Carolyn De Fonseca

Carolyn De Fonseca (25 May 1929 – May 2009 ) was an American actress based in Rome. She worked extensively as a voice actress for the English-language dubbing of several hundred foreign (mostly Italian) films from the early 1960s and onwards. She was also the wife of actor/voice dubber Ted Rusoff, with whom she frequently worked.

Career De Fonseca first came to Rome in the early 1960s and tried to make a career for herself as an actress. She played a small role in the acclaimed A Difficult Life (1961), directed by Dino Risi, and had a supporting role as Chloe, the love potion maker, in the sword and sandal film Damon and Pythias (1962). She also had bit part roles in some big productions that did shooting in Italy, such as Barabbas (1961) and The Pink Panther (1963). She never really found much success as an actress but she quickly became a prolific and successful voice dubbing artist.

Some of her earliest dubbing work were in the peplum films Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules (1961) and Ursus in the Valley of the Lions (1961), in which she provided the voice of actress Moira Orfei in the English dubbed versions of the film. Subsequently, De Fonseca dubbed a series of further peplum film and she was also given the chance to dub the voice of American actress Jayne Mansfield in two of her European films which were post-synchronized without Mansfield's involvement: Primitive Love (1964) and Dog Eat Dog (1964). She also provided Mansfield's voice in the infamous quasi-documentary The Wild, Wild World of Jayne Mansfield (1968). Released after Mansfield's death, this mondo-style cult documentary consists of footage of Mansfield visiting various night clubs and beaches while narrating her experiences. Since Mansfield died before the film's completion, De Fonseca performs the task of voicing Mansfield's thoughts and narration.

In the 1960s, De Fonseca dubbed many leading ladies into English, but eventually became more prolific in dubbing villainesses in various sword and sandal and horror films. After a supporting role in the caper film Midas Run (1969) with Fred Astaire and Richard Crenna, she would give up her acting career and focus solely on dubbing films into English. She specialized in voicing femme fatale characters such as the evil queen (played by Jany Clair) in Hercules vs. the Moon Men (1964), a bitchy tourist (played by Silvia Solar) in Eyeball (1975) and the deranged inmate Albina in Women's Prison Massacre (1983). She would also typically dub exotic figures or upper-class nymphomaniacs, such as a sex-hungry asylum patient (played by Rosalba Neri) in Slaughter Hotel (1971), and a sassy, black nightclub performer (played by Carla Brait) in The Case of the Bloody Iris (1972). De Fonseca would also sometimes deliver very over the top performances; dubbing the voices of sobbing and hysterical figures such as a paranoid asylum patient (played by Rossella Falk) in Seven Blood-Stained Orchids (1972), a sexually frustrated housewife (played by Carroll Baker) in My Father's Wife (1976), and a drug-addicted nun (played by Anita Ekberg) in The Killer Nun (1978).

As the Italian film industry was slowing down somewhat in the 1980s, De Fonseca resumed her career as a film actress in various American films that were shot in Rome, while still continuing to work with dubbing. On screen she played Christopher Reeve's secretary in Monsignor (1982), had a supporting role in the Pia Zadora film The Lonely Lady (1983), played a comedic role as an American tourist in Detective School Dropouts (1986) and finally appeared in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Sheltering Sky (1990). On television, she appeared in the highly acclaimed miniseries The Winds of War (1983). She also appeared alongside her real-life husband Ted Rusoff in the miniseries Mussolini and I (1985), in which they play the parents of Mussolini's mistress, Claretta Petacci, and played a supporting part in the TV movie thriller The Fifth Missile (1986).

List of dubbing roles (incomplete)

Year Film Role Actress 1961 Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules Queen Halis Mosab Moira Orfei 1961 Ursus in the Valley of the Lions Diar Moira Orfei 1963 Thor and the Amazon Women Black Queen Janine Hendy 1963 The Whip and the Body Nevenka Menliff Daliah Lavi 1964 Dog Eat Dog Darlene Jayne Mansfield 1964 Hercules vs. the Moon Men Queen Samara Jany Clair 1964 The Last Man on Earth Ruth Collins Franca Bettoia 1964 The Long Hair of Death Mary Karnstein/Helen Karnstein Barbara Steele 1964 Primitive Love Dr. Jane Jayne Mansfield 1965 Bloody Pit of Horror Kinojo Moa Tahi 1965 Red Dragon Carol Rosanna Schiaffino 1965 Terror-Creatures from the Grave Cleo Hauff Barbara Steele 1966 Killers Are Challenged Sheena Coleman Wandisa Guida 1966 Secret Agent Super Dragon Charity Farrel Marisa Mell 1966 The Murder Clinic Gisèle de Brantome Françoise Prévost 1967 Mission Stardust Dr. Sheridan Ann Smyrner 1968 The Great Silence Regina Marisa Merlini 1968 Run, Man, Run Penny Bannington Linda Veras 1969 The Sisters Diana Nathalie Delon 1969 Venus in Furs Olga Margaret Lee 1969 A Woman on Fire Clarissa Renos Françoise Prévost 1970 Queens of Evil Bibiana Ida Galli 1970 Shadow of Illusion Gail Bland Daniela Giordano 1971 Blackie the Pirate Isabel Silvia Monti 1971 The Feast of Satan Andrea Teresa Gimpera 1971 Slaughter Hotel Anne Palmieri Rosalba Neri 1971 The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh Carol Cristina Airoldi 1972 The Case of the Bloody Iris Mizar Harrington Carla Brait 1972 Don't Torture a Duckling Maciara Florinda Bolkan 1972 Manhunt Trini Francesca Romana Coluzzi 1972 The Red Queen Kills Seven Times Lulu Palm Sybil Danning 1972 Seven Blood-Stained Orchids Elena Marchi Rossella Falk 1972 Shadows Unseen Simona Marilù Tolo 1972 Smile Before Death Gianna Rosalba Neri 1972 So Sweet, So Dead Rossella Jessica Dublin 1973 Amarcord Mathematics Teacher Dina Adorni 1973 Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eyes Suzanne Doris Kunstmann 1973 Torso Prostitute Rosaria Della Femmina 1973 War Goddess Oreitheia Sabine Sun 1974 The Arena Cornelia Rosalba Neri 1974 The Eerie Midnight Horror Show Luisa Lucretia Love 1974 The Last Desperate Hours Laura Monachesi Silvia Monti 1974 Spasmo Clorinda Monica Monet 1974 White Fang to the Rescue Katie Gisela Hahn 1974 What Have They Done to Your Daughters? Mrs. Talenti Clara Zovianoff 1975 Blonde in Black Leather Miele Monica Vitti 1975 Deep Red Gianna Brezzi Daria Nicolodi 1975 Emanuelle's Revenge Emanuelle Rosemarie Lindt 1975 Eyeball Gail Alvarado Silvia Solar 1975 The Killer Must Kill Again Norma Mainardi Teresa Velázquez 1975 Season for Assassins Rossana Magali Noël 1975 Silent Action Mrs. Martinetti Loredana Nusciak 1975 Strip Nude for Your Killer Gisella Montani Giuliana Cecchini 1975 Syndicate Sadists Flora Femi Benussi 1976 The Big Racket Anna Rossetti Anna Zinnemann 1976 Black Emanuelle 2 Susan Dagmar Lassander 1976 Emanuelle in America Diana Smith Maria Piera Regoli 1976 Gestapo's Last Orgy Alma Maristella Greco 1976 My Father's Wife Laura Carroll Baker 1976 SS Camp 5 - Women's Hell Kapo Greta Patrizia Melega 1976 SS Experiment Love Camp Dr. Renke Patrizia Melega 1976 Violent Naples Gervasi's wife Maria Grazia Spina 1977 Achtung! The Desert Tigers Dr. Lessing Lea Lander 1977 Beast With a Gun Giuliana Caroli Marisa Mell 1977 Blood and Diamonds Maria Olga Karlatos 1977 The Cynic, the Rat, the Fist Maria Balzano Gabriella Giorgelli 1977 Messalina, Messalina Agrippina Lory Wagner 1977 Return of the 38 Gang Rosy Dagmar Lassander 1977 Suspiria Olga Barbara Magnolfi 1977 The Pajama Girl Case Quint's Neighbor Vanessa Vitale 1977 Watch Me When I Kill Esmeralda Messori Bianca Toccafondi 1978 Blazing Flowers Nadina Anna Maria Rizzoli 1978 The Bloodstained Shadow Signora Nardi Juliette Mayniel 1978 The Killer Nun Sister Gertrude Anita Ekberg 1978 Satan's Blood Mary Sandra Alberti 1978 The War of the Robots Lois Malisa Longo 1979 Beyond the Darkness Iris Franca Stoppi 1979 Escape From Hell Katie Cintia Lodetti 1979 Hotel Paradise Muriel Ajita Wilson 1979 Tigers in Lipstick Maria Monica Vitti 1980 Anthropophagus Julie Tisa Farrow 1980 The Day of the Cobra Lola Lecinia Lentini 1980 Erotic Nights of the Living Dead Fiona Dirce Funari 1980 Hell of the Living Dead Josie Esther Mesina 1980 Inferno Carol Alida Valli 1980 Macabre Jane Baker Bernice Stegers 1981 Absurd Mrs. Bennett Hanja Kochansky 1981 Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror Evelyn Mariangela Giordano 1981 The House by the Cemetery Laura Gittleson Dagmar Lassander 1981 Murder Obsession Glenda Anita Strindberg 1982 Piranha II: The Spawning Jai Carole Davis 1982 Ator, the Fighting Eagle Indun Laura Gemser 1982 Nathalie Della Jackson Grazia De Giorgi 1982 The New York Ripper Scellenda's landlady Rita Silva 1982 Pieces Grace Hilda Fuchs 1982 The Scorpion with Two Tails Heather Hull Wandisa Guida 1982 Sweet Body of Bianca Jill Grazia De Giorgi 1982 The Sword of the Barbarians Aki Yvonne Fraschetti 1982 Violence in a Women's Prison Hertha Françoise Perrot 1983 The Final Executioner Edra Marina Costa 1983 Hell Behind Bars The Warden Rita Silva 1983 Hell Penitentiary Warden Landers Rita Silva 1983 The Seven Magnificent Gladiators Lucilla Mandy Rice-Davies 1983 Throne of Fire Princess Valkari Sabrina Siani 1983 Women's Prison Massacre Albina Ursula Flores 1984 Monster Dog Sandra 1984 The Violent Breed Madame Fra Danika La Loggia 1985 Jungle Raiders Maria Janez Marina Costa 1985 Miami Golem Joanna Fitzgerald Laura Trotter 1985 Phenomena Frau Brückner Daria Nicolodi 1986 Bridge to Hell Vanja Francesca Ferré 1986 The Devil's Honey Carol Simpson Corinne Cléry 1986 The Kiss of the Cobra Maria Milly D'Abbraccio 1987 Iron Warrior Deeva Iris Peynado 1988 The Murder Secret Nora Hamilton Adriana Russo 1988 Ratman Terry Janet Ågren 1988 The Red Monks Ramona Curtis Lara Wendel 1989 Alien From the Deep Jane Marina Giulia Cavalli 1989 The Bronx Executioner Margie Margit Evelyn Newton 1989 The House of Lost Souls Daria Licia Colò 1989 The House of Witchcraft Sharon Mason Marina Giulia Cavalli 1991 Millions Margherita Florinda Bolkan 1991 Voices From Beyond Hilda Mainardi Frances Nacman 1995 The Strange Story of Olga O. Sheila Altman Florinda Bolkan