Lorella De Luca

Lorella De Luca (17 September 1940 – 9 January 2014) was an Italian actress. One of the most recognized ingénues of Italian cinema during the mid-to-late 1950s, she is best known for having played naive young girls in dramas and comedies.

She was born in Florence, Italy, and, following her "discovery" at age 14, made her acting debut in the Federico Fellini film Il bidone (1955). De Luca's breakout role, however, came a year later following her performance in Dino Risi's comedy 'Poor, But Handsome (1956) and continued on in the genre, with appearances in Mario Monicelli films Fathers and Sons (1957) and Doctor and the Healer (1957), as well as in Duccio Tessari's spaghetti Westerns A Pistol for Ringo (1965) and its sequel The Return of Ringo (1965) with Giuliano Gemma.

Biography Lorella De Luca was born in Florence, Italy on 17 September 1940. "Discovered" at the age of fourteen by a director who followed De Luca home, and convinced her father that she should be in films, she made her feature film debut in Federico Fellini's Il bidone (1955) as Patrizia, the young daughter of middle-aged con man Augusto (Broderick Crawford). She subsequently attended the prestigious "Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia" (Experimental Cinematography Centre) in Rome, and the following year appeared in what would be her breakout role in Dino Risi's Poor, But Handsome (1956) alongside other young actors Marisa Allasio, Renato Salvatori and Maurizio Arena. The success of the film made De Luca one of the most popular ingenues of Italian cinema; her freshness and grace endeared her to the public.

De Luca was one of several women romantically involved with her Poor, But Handsome co-star Maurizio Arena. She co-starred with Arena in Il principe fusto (1960), a film which he co-wrote, produced and directed. Their relationship created a minor scandal when it was revealed by the Italian media that Arena, after publicly announcing his intention to wed Anna Maria Pierangeli, was also engaged to De Luca.

She specialized in the character of the naive young girl, a kind of an Italian Sandra Dee, and appeared in a series of hit comedies: Fathers and Sons (1957) and The Doctor and the Sorcerer (1957) by Mario Monicelli, the latter starring Vittorio de Sica and Marcello Mastroianni, Sunday Is Always Sunday (1958) by Camillo Mastrocinque, First Love (1958) by Mario Camerini, Gianni Franciolini's romantic comedy Love on the Riviera (1958), and many others. and its sequel, The Return of Ringo, both directed by her future husband Duccio Tessari. De Luca appeared in nine other films directed by her husband, most notably, Una voglia da morire (1965) and Kiss Kiss...Bang Bang (1966), between 1965 and 1978. After 1967, with the birth of their two daughters Federica and Fiorenza Tessari, in addition to her losing interest as a character actor, she accepted only occasional parts during the next decade.

Her last acting roles were in The Fifth Commandment (1978)

Filmography As an actress Year Title Role Notes 1955 Il Bidone Patrizia 1956 Roland the Mighty Alda / Aude 1957 Poor, But Handsome Marisa Toccacieli also known as Poor, But BeautifulA Tailor's Maid Marcella Corallo Sette canzoni per sette sorelle Giulietta The Mysteries of Paris Maria, la Cantante Doctor and the Healer Clamide also known as A Tailor's MaidPretty But Poor Marisa Toccacieli also known as Poor Girl, Pretty GirlL'ultima violenza Lisa Carani Gente felice Gioia Dinanzi a noi il cielo Amichetta di Tom 1958 Napoli sole mio! Lorella Sunday Is Always Sunday Maria Luisa Gastaldi El hombre del paraguas blanco Esperanza Il bacio del sole Teresa Girls for the Summer Lina also known as Love on the RivieraTuppe tuppe, Marescià! Maria Paoletti 1959 First Love Francesca Sheba and the Gladiator Bathsheba, the Vestal Poor Millionaires Marisa Ciao, ciao bambina! Proietti, Gloria Wild Cats on the Beach Lisa La duchessa di Santa Lucia Fernanda, la nipote di Carmela Quanto sei bella Roma Lorella Agosto, donne mie non vi conosco Anna Moriconi 1960 Il principe fusto Angela Caccia al marito Giulia 1961 Beauty on the Beach Apolytrosis Eleni 1962 Charge of the Black Lancers Samal Taras Bulba, the Cossack Natalia La notte dell'innominato 1963 The Shortest Day Erede Siciliana UncreditedShéhérazade 1964 Le fils de Tarass Boulba Nadia 1965 Una voglia da morire Marisa A Pistol for Ringo Miss Ruby as Hally HammondThe Return of Ringo Helen Brown / Hally Fitzgerald as Hally Hammond 1966 Kiss Kiss...Bang Bang Frida Kadar 1967 Per amore... per magia... 1971 The Bloodstained Butterfly Marta Clerici 1974 Tough Guys Anne Lombardo 1976 Sexycop 1978 The Fifth Commandment Mutter Redder 1993 Bonus malus Signora Altoviti 2009 A Greek Western Tragedy Herself Video documentary short

As an assistant director Year Title Role Notes 1978 Death Occurred Last Night (assistant director) 1978 Winged Devils (assistant director) 1990 There Was a Castle with Forty Dogs (first assistant director)

Television Year Title Role Notes 1984 Nata d'amore TV mini-series