Lualdi, Antonella

The early years

Antonietta De Pasquale was born in Beirut in 1931. Her father was an Italian engineer , her mother was Greek . Since childhood, she was fluent in three languages ​​- Arabic , French and Italian . Her parents moved to Milan at the beginning of the war , until the age of 16 the girl studied in Florence , where she will start working as a model, posing for various photographers for magazines, while attending classes at a theater school. Young Antonietta one day (in 1947) will be shot in the documentary chronicle, where she will be seen by film director Mario Mattoli and invited to the main role in her musical film “ Young Girl ” (1949).

Movie career

A romantic view of engineering, will be the hallmark of a young actress at the beginning of her fast-paced career in films by Luigi Dzampa , Mario Landi , Augusto Jenina , Mario Bonnara . One of the best works of the early period of the actress will be the role of Vittoria, the daughter of the mayor in the 1952 film Alberto Lattuada's “ Overcoat ” (an adaptation of the work of the same name by N. V. Gogol , the film was moved to Italy in the 19th century ). The excellent reviews that the young actress will receive will not go unnoticed and the French film director Christian-Jacques will invite her to his film " Delightful Creations " (filmed in the same 1952).

Returning to Italy, Antonella, who has already taken on a creative pseudonym, will be shot in a number of second-rate films in small roles for some time that will not add anything to her film career. In 1953, she will play one of her best roles of this period in the film " The Tale of Poor Lovers " directed by Carlo Lizani , her partner here will be the young Marcello Mastroianni . The film is based on the novel of the same name by Vasco Pratolini and has been shown in Soviet film distribution since 1958 ^[1] . In 1954, the actress starred in the film of the French director Claude Otan Lara “ Red and Black ” (a film adaptation of the novel by Stendhal ), where she will be an impulsive Matilda de la Molle, and her partner will be the brilliant Gerard Philip ^[2] .

After “ Fathers and Sons ” (1957, dir. Mario Monicelli ), she will successfully play in the film “ Life ” ( 1957 ) by the French director Alexander Astryuk . An interesting image of a decent young woman kidnapped and used by a gang of pimps will translate on the screen in the film, again, the French director Yves Allegre “ Watch out, girls! "(1957). Having subsequently refused the role of engineer, the actress will expand her range and shine in more spectacular roles, such as in the films “ And I Will Come Spit on Your Graves ” ( 1959 , directed by Michel Gast) and “ On a Double Turn of the Key ” (1959, directed by Claude Chabrol ) Among the best among Lualdi are the images created in the films of Mauro Bolognini “ Lovers ” (1955), “ Young husbands ” (1958), “ Stormy night ” (1959). The actress also flashes in the role of Donata in the film of Mario Camerini “ Margutta Street ” (1960), as well as in the role of Elsa Foresi in the film Francesco Mazelli “ Dauphines ” (1960).

In the 1960s, the actress will star in many films of the second echelon, so to speak, in pseudo-historical peplums like “ The Invasion of the Titans ” (1962) or “ One Hundred Horsemen ” (1964), or in films of the purely Italian genre “ Djallo ”: “ Crime in the Mirror "," Devil's Tail "(both - 1964), etc. The exception is the interesting work of the actress in the anti-fascist film Christian Jacques " Predators of Predators "(1964), known to Soviet moviegoers ^[3] , and the debut film directed by Ettore Skola , the comedy" Let talk about women ”(1964). In 1968, he will play the role of Andrada in the film of the Romanian director Mircea Dragan " Column ", which was a success at the box office of the USSR ^[4] .

In the 1970s, Antonella Lualdi worked more on television, starring in TV shows (Lucien Leuven, 1973, So It Was, 1977 and others), but in the cinema she will only show the role of Julia in the French director Claude Saute ’s film “ Vincent, Francois, Paul and others "(1974). In 1979, the 48-year-old Lualdi was shot naked for the Italian edition of the famous Playboy magazine (July issue), showing off her beautiful body at the Balzac age.

In 1992, the surge in new popularity of the actress in Italy begins, after she will play in the highly rated series “ Cordier - law enforcement ”, where she has the main role of Lucia Cordier (the series will successfully survive 13 seasons until 2005), then in the sequel the series under the new name " Commissioner Cordier " (2005-2008). The actress is still in demand in cinema - her last movie work was done in 2012.

Personal life

At the beginning of her career in cinema, on the set of the film “ Songs on the Streets ” (1950), the actress met the young actor Franco Interlengi (who made his debut as a fifteen-year-old in the film “ Shusha ”, 1946 by Vittorio De Sica ). Together, they form the most enviable pair of Italian cinema of the 1950s, both in life and on the screen. Together they will be filmed repeatedly (“ There is no more former love ”, “ Lovers ”, “ The most beautiful days ” and other films). Officially, the couple will register their relationship in the mid-1950s (different sources cite different years - 1953, 1954, 1955).

In this marriage two daughters will be born - Antonellina Interlengi (at the beginning of her film career - in the 1980s, the name was written only Antonellina, now it is customary to mention her by her full name as her mother - Antonella), who will follow in the footsteps of her parents, becoming one from famous Italian actresses (starring, among other things, in the role of Sasha with Gleb Panfilov in the film " Mother ", 1990) and Stella Interlengi, who starred in the movie only once, in the movie Top Crack (1967).

In 1972, the couple parted, not officially terminating their relationship, but at the moment, Antonella Lualdi and Franco Interlengi are living together again ^[5] .

• 1994 - Nefertiti ; the role of the ancient Egyptian queen Tii .

• some photos of Antonella Lualdi