Argentina Brunetti

Argentina Brunetti (born Argentina Josefina Ángela Ferraù ; August 31, 1907 – December 20, 2005) was an Argentine stage and film actress and writer.

Early life Brunetti was born Argentina Ferraù in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Italian parents; her father was Vincenzo "Vicente" Ferraù and her mother was the Sicilian actress Mimi Aguglia. She began her show-business career at the age of three with a walk-on role in the opera Cavalleria rusticana and followed in the footsteps of her mother, performing supporting roles on stage throughout Europe and South America.

Brunetti wrote and performed in daily radio shows; she became a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, writing numerous articles on Hollywood personalities; she authored books, wrote music, and appeared in nearly 60 television programmes and almost 70 films. She hosted a weekly weblog on the Internet called Argentina Brunetti's Hollywood Stories, which her son plans to continue running, and wrote a biographical novel called In Sicilian Company. She continued to act into her nineties, most notably as a relative from the Old World who visits and stays with the (wrong) Barone family in a 1998 episode of Everybody Loves Raymond; her last role was in 2002.

Personal life She wed Miro Brunetti, a foreign correspondent in Hollywood. The two helped to co-found the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The couple had one son, Mario. Miro Brunetti died in 1966. Argentina Brunetti never remarried.

Later life Brunetti moved to Rome in 2004 to be with her family.

Death Brunetti died on December 20, 2005, aged 98.

Filmography

Gilda (1946) .... Woman (uncredited) The Return of Monte Cristo (1946) .... (uncredited) It's a Wonderful Life (1946) .... Mrs. Maria Martini California (1946) .... Elvira High Tide (1947) .... Mrs. Cresser Tycoon (1947) .... Señora Ayora – House Guest (uncredited) Tenth Avenue Angel (1948) .... Boy's Mother (uncredited) Man-Eater of Kumaon (1948) .... Sita Mexican Hayride (1948) .... Indian Woman (uncredited) Shockproof (1949) .... Stella (uncredited) Knock on Any Door (1949) .... Ma Romano (uncredited) El Paso (1949) .... Don Nacho's Woman (uncredited) We Were Strangers (1949) .... Mother (uncredited) House of Strangers (1949) .... Applicant (uncredited) The Red Danube (1949) .... Italian Woman (uncredited) Holiday in Havana (1949) .... Mrs. Estrada (uncredited) The Silver Theater (1950, TV Series) .... Mama Romani The Blonde Bandit (1950) .... Mama Sapelli Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950) .... Villager (uncredited) The Lawless (1950) .... Mrs. Rodriguez Broken Arrow (1950) .... Nalikadeya, Cochise's Wife (uncredited) Dial 1119 (1950) .... Bus Passenger (uncredited) Southside 1–1000 (1950) .... Storekeeper Babo's Wife (uncredited) Ghost Chasers (1951) .... Mrs. Parelli The Great Caruso (1951) .... Signora Barretto Sirocco (1951) .... Woman (uncredited) Force of Arms (1951) .... Signora Maduvalli (uncredited) Rose of Cimarron (1952) .... Red Fawn The Fighter (1952) .... Maria When in Rome (1952) .... Mrs. Lugacetti Bal Tabarin (1952) .... Teresa (uncredited) Apache War Smoke (1952) .... Madre Woman in the Dark (1952) .... 'Mama' Morello The Iron Mistress (1952) .... Duenna (uncredited) Hopalong Cassidy (1952, TV Series) .... Senora Soledad Racket Squad (1952, TV Series) .... Mrs. Scarpita My Cousin Rachel (1952) .... Signora (uncredited) Tropic Zone (1953) .... Tia Feliciana San Antone (1953) .... Mexican Woman The Story of Three Loves (1953) .... Saleswoman (segment "Mademoiselle") (scenes deleted) The Caddy (1953) .... Mama Anthony King of the Khyber Rifles (1953) .... Lali Waterfront (1954, TV Series) .... Mama Ferrera Make Haste to Live (1954) .... Mrs. Gonzales The Lone Wolf (1954, TV Series) .... Mama Crocetti The Public Defender (1954, TV Series) .... Mrs. Derek Lux Video Theatre (1954, TV Series) The Lone Ranger (1955, TV Series) .... Maria The Prodigal (1955) .... Townswoman (uncredited) Hell's Island (1955) .... Pottery Maker (uncredited) The Far Horizons (1955) .... Old Crone The Last Command (1955) .... Maria (uncredited) Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre (1955, TV Series) .... Mrs. Adams The Tall Men (1955) .... Maria the Dressmaker (uncredited) Letter to Loretta (1954–1955, TV Series) .... Mrs. Nardo / Mrs. Ferenzi The Rains of Ranchipur (1955) .... Mrs. Adoani (uncredited) TV Reader's Digest (1955, TV Series) .... Mrs. Barrett The 20th Century-Fox Hour (1956, TV Series) .... Mrs. Rosa Hernandez Matinee Theatre (1956, TV Series) Celebrity Playhouse (1956, TV Series) Anything Goes (1956) .... Suzanne Telephone Time (1956, TV Series) .... Senora Valdes Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1956, TV Series) (Season 2 Episode 7: "Alibi Me") .... Mrs. Salvatore Navy Log (1956, TV Series) .... Mme. Deschamps Three Violent People (1956) .... Maria Duel at Apache Wells (1957) .... Tia Maria The Adventures of Jim Bowie (1957, TV Series) .... Tri Rosa Panic! (1957, TV Series) .... Tina D'Alessio Code 3 (1957, TV Series) .... Mrs. Morales The Unholy Wife (1957) .... Theresa The Midnight Story (1957) .... Mama Malatesta The Brothers Rico (1957) .... Mrs. Rico The Veil (1958, TV Mini-Series) .... Maria The Thin Man (1958, TV Series) .... Shana Daupha Showdown at Boot Hill (1958) .... Mrs. Barabbas M Squad (1959, TV Series) .... Mrs. Doris Michaels Jet Over the Atlantic (1959) .... Miss Hooten Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse (1959, TV Series) .... Elena The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor (1960, TV Series) .... Mrs. Moretti The Untouchables (1959–1960, TV Series) .... Mrs. Swoboda / Sophia Cestari General Electric Theater (1960, TV Series) .... Saral Bonanza (1960, TV Series) .... Bruja's Helper Rawhide (1960, TV Series) .... Rosa Patines The Deputy (1960, TV Series) .... Evita Thriller (1960, TV Series) .... Mrs. Romano Wanted: Dead or Alive (1960, TV Series) .... Juanita Domingo The Roaring Twenties (1960, TV Series) .... Mamma Zorich Coronado 9 (1960, TV Series) .... Mrs. Dominguez Tales of Wells Fargo (1961, TV Series) .... Maria Lock Up (1961, TV Series) .... Mrs. Voltaire Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond (1960–1961, TV Series) .... Maria Gonzalez / Margarita Castera Checkmate (1961, TV Series) .... Berta Wagon Train (1961, TV Series) .... Lisa Canevari Route 66 (1961, TV Series) .... Senora Maria Otero The Lawless Years (1961, TV Series) .... Mama Matteo Miami Undercover (1961, TV Series) .... Mrs. Alemada The George Raft Story (1961) .... Mrs. Raft The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1961, TV Series) .... Grandmother The Rifleman (1962, TV Series) .... Mrs. Ramirez The Horizontal Lieutenant (1962) .... The Nun (uncredited) The Pigeon That Took Rome (1962) .... Relative at Easter Dinner (uncredited) The Gallant Men (1962, TV Series) .... Mother Superior Going My Way (1962–1963, TV Series) .... Mrs. Molletti / Mrs. Severino General Hospital (1963, TV Series) .... Filomena Soltini (1985–1988) 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964) .... Sarah Benedict Stage to Thunder Rock (1964) .... Sarita Ben Casey (1965, TV Series) .... Mrs. Sanchez The Money Trap (1965) .... Aunt Gunsmoke (1965, TV Series) .... Louise Danby The F.B.I. (1966, TV Series) .... Tia Rodriguez The Fugitive (1966, TV Series) .... Mexican Woman The Andy Griffith Show .... La Farona (1966, TV Series) The Appaloosa (1966) .... Yaqui woman (uncredited) The Venetian Affair (1967) .... The Nun (uncredited) The Invaders (1967, TV Series) .... Luz The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1967, TV Series) .... Proprietor Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (1967, TV Series) .... Cara The Big Valley (1968, TV Series) .... Maria I Spy (1968, TV Series) .... Chica The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968) .... Squaw (uncredited) Ironside (1968, TV Series) .... Rita's Aunt The Flying Nun (1969, TV Series) .... Consuelo Gomez / Woman #2 The High Chaparral (1969, TV Series) .... Duena Lopez To Rome with Love (1970, TV Series) .... Josie The Barefoot Executive (1971) .... Mrs. Bernaducci (uncredited) The Streets of San Francisco (1973, TV Series) .... Consuela Temperatures Rising (1973, TV Series) The Magician (1974, TV Series) .... Landlady Kojak (1976, TV Series) .... Christina Flight to Holocaust (1977, TV Movie) .... Woman in Elevator Wonder Woman (1977, TV Series) .... Manageress Black Market Baby (1977, TV Movie) .... Aunt Imelda Blue Sunshine (1977) .... Mrs. Rosella Quincy, M.E. (1978, TV Series) .... Mrs. Maggiore Fantasy Island (1978, TV Series) .... Teresa Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (1980, TV Series) .... Celeste Diagusta Fatso (1980) .... Zi Jule Evita Peron (1981, TV Movie) .... Old woman The Quest (1982, TV Series) Joanie Loves Chachi (1983, TV Series) .... Aunt Gina 1st & Ten (1985, TV Series) .... Mama Arcola Booker (1990, TV Series) .... Grandma Petrelli The New Adam-12 (1991, TV Series) .... Old Woman on Bus Lookin' Italian (1998) .... Grandmother Everybody Loves Raymond (1998, TV Series) .... Zia Sarina That's Life (2000, TV Series) .... Aunt Rose The 4th Tenor (2002) .... Neighbor Woman (final film role)