For director Vittorio De Sica, Magnani starred in Teresa Venerdì (1941). Nunzio Malasomma directed her in her first major film role in The Blind Woman of Sorrento ( La Cieca di Sorrento, 1934).Goffredo Alessandrini directed her in Cavalry ( Cavalleria, 1936). In 1933, Magnani was acting in experimental plays in Rome when she was discovered by Italian filmmaker Goffredo Alessandrini. "She had the ability to call up emotions at will, to move an audience, to convince them that life on the stage was as real and natural as life in their own kitchen." Film critic David Thomson wrote that Magnani was considered an "outstanding theatre actress" in productions of Anna Christie and The Petrified Forest. However, her actor friend Micky Knox writes that she "never studied acting formally" and started her career in Italian music halls singing traditional Roman folk songs. To support herself, Magnani sang in nightclubs and cabarets leading to her being dubbed "the Italian Édith Piaf". Give me the life of the streets, of common people."Īt age 17, she went on to study at the Eleonora Duse Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in Rome for two years. This trait carried over into her adult life when she proclaimed, "I hate respectability. Yet while growing up, she is said to have felt more at ease around "more earthly" companions, often befriending the "toughest kid on the block". Her grandparents compensated by pampering her with food and clothes. She was a "plain, frail child with a forlornness of spirit". As early as 1950, Life had already stated that Magnani was "one of the most impressive actresses since Garbo". As an actress, she became recognized for her dynamic and forceful portrayals of "earthy lower-class women" in such films as L'Amore (1948), Bellissima (1951), The Rose Tattoo (1955), The Fugitive Kind (1960) and Mamma Roma (1962). Playwright Tennessee Williams became an admirer of her acting and wrote The Rose Tattoo (1955) specifically for her to star in, a role for which she received an Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming the first Italian ever - and first non English speaking woman - to win an Oscar.Īfter meeting director Goffredo Alessandrini, she received her first screen role in The Blind Woman of Sorrento ( La cieca di Sorrento, 1934) and later achieved international attention in Rossellini's Rome, Open City (1945), which is seen as launching the Italian neorealism movement in cinema. In the realm of Italian cinema, she was "passionate, fearless, and exciting," an actress whom 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". Time described her personality as "fiery", and drama critic Harold Clurman said her acting was "volcanic". She was referred to as "La Lupa", the "perennial toast of Rome" and a "living she-wolf symbol" of the cinema. During her career, her only child was stricken by polio when he was 18 months old and remained disabled. She was known for her explosive acting and earthy, realistic portrayals of characters.īorn in Rome, she worked her way through Rome's Academy of Dramatic Art by singing at night clubs. Anna Maria Magnani ( Italian pronunciation: 7 March 1908 – 26 September 1973) was an Italian actress.
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