelo Antonioni's Le Amiche (1955), Gérard Brach's The Boat on the Grass, Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), and in the Franco Zeffirelli projects such as the 1972 film Brother Sun, Sister Moon, his 1977 miniseries, Jesus of Nazareth and the 1993 film Sparrow.

Acted in 84

1990s

1994
Sparrow
Madre Superiora
1993
La Classe américaine
The Helicopter Man's Wife (archive footage) (uncredited)
1991
Buster's Bedroom
Serafina Tannenbaum

1980s

1989
I promessi sposi
Donna Prassede · 5 episodes
1988
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Queen Ariadne / Violet
74
Young Toscanini
Comparsa (uncredited)
1987
Via Montenapoleone
madre di Guido
Blue Tango
Rachele Cigno
1981
La Ferdinanda. Sonate für eine Medici-Villa
Caterina de Dominicis
1980
When Time Ran Out...
Rose Valdez

1970s

1979
Ring of Darkness
Elena Merrill
1978
Tanto va la gatta al lardo...
Wilma/Leonilde Bosco Casagrande
1977
Widows' Nest
Dolores
Jesus of Nazareth
Herodias · 4 episodes
83
1976
The Big Operator
Witwe
Nick the Sting
Regina
1975
Son tornate a fiorire le rose
Sabina Foschini
Kidnap Syndicate
Grazia Filippini
66
Il cav. Costante Nicosia demoniaco, ovvero Dracula in Brianza
Olghina Franchetti
1974
The Kiss
Elizabeth Blixen
Tender Dracula
Movie
Amore mio non farmi male
Sabina Foschini
Appassionata
Elisa Rutelli
55
1973
Day for Night
Séverine
84
1972
The Assassination of Trotsky
Natalia Trotsky
Brother Sun, Sister Moon
Pica Di Bernardone
Chronicle of a Homicide
Luisa Sola
1971
The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire
Madame Sobieski
The Boat on the Grass
Catherine
1970
The Love Mates
Eva
First Love
Mutter
Give Her the Moon
Madeleine de Lépine
The Secret of Santa Vittoria
Gabriella (uncredited)
73