Isabella Rossellini

Rossellini was born in Rome, the daughter of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman, who was of Swedish and German descent, and Italian director Roberto Rossellini, who was born in Rome from a family originally from Pisa, Tuscany. She has three siblings from her mother: her fraternal twin sister Isotta Ingrid Rossellini, who is an adjunct professor of Italian literature, a brother, Robertino Ingmar Rossellini;{{cite news | url=http://guide.supereva.it/registi_cinema/interventi/2010/06/isabella-rossellini-happy-birthday-18-giugno-2010 | title=Isabella Rossellini: Happy Birthday!!! 18 giugno 2010 | publisher=SuperEva.it | first=Alessia | last=Mocci | date=18 June 2010 | access-date=14 May 2011 | archive-date=10 February 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210144648/http://guide.supereva.it/registi_cinema/interventi/2010/06/isabella-rossellini-happy-birthday-18-giugno-2010 | url-status=dead }} and a half-sister, Pia Lindström, who formerly worked on television and is from her mother's first marriage with Petter Lindström. She has four other siblings from her father's two other marriages: Romano (who died at age nine), Renzo, Gil, and Raffaella.{{Cite news |title=Like Father... |url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/venice/story/0,,1299861,00.html |work=Guardian Unlimited |date=6 September 2004 |access-date=29 January 2007 |location=London |first=Geoffrey |last=MacNab |archive-date=14 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014070626/http://film.guardian.co.uk/venice/story/0,,1299861,00.html |url-status=live }} Growing up, she received "a liberal Catholic education".{{cite news|url=https://nypost.com/2000/09/16/isabella-rossellini-goes-into-training-to-play-a-jewish-mother-weighty-cultural-baggage|work=New York Post|first=Barbara|last=Hoffman|title=Isabella Rossellini Goes Into Training To Play A Jewish Mother Weighty Cultural Baggage|date=16 September 2000|access-date=24 September 2020|archive-date=20 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820145201/https://nypost.com/2000/09/16/isabella-rossellini-goes-into-training-to-play-a-jewish-mother-weighty-cultural-baggage/|url-status=live}}

File:Ingrid-Bergman-is-visited-by-children-Robertino-Isabella-and-Isotta-Ingrid-352029841260.jpg.]]

Rossellini was raised in Rome, as well as in Santa Marinella and Paris. She underwent an operation for appendicitis at the age of five.{{cite news|title=Ingrid and Daughter have Tearful Reunion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-_MhAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22+%22Ingrid+and+Daughter+have+Tearful+Reunion%22%22&pg=PA1|newspaper=The Tuscaloosa News|date=10 July 1957}} At 11, she was diagnosed with scoliosis.{{cite book|last=Rossellini|first=Isabella|title=Some of Me|year=1997|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-0-679-45252-2|url=https://archive.org/details/someofme00ross|url-access=registration|quote=When I was eleven years old, I was diagnosed with scoliosis.|chapter=Deformity}} To correct it, she had to undergo an 18-month ordeal of painful stretchings, body casts and surgery on her spine using pieces of one of her shin bones.{{citation needed|date=March 2011}} Consequently, she has incision scars on her back and shin.

At 19, she went to New York City, where she attended Finch College, while working as a translator and as a television reporter for RAI.{{cite book|last1=Martone|first1=Eric|title=Italian Americans: The History and Culture of a People|date=2016|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781610699952|page=291|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MHJ1DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA291|access-date=25 April 2017|language=en|archive-date=5 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240305181011/https://books.google.com/books?id=MHJ1DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA291|url-status=live}} She also appeared intermittently on L'altra Domenica (The Other Sunday), a TV show featuring Roberto Benigni. However, she decided not to stay full-time in New York until her marriage to Martin Scorsese (1979–1982), whom she met when she interviewed him for RAI.{{cite news|last1=Wolf|first1=William|title=Heiress to Greatness|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EOgCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA44|access-date=25 April 2017|work=New York Magazine|date=9 August 1982|archive-date=5 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240305181018/https://books.google.com/books?id=EOgCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA44#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}

At the age of 28, her modeling career began, when she was photographed by Bruce Weber for British Vogue and by Bill King for American Vogue. During her career, she has also worked with many other renowned photographers, including Richard Avedon, Steven Meisel, Helmut Newton, Peter Lindbergh, Norman Parkinson, Eve Arnold, Francesco Scavullo, Annie Leibovitz, Denis Piel, and Robert Mapplethorpe. Her image has appeared on such magazines as Marie Claire, Harper's Bazaar, Vanity Fair, and Elle. In March 1988, an exhibition dedicated to photographs of her, called Portrait of a Woman, was held at the Musee d'Art Moderne in Paris.

Rossellini's modeling career led her into the world of cosmetics, when she became the exclusive spokesmodel for the French cosmetics brand Lancôme in 1982, replacing Nancy Dutiel in the United States and Carol Alt in Europe. At Lancôme, in 1990, she was involved in product development for the fragrance Trésor. In 1996, when she was 43, she was removed as the face of Lancôme for being "too old". In 2016, at the age of 63, she was rehired by Lancôme's new female CEO, Francoise Lehmann, as a global brand ambassador for the company.{{Cite news|url=http://brandchannel.com/2018/02/23/lancome-isabella-rossellini-campaign-022318/|title=Lancôme Celebrates Timeless Beauty With Isabella Rossellini|date=23 February 2018|work=Brandchannel|access-date=23 March 2018|archive-date=1 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180401183218/http://brandchannel.com/2018/02/23/lancome-isabella-rossellini-campaign-022318/|url-status=dead}}

In October 1992, Rossellini modelled for Madonna's controversial book Sex. Rossellini also appeared in Madonna's music video for her successful Top 5 hit song "Erotica", released in autumn 1992.{{cite web|url=https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xjhtlq|title=Madonna - Erotica|website=Daily Motion}}{{Dead link|date=September 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Rossellini was the inaugural brand ambassador for the Italian Silversea Cruises company in 2004, and she appeared in print ads and on their website. Barbara Muckermann, the senior vice-president of worldwide marketing and communications in 2004, said at the time of the announcement, "Isabella is the ideal personification of Silversea's exclusive standard of elegance, glamour and sophistication."{{cite web |url=http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=1189 |title=News: Actress Isabella Rossellini Joins Silversea |access-date=9 February 2007 |work=Cruise Critic News |date=11 October 2004 |archive-date=27 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927005855/http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=1189 |url-status=live }}{{cite web|title=Silversea Cruises signs up Isabella Rossellini|url=http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/silversea-cruises-signs-up-isabella-rossellini/2012428.article|work=Marketing Week|access-date=17 February 2014|date=21 October 2004|archive-date=22 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222043553/http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/silversea-cruises-signs-up-isabella-rossellini/2012428.article|url-status=live}}

File:Isabella Rossellini.jpg in Berlin in 1992 to shoot some scenes for the film The Innocent]]

Rossellini made her film debut with a brief appearance as a nun opposite her mother in the 1976 film A Matter of Time. Her first role was the 1979 film Il Prato, and then in 1980 she appeared in Renzo Arbore's film Il pap'occhio with her then husband Martin Scorsese.

Following her mother's death in 1982, Rossellini was cast in her first American film, White Nights (1985). This was followed by her notable role as the tortured nightclub singer Dorothy Vallens in the David Lynch film Blue Velvet, in which she also contributed her own singing. Other significant film roles during this period include her work in Cousins (1989), Death Becomes Her (1992), Fearless (1993), and Immortal Beloved (1994). In 1996, she appeared as herself in an episode of the TV series Friends called "The One with Frank Jr."

In 2003, Rossellini was a recurring character on the television series Alias. In that same year, she also appeared in the Canadian film The Saddest Music in the World, directed by Guy Maddin. In 2004, she played the High Priestess Thar in the Sci-Fi Channel miniseries Legend of Earthsea, and the director Robert Lieberman stated that Rossellini "brings a very big persona to the screen. She carries a great deal of beauty. We needed someone who had a feeling of authority to be this kind of mother superior type and at the same time not be totally dour and unattractive."{{cite news|title=Isabella Rossellini brings her legendary looks to Sci Fi Channel's 'Earthsea' fantasy miniseries|url=http://www.tdtnews.com/archive/article_7de97b89-de21-5442-bff4-57fd0401a0a9.html|access-date=17 February 2014|newspaper=Temple Daily Telegram|date=12 December 2004|archive-date=17 February 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140217045355/http://www.tdtnews.com/archive/article_7de97b89-de21-5442-bff4-57fd0401a0a9.html|url-status=live}}

In 2006, Rossellini appeared in several television documentaries. First, she narrated a two-hour television special on Italy for the Discovery Channel's Discovery Atlas series. Then, alongside Segway PT inventor Dean Kamen, she spoke about her past and current activities on an episode of Iconoclasts, a series that featured on the Sundance Channel (known as SundanceTV from 2014 onwards), an independent film network founded by film industry veteran Robert Redford.{{cite web |url=http://www.sundancechannel.com/iconoclasts/?section=episodes&ixContent=9747 |title=Episode 4: Isabella Rossellini + Dean Kamen |access-date=29 January 2007 |work=Iconoclasts: change the way you see celebrity |publisher=Sundance Channel |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061109142040/http://www.sundancechannel.com/iconoclasts/?section=episodes&ixContent=9747 |archive-date=9 November 2006 |url-status=dead}} The Sundance Channel then purchased the 2006 Guy Maddin-directed short film My Dad Is 100 Years Old,{{cite web|title=Isabella Rossellini On Her New Motherhood Web Series, Mammas|url=http://www.papermag.com/2013/05/isabella_rossellini.php|work=Paper Mag|access-date=17 February 2014|author=Luigi Tadini|date=8 May 2013|archive-date=21 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221234931/http://www.papermag.com/2013/05/isabella_rossellini.php|url-status=live}} a tribute that Rossellini created for her father. In the film, she played almost every role, including Federico Fellini, Alfred Hitchcock and her mother, Ingrid Bergman. Rossellini's twin sister, Isotta Ingrid,{{cite web|title=Twins: Isabella & Isotta Ingrid|url=http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2012/5/31/twins-isabella-isotta-ingrid.html|work=The Film Experience|publisher=Nathaniel Rogers|access-date=17 February 2014|date=31 May 2012|archive-date=21 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021184313/http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2012/5/31/twins-isabella-isotta-ingrid.html|url-status=live}} criticized the short film, calling it an "inappropriate" tribute.{{cite news|title=Isabella Rossellini's Tribute to Her Father, Cinema's Great Neorealist Talking Belly|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/08/movies/08ross.html|access-date=17 February 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=8 May 2006|author=Caryn James|archive-date=9 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309142755/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/08/movies/08ross.html|url-status=live}}

In 2007, Rossellini guest starred on two episodes of the television show 30 Rock, playing Alec Baldwin's character's ex-wife.{{cite news|title=Pee-wee, Isabella Rossellini and Pete's temptation: This week's '30 Rock'|url=http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2007/01/peewee_isabella.html|access-date=17 February 2014|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=30 January 2007|author=Maureen Ryan|archive-date=22 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222021313/http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2007/01/peewee_isabella.html|url-status=dead}} Around the same time, Rossellini enrolled at New York University where she undertook an undergraduate degree in Art and Environmental Studies, and then pursued with a master's degree at Hunter College in New York to study animal behavior.{{cite news|title=Global Nature: Back to Her First Love|url=https://www.cuny.edu/news/global-nature-back-to-her-first-love/|access-date=25 January 2025|publisher=CUNY|date=1 January 2015|author=Richard Firstman|archive-date=22 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222021313/http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2007/01/peewee_isabella.html|url-status=dead}} Then the Sundance Channel commissioned her to contribute a short-film project to the environmental program The Green. Rossellini explained in a 2013 interview:

They contacted me again when they had allocated some money to experiment in making a web series. At first, I thought I didn't know what to say, I didn't know what to write and then thought it might be really fun to do little short films about animals. This is how the first three episodes of Green Porno came about. When I showed them the pilot, Sundance commissioned eight more. It was a huge hit!

File:Green Porno crew 2.jpg with Jody Shapiro.]]

Debuting in 2008, the first series of Green Porno had over 4 million views on YouTube and two further seasons were produced; there are 18 episodes in the series. Rossellini worked with a small budget for Green Porno and she was responsible for the scripts, helped to design the creatures, directed the episodes, and is the primary actor in the series. In each of the episodes, she acts out the mating rituals and reproductive behaviour of various animals while commentary is played.{{cite web|title=Green Porno: Isabella Rossellini|url=http://www.au.timeout.com/melbourne/theatre/events/9650/green-porno-isabella-rossellini|work=Time Out Melbourne|access-date=17 February 2014|author=Dee Jefferson|date=4 February 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222214226/http://www.au.timeout.com/melbourne/theatre/events/9650/green-porno-isabella-rossellini|archive-date=22 February 2014}}

Green Porno was followed by two other animal-themed television productions: Seduce Me: The Spawn of Green Porno and Mammas. Seduce Me: The Spawn of Green Porno is a five-episode online series that was premiered in mid-2010 and explores the topic of animal courtship. As with Green Porno, Rossellini wrote, directed and acted in the series; she is also a producer of the series. Rossellini explained in 2010, "I always wanted to make films about animals – there's not an enormous audience, but there's an enormous audience for sex."{{cite news|title=Seduce Me (VIDEO): Isabella Rossellini Takes On The Spawn Of Green Porno|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/21/seduce-me-video-isabella_n_544616.html|access-date=17 February 2014|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=21 June 2010|archive-date=22 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222215515/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/21/seduce-me-video-isabella_n_544616.html|url-status=live}}

File:Enemy 36 (9766938626).jpg]]

Mammas debuted in the United States on 12 May 2013, Mother's Day weekend there, and is a celebration of the maternal aspects of the animal world. Rossellini is again the primary actor and plays the maternal versions of animals such as spiders and hamsters.{{cite news|title=Isabella Rossellini's 'Green Porno' Follow-Up Series 'Mammas' Debuts For Mother's Day (VIDEO)|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/09/isabella-rossellini-mammas-sundance-mothers-day_n_3245861.html|access-date=17 February 2014|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=9 May 2013|author=Katherine Brooks|archive-date=22 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222215520/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/09/isabella-rossellini-mammas-sundance-mothers-day_n_3245861.html|url-status=live}} Rossellini explained in a 2013 interview part of the research process for Mammas: "First of all it's about diversity. When talking about motherhood, I would find examples of ten different species that either don't get pregnant in the belly but in the mouth or back. Or species that abandon their children all-together so that I don't tell ten stories that are too similar."

After the completion of her Green Porno productions, Rossellini acted in the film Enemy, with Jake Gyllenhaal, which was shown at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Rossellini praised the film during a TIFF interview: "I love the subtlety of the film. It reminded me of Kafka. It's very metaphysical, but yet it's also a solid thriller. It made me leap up out of my seat at the end." Rossellini also played the silent film actor Rudolph Valentino's mother{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/SilentLifeMovie/status/180522903480184832|title=Journalists keep on repeating another journalist's mistake. Isabella Rossellini does not play Valentino's wife, she plays his mother|website=Twitter|access-date=17 February 2014|author=Vlad Kozlov|date=15 March 2012|quote=Journalists keep on repeating another journalist's mistake. Isabella Rossellini does not play Valentino's wife, she plays his mother|archive-date=26 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160326011444/https://twitter.com/silentlifemovie/status/180522903480184832|url-status=live}} in Vlad Kozlov's Silent Life, a feature-length version of the director's silent, black-and-white short film Daydreams of Rudolph Valentino.{{cite news|title=Colourless and silent gems|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120318/spectrum/main8.htm|access-date=17 February 2014|newspaper=The Tribune|date=18 March 2012|author=Saibal Chatterjee|archive-date=23 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623051452/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120318/spectrum/main8.htm|url-status=live}} Kozlov's film was due for release in 2012, but, as of February 2014, the film has not been officially released.{{cite news|title=The Artist pays homage to Hollywood's silent era|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15674340|access-date=17 February 2014|newspaper=BBC News|date=17 November 2011|author=Tim Masters|archive-date=25 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150225095552/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15674340|url-status=live}}

Rossellini was the president of the jury for the 61st Berlin International Film Festival in 2011.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11130680 |title=Isabella Rossellini to head Berlin Film Festival jury |access-date=15 December 2010 |work=BBC News |date=30 August 2010 |archive-date=16 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101216080103/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11130680 |url-status=live }} In April 2015, she was announced as the president of the jury for the {{lang|fr|Un Certain Regard}} section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/article/61298.html |title=Isabella Rossellini, President of the Un Certain Regard Jury |work=Festival de Cannes |access-date=10 April 2015 |archive-date=11 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211011124/http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/article/61298.html |url-status=live }}

In 2016, Rossellini was cast as Rita Marks, the matriarch of the Marks crime family in the Hulu original series, Shut Eye.

In 2023, Rossellini was honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award at the 18th Rome Film Festival.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ansa.it/sito/notizie/topnews/2023/10/20/isabella-rossellini-premio-alla-carriera-lo-dedico-ai-miei_59a365a5-343d-4957-a14e-d1850c2515cd.html |title= Isabella Rossellini, premio alla carriera, 'lo dedico ai miei'|trans-title=Isabella Rossellini, Lifetime Achievement Award, 'I Dedicate It to My Family' |date=20 October 2023|access-date=30 September 2024 |website= Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata |language=it}}

In 2024, Rossellini received acclaim for her portrayal of Sister Agnes in the political drama, Conclave, opposite Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow, for which she received an Academy Award nomination.

On February 15, 2025, it was announced that Rossellini would be joining the cast of Ryan Murphy's upcoming television series, The Beauty.{{cite web|title=Isabella Rossellini Joins Ryan Murphy's 'The Beauty' (EXCLUSIVE)|url=https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/isabella-rossellini-ryan-murphy-the-beauty-1236309380/|work=Variety|access-date=3 March 2025|author=Ethan Shanfeld|date=15 February 2025}} On February 26, 2025, it was announced that Rossellini had been cast in Mike Newell's Wallis Simpson biopic, The Bitter End, playing opposite Joan Collins.{{cite web|title=Isabella Rossellini Joins Mike Newell's Wallis Simpson Biopic 'The Bitter End'|url=https://variety.com/2025/film/global/isabella-rossellini-mike-newell-the-bitter-end-1236321011/|work=Variety|access-date=3 March 2025|author=Alex Ritman|date=26 February 2025}} She is also set to star in Jeremiah Zagar's upcoming film The Painted Bride, alongside actors Jeremy Allen White and Mandy Patinkin.{{cite web|title=Jeremy Allen White, Mandy Patinkin & Isabella Rossellini Set For Jeremiah Zagar's 'The Painted Bride' As Charades, New Europe & WME Independent Board Sales – Cannes Market|url=https://deadline.com/2025/05/allen-white-patinkin-rossellini-zagar-painted-bride-1236381017/|work=Deadline|access-date=9 May 2025|author=Melanie Goodfellow|date=2 May 2025}}

In 2004, Rossellini acted in an Off-Broadway production of Terrence McNally's The Stendhal Syndrome, with Richard Thomas.{{cite web|title=Thomas Replaces Langella in McNally's The Stendhal Syndrome Off-Broadway|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/83271-Thomas-Replaces-Langella-in-McNallys-The-Stendhal-Syndrome-Off-Broadway|work=Playbill|access-date=17 February 2014|author=Ernio Hernandez|date=11 December 2003|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222214733/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/83271-Thomas-Replaces-Langella-in-McNallys-The-Stendhal-Syndrome-Off-Broadway|archive-date=22 February 2014}}

Rossellini's friend, Carole Bouquet, also a model who later became an actress, suggested that Green Porno could be transformed into a lecture format with a longer duration. Bouquet then introduced Rossellini to the French filmmaker and screenwriter, Jean-Claude Carrière, and they created a 70-minute-long monologue that expands upon the Green Porno films. The structure of the performance is in accordance with the types of reproductive systems:

Some animals reproduce with male and female; some animals change sex – they start female and they end male or vice-versa. Some fish do that. Some animals are hermaphrodites – they don't need anybody, they have both vaginas and penises. Then we have animals that don't need sex at all, they just clone themselves.

In the live show, Rossellini explores the topics of homosexuality ("I think society has made the mistake of seeing the act of making love or mating as an act of reproduction, when actually it is used for other things, too. Animals use it for social events, bonding, solving conflict and so on.") and maternal instincts, and has explained that her research has influenced her perspective on societal notions of beauty: "If you look at nature, there is no perfection. Everything is always evolving and adapting according to whatever the environmental pressure. The more diversity there is, the more things are going to survive."

Rossellini debuted the live version of Green Porno at the Adelaide Festival of Arts on 15 March 2014 and was warmly received by the audience. The show was the first of the 2014 program to sell out.{{cite news|first=Michaela|last=Boland|title=Isabella Rossellini's animal act wows the crowd|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/stage/isabella-rossellinis-animal-act-wows-the-crowd/story-fn9d344c-1226856344923|access-date=22 March 2014|newspaper=The Australian|date=17 March 2014|archive-date=18 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318201557/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/stage/isabella-rossellinis-animal-act-wows-the-crowd/story-fn9d344c-1226856344923|url-status=live}} Much of the production and backstage documentary footage was shot and directed by her nephew, Tommaso Rossellini.

Rossellini's "smallest circus in the world", a stage play exploring the ability of animals to think, was premiered in May 2018, at the Jerome Robbins Theater of the Baryshnikov Arts Center. The play "addresses the scientific discoveries about animal minds, intelligence, and emotions. Joined onstage by various animals portrayed by Pan, her trained dog, Rossellini transforms herself into Aristotle, Descartes, B.F. Skinner, Charles Darwin, and more, to deliver a vivid monologue about the brilliance of the animal kingdom".{{cite web|url=https://bacnyc.org/performances/performance/isabella-rossellini|title=Isabella Rossellini|date=10 May 2018|publisher=Baryshnikov Arts Center|access-date=18 February 2019|archive-date=19 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219082910/https://bacnyc.org/performances/performance/isabella-rossellini|url-status=dead}}

Rossellini performed "Link Link Circus" (as in Ring Ring) as a benefit for The Gateway Performing Arts Center of Suffolk County, in Bellport, New York, the south shore Long Island village where she is a local organic farmer. "Link Link Circus" is performed by Rossellini in a black and red ringmaster's tailcoat, with the assistance of her dog, Peter Pan, who performs a few tricks and is costumed as other animals including a chicken and a dinosaur. In addition to Rossellini and Pan, the production includes puppets, handled by puppeteer Schuyler Beeman, and still photos, home movies, animation and excerpts from her "Green Porno" film series projected on a large screen behind the set decorated with Rossellini's childhood toys, including a marionette stage and a toy upright piano, which Rossellini plays in the show. The set was designed by Andy Byers, who is also the costume designer and composer for the show. In promoting the show, which was performed twice at The Gateway, Rossellini appeared in Long Island's Newsday.{{cite web|url=https://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/long-island-events/isabella-rossellini-gateway-1.26981148|title=Isabella Rossellini in "Link Link Circus" at Gateway Playhouse|website=Newsday|access-date=18 February 2019|archive-date=18 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190218202018/https://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/long-island-events/isabella-rossellini-gateway-1.26981148|url-status=dead}} Proceeds from The Gateway production of "Link Link Circus" also benefited The Plaza Cinema & Media Arts Center, a non-profit located near Rossellini's Bellport home in Patchogue, New York.

Rossellini has been a frequent guest narrator at Disney's Candlelight Processional at Walt Disney World, most recently appearing in the 2019 and 2022 seasons.{{Cite web |url=https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2014/12/isabella-rossellini-to-narrate-the-candlelight-processional-dec-24-25/ |title=Rossellini Candlelight Narrator 2014 |access-date=2 December 2022 |archive-date=30 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220930103614/https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2014/12/isabella-rossellini-to-narrate-the-candlelight-processional-dec-24-25/ |url-status=dead }}

Rossellini is involved in conservation efforts. She is the president and director of the Howard Gilman Foundation – a leading institution focused on the preservation of wildlife, arts, photography and dance{{cite news|title=Foundation Announces 2 New Grant Programs|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0815FA3F5A0C728EDDAB0894DA404482| newspaper=The New York Times|date=21 February 2002}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.animalplanetasia.com/conservation/people/isabella_rossellini/index.shtml |title=Famous Conservationists: Isabella Rossellini |access-date=29 January 2007 |work=Animal Planet |publisher=Discovery Communications |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008222848/http://www.animalplanetasia.com/conservation/people/isabella_rossellini/index.shtml |archive-date=8 October 2007 }} – and she has been a board member of the Wildlife Conservation Network.{{cite web|url=http://www.wildnet.org/who.htm#board |title=About WCN |access-date=29 January 2007 |work=Wildlife Conservation Network |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070101085535/http://www.wildnet.org/who.htm#board |archive-date = 1 January 2007}} She received US$100,000 from Disney to help with her conservation efforts in those two organizations.{{cite web |url=http://disney.go.com/disneyhand/environmentality/dwcf/ |title=Environmentality: Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund |access-date=29 January 2007 |work=Disney Worldwide Outreach |archive-date=8 February 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208080016/http://disney.go.com/disneyhand/environmentality/dwcf/ |url-status=live }} She has also helped with the Central Park Conservancy,{{cite web|url=http://www.nrpa.org/content/default.aspx?documentId=1520 |title=Power Play - July 2004 - Isabella Rossellini |access-date=29 January 2007 |work=Park and Recreation Magazine |publisher=National Recreation and Park Association |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060521115501/http://www.nrpa.org/content/default.aspx?documentId=1520 |archive-date=21 May 2006 }} and is a major benefactor of the Bellport-Brookhaven Historical Society in Bellport, Long Island, where she is a part-time resident.{{Cite news| url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980DE2DB1539F937A1575BC0A9659C8B63&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/M/Mead,%20Julia%20C.| title=How the Gruccis' Pyrotechnics Grew |access-date=2 December 2007 |work=The New York Times | first=Julia C. | last=Mead | date=24 August 2003}}

Rossellini is involved in training guide dogs for the blind.{{cite web |url=http://www.guidedog.org/pupprog/pupprog.htm |title=Puppy Program |access-date=29 January 2007 |publisher=Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061215204206/http://www.guidedog.org/Pupprog/pupprog.htm |archive-date=15 December 2006 }}
- {{Cite news|first=Verena |last=Dobnik |title=Rossellini gains new insight from guide dog training |url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20041228/ai_n12573482 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060818142849/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20041228/ai_n12573482 |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 August 2006 |work=Chicago Sun-Times |date=28 December 2004 |access-date=29 January 2007 }} She is a former trustee of the George Eastman House and a 1997 George Eastman Award honoree for her support of film preservation.{{cite web|url=http://www.eastmanhouse.org/inc/press_room/06-05-29-1.php |title=Press Room: Isabella Rossellini visits Eastman House May 1 |access-date=29 January 2007 |date=29 March 2006 |work=George Eastman House: International Museum of Photography and Film |publisher=George Eastman House |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061001135859/http://www.eastmanhouse.org/inc/press_room/06-05-29-1.php |archive-date = 1 October 2006}} She is also a National Ambassador for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.{{cite web|url=http://www.unicefusa.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=duLRI8O0H&b=86848&ct=127636 |title=News Releases: Angela Bassett, Alyssa Milano, Isabella Rossellini, Liv Tyler and Courtney B. Vance appointed National Ambassadors for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF |access-date=29 January 2007 |date=18 November 2003 |publisher=United States Fund for UNICEF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060107074341/http://www.unicefusa.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=duLRI8O0H&b=86848&ct=127636 |archive-date=7 January 2006 }}

File:Isabella Rossellini David Lynch Cannes.jpg at the Cannes Film Festival in 1990.]]

Rossellini holds dual Italian and United States citizenship.{{Cite news |last=Rossellini |first=Isabella |date=6 November 2001 |title=In Defense of Fallaci |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A05E4D61539F935A35752C1A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014070027/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A05E4D61539F935A35752C1A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink |archive-date=14 October 2007 |access-date=9 February 2007 |newspaper=The New York Times}} She speaks Italian, French and English fluently.{{Cite magazine |date=2016-12-02 |title=All You Need to Know About Isabella Rossellini, the World's Most Uncategorizable Star |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/12/all-you-need-to-know-about-isabella-rossellini |access-date=2023-06-19 |magazine=Vanity Fair |language=en-US |archive-date=28 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328012808/https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/12/all-you-need-to-know-about-isabella-rossellini |url-status=live }} She is a naturalized American citizen.

Rossellini married filmmaker Martin Scorsese in 1979.{{cite web |url=https://movies.yahoo.com/person/isabella-rossellini/biography.html |title=Isabella Rossellini |website=Movies Yahoo! |access-date=22 June 2014 |archive-date=10 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151210212140/https://movies.yahoo.com/person/isabella-rossellini/biography.html |url-status=live }} After she and Scorsese divorced in 1982, Rossellini was married to Jon Wiedemann from 1983 to 1986.{{cite magazine|last=Marchese|first=David|date=17 April 2018|title=In Conversation: Isabella Rossellini|url=https://www.vulture.com/2018/04/isabella-rossellini-in-conversation.html|magazine=Vulture|access-date=26 August 2020|url-access=subscription|archive-date=9 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200909020908/https://www.vulture.com/2018/04/isabella-rossellini-in-conversation.html|url-status=live}} Rossellini has a daughter, Elettra Rossellini Wiedemann (born 1983), and an adopted son, Roberto (born 1993).

Filmmaker David Lynch and Rossellini were a couple from 1986 to 1991. She was also engaged to actor Gary Oldman from 1994 to 1996.{{cite news|last=Werner|first=Laurie|date=28 January 1995|title=In Search of Gary Oldman : The Actor's Onscreen Intensity Belies His Lighter Side|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-01-28-ca-25244-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|location=New York|access-date=26 August 2020|archive-date=24 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924090800/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-01-28-ca-25244-story.html|url-status=live}}

She has always lived near her twin sister Isotta Ingrid, while growing up in Rome or residing in New York City.

Rossellini raises and trains future guide dogs for the Guide Dog Foundation.{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Megan |date=24 October 2024 |title=Acclaimed Actress (and Expert Animal Behaviorist) Isabella Rossellini Reveals Her Top Dog Care Tip |url=https://people.com/actress-animal-behaviorist-isabella-rossellini-dog-tip-8733733 |access-date=29 January 2025 |work=People}}

Also in 1997, Rossellini was awarded The George Eastman Award.[http://www.eastmanhouse.org/museum/awards.php List of award recipients] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415183637/http://www.eastmanhouse.org/museum/awards.php |date=15 April 2012 }} at Eastman House web site In 1998, she received an Honourable Mention at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival for her role in the film Left Luggage. In 2013, she was awarded with the Berlinale Camera at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival. In 2016, she was granted an honorary doctorate by the Université du Québec à Montréal.{{cite news|title=Isabella Rossellini honoured by University of Quebec|url=http://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/isabella-rossellini-honoured-by-university-of-quebec-1.2860378|access-date=17 April 2016|work=CTV News|date=15 April 2016|archive-date=15 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415180641/http://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/isabella-rossellini-honoured-by-university-of-quebec-1.2860378|url-status=live}}

{{notelist}}

Rossellini has written four books:

• Some of Me (1997)
• Looking at Me (2002)
• In the name of the Father, the Daughter and the Holy Spirits: Remembering Roberto Rossellini (2006)
• My Chickens and I (2018)

The 3rd title was published as a written tribute alongside the short film, My Dad Is 100 Years Old, and used the script from the short film as its basis.{{cite news|title=Daddy dearest|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/jun/11/biography.features3|access-date=17 February 2014|newspaper=The Guardian|date=11 June 2006|first=Alex|last=Clark|archive-date=1 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801210542/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/jun/11/biography.features3|url-status=live}} To accompany the third series of Green Porno, Rossellini produced a multimedia collection that contains a book and DVD, both of which give additional information for the series' third season. These were released in 2008. Further backstage material was released filmed by her nephew, Tommaso.{{cite web

|last = Richard

|first = Michael Graham

|title = Isabella Rossellini's Green Porno Renewed for a 3rd Season and a Book

|publisher = TreeHugger

|date = 9 March 2009

|url = http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/09/green-porno-season-3-book-isabella-rossellini-sundance-channel.php

|access-date = 28 October 2009

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091212080353/http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/09/green-porno-season-3-book-isabella-rossellini-sundance-channel.php

|archive-date = 12 December 2009

}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite web |url=http://www.iconoclaststv.com/ |title=Isabella Rossellini: Biography |access-date=29 January 2007 |format=Flash |work=Iconoclasts |publisher=Sundance Channel |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070129151534/http://www.iconoclaststv.com/ |archive-date=29 January 2007 }}
• {{Cite book | author=Rossellini, Isabella | title=Some of Me | publisher=Random House | year=1997 | location=New York | isbn=0-679-45252-4 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/someofme00ross }}
• {{Cite book| author=Rossellini, Isabella| title=Looking at Me: On Pictures and Photographers | publisher=Schirmer Art | year=2002 | location=Munich | isbn=3-8296-0057-7}}
• {{Cite book| author=Rossellini, Isabella| title=In the Name of the Father, the Daughter and the Holy Spirits: Remembering Roberto Rossellini | publisher=Haus Publishing | year=2006 | location=London | isbn=1-904950-91-4}}

{{Commons category}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• {{IMDb name|618}}
• {{Tcmdb name}}
• {{Fashionmodel}}
• {{Instagram}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070926235740/http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=people&first=Isabella&middle=&last=Rossellini Isabella Rossellini] at the [http://www.iobdb.com Internet Off-Broadway Database]
• [http://ae.philly.com/entertainment/ui/philly/film.html?id=127217&reviewId=15096 Interview with Isabella Rossellini before the release of The Saddest Music in the World.]{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071014065938/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1285/is_n2_v26/ai_18082731/pg_1 Interview with Isabella Rossellini after 14 years with Lancôme]
• Graham Fuller, [http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,2072828,00.html "It's a family affair"], The Guardian, 5 May 2007. (Interview with Isabella Rossellini about her career and her parents' legacy.)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100223083731/http://www.babelgum.com/metropolisartprize The Babelgum Metropolis Art Prize, of which Isabella Rossellini is the head judge.]

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|title = Awards for Isabella Rossellini

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{{European Film Academy Achievement in World Cinema Award}}

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{{Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress}}

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Isabella