Rossano Brazzi
Rossano Brazzi | |
---|---|
Born |
Bologna, Italy | 18 September 1916
Died |
24 December 1994 78) Rome, Italy | (aged
Cause of death | Neural virus |
Years active | 1939–1994 |
Spouse(s) |
Lidia Bertolini (1940–81; her death) Ilse Fischer (1984–94; his death) |
Rossano Brazzi (18 September 1916 – 24 December 1994)[1] was an Italian actor.
Biography
Brazzi was born in Bologna to Adelmo and Maria (née Ghedini) Brazzi. He attended San Marco University in Florence, Italy, where he was raised from the age of four. He made his film debut in 1939.[1]
He was propelled to international fame with his role in the English-language film Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), followed by the leading male role in David Lean's Summertime (1955), opposite Katharine Hepburn. In 1958, he played the lead as Frenchman Emile De Becque in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific. His other notable English-language films include The Barefoot Contessa (1954), The Story of Esther Costello (1957), Count Your Blessings (1959),The Light in the Piazza (1962), and The Italian Job (1969).
Marriages
In 1940, Brazzi married baroness Lidia Bertolini (1921–1981) to whom he was married until her death in 1981. The couple had no children. In 1984, he married Ilse Fischer,[2] a German national, who had been the couple's housekeeper for many years. This marriage was also childless. However, he did father a son (born 24 July 1955) from a relationship with Llewella Humphreys, daughter of Murray Humphreys.
Death
Brazzi died in Rome on Christmas Eve 1994, aged 78, from a neural virus.[1]
Selected filmography
- Bridge of Glass (1940)
- The King's Jester (1941)
- A Woman Has Fallen (1941)
- We the Living (1942)
- Girl of the Golden West (1942)
- Back Then (1943)
- The Ten Commandments (1945)
- Black Eagle (1946)
- Fury (1947)
- Bullet for Stefano (1947)
- The Courier of the King (1947)
- Eleonora Duse (1947)
- Little Women (1949)
- Volcano (1950)
- Revenge of Black Eagle (1951)
- The Black Crown (1951)
- Prisoner in the Tower of Fire (1952)
- Son of the Hunchback (1952)
- Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
- The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
- Il conte Aquila (1955)
- Summertime (1955)
- Angela (1955)
- The Last Five Minutes (1955)
- Loser Takes All (1956)
- Interlude (1957)
- Legend of the Lost (1957)
- The Story of Esther Costello (1957)
- South Pacific (1958)
- A Certain Smile (1958)
- Count Your Blessings (1959)
- Siege of Syracuse (1960)
- Three Fables of Love (1962)
- Mondo cane (1962)
- The Light in the Piazza (1962)
- Redhead (1962)
- Rome Adventure (1962)
- Dark Purpose (1964)
- Instant Love (1964)
- The Battle of the Villa Fiorita (1965)
- The Christmas That Almost Wasn't (1966)
- Per amore... per magia... (1967)
- The Bobo (1967)
- Krakatoa, East of Java (1969)
- Psychout for Murder (1969)
- The Italian Job (1969)
- The Adventurers (1970)
- Drummer of Vengeance (1971)
- The Great Waltz (1972)
- Season for Assassins (1975)
- Dracula in the Provinces (1975)
- Catherine and I (1980)
- Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981)
- Il paramedico (1982)
- The Far Pavilions (1984)
- Fear City (1984)
- Final Justice (1985)
- Formula for a Murder (1985)
- The Third Solution (1988)
External links
References
- 1 2 3 "Rossano Brazzi, Actor, 78; Romantic Leading Man of Films". The New York Times. 27 December 1994. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
- ↑ Rossano Brazzi Biography