Farewell to Monica Vitti, the queen of Italian cinema

The great actress Monica Vitti passed away this morning in Rome. She was 90 years old and had been ill for some time. Walter Veltroni broke the news through a tweet, following a request from the actress’ husband, Roberto Russo, to spread the word.

Born Maria Luisa Ceciarelli on November 3, 1931, she graduated in 1953 from the National Academy of Dramatic Art then directed by Silvio D’Amico and immediately began acting in the theater. Just in the 1950s, at the suggestion of Sergio Tofano, her teacher at the Academy, she changed her name, adopting a “more artistic” one: she chose “Monica” as her name simply because it sounded good to her, and “Vitti” as her last name in homage to her mother Adele Vittiglia. Her film debut was in 1954: she played an uncredited role in Ridere! Laugh! Ridere! by Edoardo Anton, and then got a minor part in Guido Salvini’s 1955 Adriana Lecouvreur. Her first starring role came in 1957 with Mario Amendola’s Le dritte, where she played a saleswoman in search of merit. In those very years she was noticed by Michelangelo Antonioni, whose muse she became: with him she would act in L’avventura (1960), La notte (1961), L’eclisse (1962), Deserto rosso (1964) and, later, in Il mistero di Oberwald (1980).

After making a name for herself as a dramatic actress, she was also discovered in her very likeable comic verve thanks to Luciano Salce, who in 1967 cast her in Ti ho sposato per allegria, a film adaptation of a play by Natalia Ginzburg, to Pasquale Festa Campanile with whom she starred in La cintura di castità, and to Mario Monicelli, with whom she took part in 1968 in what is perhaps her most famous comedy, La ragazza con la pistola. In the 1970s she lived a particularly intense season, often starring alongside Alberto Sordi: famous is her performance in Polvere di stelle, made famous by the celebrated goliardic song “Ma ’ndo Hawaii.” In 1974 also a role in an international production: he got a part in Luis Buñuel’s The Phantom of Liberty. She continued acting with the greatest directors of Italian cinema (Ettore Scola, Vittorio De Sica, Dino Risi, Sergio Corbucci, Steno) and ended her film career, after starring in two films directed by her future husband Roberto Russo(Flirt in 1983 and Francesca è mia in 1986), with Secret Scandal, her only directorial effort (1990).

After retiring from the big screen, she took part in some TV miniseries and also devoted herself to dubbing, lending her unmistakable raspy voice to the dog Dalila in the film Senti chi parla adesso together with Renato Pozzetto. Numerous awards he has won: in 1995 the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival, preceded by a Silver Bear for Best Actress (for Flirt in 1984), four David di Donatello for Best Actress in a Leading Role (for The Girl with a Gun in 1969, for Ninì Tirabusciò la donna che inventò the move in 1971, for L’anatra all’arancia in 1976 and for Amori miei in 1979, as well as two gold plaques, in 1963 and 1984, and three nominations), three Nastri d’argento as best actress (for La notte in 1962, The Girl with the Gun in 1969 and The Orange Duck in 1976), four Golden Globes as best actress (for Drama of Jealousy in 1970, The Super Witness in 1971, Hotel Room in 1981 and Flirt in 1984) and four Golden Grolles. She had also received the honor of Grand Officer of the Republic in 1986.

“Farewell to Monica Vitti, farewell to the queen of Italian cinema. Today is a very sad day, a great artist and a great Italian disappears,” commented Culture Minister Dario Franceschini.

Farewell to Monica Vitti, the queen of Italian cinema

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