Virna Lisi

File:Virna Lisi in Duel of the Titans (1961).jpg (1961)]]

Born in Ancona, Lisi began her film career in her teens. Discovered in Rome by two Neapolitan producers, Antonio Ferrigno and Ettore Pesce, she debuted in La corda d'acciaio (The Steel Rope, 1953). Initially, she appeared in musical films like E Napoli canta (Naples Sings, 1953) and Questa è la vita (Of Life and Love, 1954, with Totò). While initially cast in roles highlighting her physical appearance, such as Le diciottenni (Eighteen Year Olds) and Lo scapolo (The Bachelor), both released in 1955, she went on to more demanding roles, particularly in The Doll That Took the Town (1956), Eva (1962), and the spectacle Romolo e Remo (1961).

In the late 1950s, Lisi performed on stage at Piccolo Teatro di Milano in I giacobini by Federico Zardi under the direction of Giorgio Strehler. During the 1960s, Lisi appeared in comedies and participated in television dramas that were widely viewed in Italy. Lisi also promoted a toothpaste brand on television with a slogan that would become a catchphrase among Italians: "con quella bocca può dire ciò che vuole" (with such a mouth, she can say whatever she wants).{{cite web|url=http://www.archivio.raiuno.rai.it/schede/9029/902921.htm|title=Virna Lisi|language=it|publisher=Rai Uno|access-date=22 December 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130705051305/http://www.archivio.raiuno.rai.it/schede/9029/902921.htm|archive-date=5 July 2013|df=dmy-all}}

Though she turned down the Tatiana Romanova role in From Russia with Love (1963),{{Cite web|url=https://www.ilsussidiario.net/news/cinema-televisione-e-media/2018/7/22/virna-lisi-quando-disse-di-no-a-james-bond-e-a-playboy-techetechete/831469/|title=VIRNA LISI/ Quando disse di no a James Bond e a Playboy... (Techetechetè)|date=22 July 2018|website=IlSussidiario.net}} Hollywood producers sought a new Marilyn Monroe and so, Lisi debuted in Hollywood comedy as a green-eyed blonde temptress with Jack Lemmon in How to Murder Your Wife (1965) and appeared with Tony Curtis in Not with My Wife, You Don't! (1966). Lisi then starred with Frank Sinatra, in Assault on a Queen (1966), in The Girl and the General, co-starring with Rod Steiger, and in two films with Anthony Quinn, The Secret of Santa Vittoria, directed by Stanley Kramer, and the war drama The 25th Hour. She garnered attention for a photo of her 'shaving' her face that appeared on the March 1965 cover of Esquire magazine.

File:VirnaLisi2.png (1966)]]

To overcome her typecasting playing seductresses, Lisi sought new types of roles, of evil women or of a lover in relationships of disparate age for example. In those years, she participated in Italian productions, in Casanova 70 and Le bambole (1965), Arabella (1967), and Le dolci signore (1968). She turned down the part played by Jane Fonda in Roger Vadim’s Barbarella (1968).{{Cite news |last=Santora |first=Marc |date=2014-12-19 |title=Virna Lisi, Italian Actress Lured to Hollywood, Dies at 78 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/19/arts/virna-lisi-actress-who-rose-in-60s-dies-at-78.html |access-date=2023-03-26 |issn=0362-4331}} Lisi also starred in The Birds, the Bees and the Italians (1966) which shared the Grand Prix (then equivalent to the Palme d'Or, which was not awarded at the time) with A Man and a Woman at the Cannes Film Festival that year.{{cite web|last=Codelli|first=Lorenzo|url=https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/infos-communiques/info/articles/italian-films-at-cannes-1960-1999-2-3|title=Italian Films at Cannes 1960–1990 (2/3)|date=13 February 2018|access-date=1 April 2019}}

She told The New York Sunday Times that after marrying Franco Pesci, an Italian builder and architect, she briefly retired from acting in the early 1970s to spend more time with her husband and their son, Corrado. Nonetheless, Lisi's career underwent a renaissance with a number of projects, including Al di là del bene e del male (1977), Ernesto (1979), and La cicala (1980). For the film La Reine Margot (1994), Lisi's portrayal of Catherine de' Medici won her both the César and Cannes Film Festival awards,{{cite web|url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2959/year/1994.html|title=Festival de Cannes: Queen Margot|access-date=27 August 2009|work=festival-cannes.com}} along with a Silver Ribbon for Best Supporting Actress. In 2002, Lisi starred in Il più bel giorno della mia vita. Lisi then participated in many sitcoms and TV series. Her last movie was in the Italian comedy drama Latin Lover in 2014, shortly before her death.

She was married to Franco Pesci, an Italian property developer and architect. They were married for 53 years until his death, a year before her. After her marriage she briefly retired from acting, saying: "My husband was not very happy about my career, Franco is a jealous man — thank God! After we married he tried to take me away from all this movie business." She said he eventually relented.

On 18 December 2014, Lisi died of lung cancer in Rome at age 78.{{cite news|work=Variety|url=https://variety.com/2014/film/news/italian-actress-virna-lisi-dies-at-78-1201382484|title=Italian Actress Virna Lisi Dies At 78|last=Vivarelli|first=Nick|date=18 December 2014}} She is survived by a son, Corrado Pesci, and three grandchildren.

The Argentinian band Sumo (led by Luca Prodan) made a song for her, "{{ill|TV Caliente a.k.a. Virna Lisi|es}}" (1986), composed by Luca Prodan, whose brother, the actor Andrea Prodan, appeared with her in the movie I ragazzi di via Panisperna (1988). A Brazilian rock band named {{ill|Virna Lisi (band)|pt|Virna Lisi (banda)|lt=Virna Lisi}} (1989–1997) was named after her. Meilland International SA named a rose after her in 1989.

• Cenerentola (1961) as Cenerentola
• {{ill|Il caso Maurizius|it|Il caso Maurizius (miniserie televisiva 1961)}} (1961)
• {{ill|Una tragedia americana|it|Una tragedia americana (miniserie televisiva)}} (1962) as Sondra Finchley
• Christopher Columbus (1985) as Dona Moniz Perestrello
• {{ill|Uno di noi|it|Uno di noi (serie televisiva)}} (1996)
• Desert of Fire (1997) as Christine Duvivier
• {{ill|Balzac (TV miniseries)|fr|3=Balzac (mini-série)|lt=Balzac}} (1999) as Laure de Berny
• {{ill|Rock Crystal (1999 film)|de|Bergkristall – Verirrt im Schnee|lt=Rock Crystal}} (1999) as Sanna
• Le ali della vita (2000) as Sorella Alberta
• Piccolo mondo antico (2001) as Marchesa Orsola
• Il bello delle donne (2001) as Contessa Miranda Spadoni
• Caterina e le sue figlie (2005–2010) as Caterina
• L'onore e il rispetto (2006) as Ersilia Fortebracci

David di Donatello
Best Actress
1980: The Cricket
Best Supporting Actress
1983: Time for Loving

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{{Prix d'interprétation féminine 1980–1999}}

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Category:1936 births

Category:2014 deaths

Category:Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress winners

Category:David di Donatello winners

Category:Ciak d'oro winners

Category:Italian film actresses

Category:Italian stage actresses

Category:Italian television actresses

Category:Nastro d'Argento winners

Category:David di Donatello Career Award winners

Category:20th-century Italian actresses

Category:21st-century Italian actresses

Category:Best Supporting Actress César Award winners

Category:People from Ancona

Category:Actresses from le Marche

Category:Deaths from lung cancer in Lazio

Category:Burials at the Cimitero Flaminio