Anna Magnani

Biography

Anna Magnani (pronounced: mahn-YANEE; 7 March 1908 – 26 September 1973) was an Italian stage and film actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress, along with four other international awards, for her portrayal of a Sicilian widow in The Rose Tattoo. Born in Rome to an Egyptian father and an Italian mother, she worked her way through Rome's Academy of Dramatic Art by singing at night clubs. During her career, her only child was stricken by polio when he was 18 months old and remained crippled. She was referred to as "La Lupa," the "perennial toast of Rome" and a "living she-wolf symbol" of the cinema. Time magazine described her personality as "fiery", and drama critic Harold Clurman said her acting was "volcanic". In the realm of Italian cinema, she was "passionate, fearless, and exciting," an actress that film historian Barry Monush calls "the volcanic earth mother of all Italian cinema." Director Roberto Rossellini called her "the greatest acting genius since Eleonora Duse. Playwright Tennessee Williams became an admirer of her acting and wrote The Rose Tattoo specifically for her to star in, a role for which she received her first Oscar in 1955. After meeting director Goffredo Alessandrini she received her first screen role in La cieca di Sorrento (The Blind Woman of Sorrento) (1934) and later achieved international fame in Rossellini's Rome, Open City (1945), considered the first significant movie to launch the Italian neorealism movement in cinema. As an actress she became recognized for her dynamic and forceful portrayals of "earthy lower-class women" in such films as The Miracle (1948), Bellissima (1951), The Rose Tattoo (1955), The Fugitive Kind (1960), with Marlon Brando and directed by Sidney Lumet, and Mamma Roma (1962). As early as 1950, Life magazine had already stated that Magnani was "one of the most impressive actresses since Garbo". Description above from the Wikipedia article Anna Magnani, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia​

Known For

What's My Line?

The Oscars

Cinépanorama

Un film et son époque

Rome, Open City

The Fugitive Kind

Roma

The Secret of Santa Vittoria

All Movies (76)

• We Are Cinema2021 · as Self (archive footage)
• The Treasure of His Youth: The Photographs of Paolo Di Paolo2021 · as Self - Actress (archive footage)
• Cinecittà, de Mussolini à la Dolce Vita2021 · as Self (archive footage)
• The Passion of Anna Magnani2019 · as Self (archive footage)
• Quand Jean devint Renoir2017 · as Camilla (archive footage)
• Luchino Visconti: Between Truth and Passion2016 · as Self (archive footage)
• Girlfriend in a Coma2012 · as Maddalena Cecconi (archive footage) (uncredited)
• The War of the Volcanoes2012 · as Self (archive footage)
• Vittorio D.2009 · as Self (archive footage)
• Hollywood sul Tevere2009
• Rossellini and the City2009 · as (archive footage)
• Anna Magnani: Femmina Immortale2008 · as Self
• Anna Magnani - Recitare la verità2008 · as (archive footage)
• My Dad Is 100 Years Old2006 · as Pina (archive footage) (uncredited)
• Once Upon a Time... 'Rome, Open City'2006 · as Self (archive footage)
• Bellissime2004 · as (archive footage)
• Barbra Streisand: The Movie Album2003 · as Gioia (archive footage)
• Rossellini Under the Volcano1998 · as Maddalena Natoli (archive footage)
• Rossellini, un Prométhée franciscain1996 · as Self - actress
• Tennessee Williams: Orpheus of the American Stage1994 · as Serafina Delle Rose / Lady Torrance (archive footage)
• Rossellini Through His Own Eyes1993 · as Self (archive footage)
• Bellissimo: Images of the Italian Cinema1985 · as Self
• My Name Is Anna Magnani1980 · as Self (archive footage)
• Roma1972 · as Anna Magnani
• 18701972 · as Teresa Parenti
• The Automobile1971 · as Anna
• Tre donne - 1943: Un incontro1971 · as Jolanda
• Tre donne - La sciantosa1971 · as Flora Torres
• The Secret of Santa Vittoria1970 · as Rosa
• Cinéma et Réalité1967 · as Self
• Made in Italy1965 · as Adelina (segment "5 'La Famiglia', episode 3")
• Josefa's Loot1963 · as Josefa
• Mamma Roma1962 · as Mamma Roma
• The Passionate Thief1960 · as Gioia 'Tortorella' Fabbricotti
• The Fugitive Kind1960 · as Lady Torrance
• Hell in the City1959 · as Egle
• Wild Is the Wind1957 · as Gioa
• The Awakening1956 · as suor Letizia
• The Rose Tattoo1955 · as Serafina Delle Rose
• Variety carousel1955
• Anna Magnani1953
• We, the Women1953 · as Anna (segment "Anna Magnani")
• The Golden Coach1952 · as Camilla
• Red Shirts - Anita Garibaldi1952 · as Anita Garibaldi
• Bellissima1952 · as Maddalena Cecconi
• The Ways of Love1950 · as Nannina
• Volcano1950 · as Maddalena Natoli
• L'Amore1948 · as Woman on the Phone (segment "Una voce umana") / Nannina (segment "Il miracolo")
• Woman Trouble1948 · as Linda Bertoni
• Assunta Spina1948 · as Assunta Spina
• Unknown Men of San Marino1948 · as Liana, la prostituta
• Angelina1947 · as Angelina Bianchi
• Peddlin' in Society1946 · as Gioconda Perfetti
• The Bandit1946 · as Lidia
• Before Him All Rome Trembled1946 · as Ada
• Revenge1946 · as Adele Vicarelli
• Down with Misery!1945 · as Nannina Straselli
• Rome, Open City1945 · as Pina
• Crazy Quartet1945 · as Elena
• Il fiore sotto gli occhi1944 · as Maria Comasco, l'attrice
• The Last Wagon1943 · as Mary Dunchetti
• The Peddler and the Lady1943 · as Elide
• La vita è bella1943 · as Virginia
• L'avventura di Annabella1943 · as La mondana
• Luck Comes from Heaven1942 · as Zizì
• Finalmente soli1942 · as Ninetta
• Teresa Venerdì1941 · as Loletta Prima
• La fuggitiva1941 · as Wanda Reni
• Una lampada alla finestra1940 · as Ivana
• Princess Tarakanova1938 · as Marietta, la cameriera
• 30 Seconds of Love1936 · as Gertrude Siriani, la sorella zitella di Tullio
• Cavalleria1936 · as Fanny
• Quei due1935 · as Pierotta
• Full Speed1934 · as Emilia - la cameriera
• The Blind Woman of Sorrento1934 · as Anna, la sua amante
• Das Mädchen der Strasse1928

All TV Shows (4)

• Un film et son époque2003 · as Self (archive footage)
• Cinépanorama1956 · as Self
• The Oscars1953 · as Self
• What's My Line?1950 · as Self