Gianna Maria Canale was a leading lady in Italian and European films, active between the years 1946-1964.
She was born on September 12th 1927 in Reggia di Calabria, Italy. According to the US press release for Teodora, her father was a "retired civil servant" and she had green eyes. IMDb reports her height as being 1.73 m (5' 8").
Many sources list her film debut as being in Riccardo Freda's Aquila nera in 1956, while there are other mentions of her appearing in Rigoletto the same year, however both of these are currently unconfirmed. The following year she came to public attention as winner of the Miss Florence contest, which led to her being the runner-up in the 1947 Miss Italia contest.
In 1948 she worked with director Riccardo Freda in 2 productions in leading roles. They became romantically involved which caused some scandal since Freda was already married. The next year they moved to Brazil together, where they also made a film. Some sources say they were married there, others dispute this saying they never married. Canale was not happy in Brazil and before long they were back in Italy.
In all the couple made 14 films together, the last being I vampiri in 1957. According to a 1970 interview of Freda with Luigi Cozzi, they had a very bitter and acrimonious split, with Canale locking Freda from his house and taking his possessions. It is unclear when exactly this split occurred, but it was presumably after their final film together.
Gianna Maria became the true queen of swashbucklers and peplums, which comprise more than half her filmography, and I can say with some authority that she appeared in more historically-themed films than any other actress. Her slightly stern beauty and tough demeanour tended to get her cast as queens, duchesses, countesses, tsarinas and, erm, pirates!
In 1964, at the age of 37, she was reportedly in a serious car accident, which left her temporarily disfigured by facial paralysis, however other sources suggest she retired due to dissatisfaction with her career. In either case she retired to the tiny island of Giannutri, where she shunned publicity and refused to be photographed, apparently remaining there for the rest of her life.
Gianna Maria died in Sutri, Italy on February 13th 2009, at the age of 81.
- Guarany .... Jacqueline (poster credit - role unconfirmed)
- Il cavaliere misterioso .... Countess Lehmann (credited)
1949 - Il bacio di una morta .... Nora O'Kira (credited as "Gianna M. Canale")
- Il conte Ugolino .... Emilia (credited)
- O Caçula do Barulho .... role? (credited)
- Totò le mokò .... Viviane de Valance (credited)
1950 - Il figlio di d'Artagnan .... Linda (poster credit as "Maria Canale" - role unconfirmed)
1951 - Go for Broke! .... Rosina (credited as "Gianna Canale")
- Il tradimento .... Luisetta (credited)
- La vendetta di Aquila Nera .... Tatiana Cernicevskij (credited)
1952 - I grandi peccatori (L'eterna catena) .... Maria Raneri (credited)
- La leggenda del piave .... Countess Giovanna Dolfin (poster credit - role unconfirmed)
1953 - Allarme a sud .... Nathalie Provence (poster credit - role unconfirmed)
- Dramma nella Kasbah .... Lorraine Beloyan (credited)
- Spartaco .... Sabina Crassus (credited)
- Vedi Napoli e poi muori .... Marisa Meris (poster credit - role unconfirmed)
1954 - L'ombra .... Elena (poster credit - role unconfirmed)
- Madame du Barry .... Duchess de Grammont (credited)
- Teodora, imperatrice di Bisanzio .... Teodora (credited)
1955 - Il coraggio .... Susy (credited)
- Napoléon .... Pauline Borghese (credited as "Giana-Maria Canale")
1956 - Donne sole .... Mara (credited)
- La castellana del Libano .... Countess Athelstane Orloff (poster credit - role unconfirmed)
- Le schiave di Cartagine .... Giulia Marzia (credited)
1957 - I vampiri .... Giselle du Grand / Margherita du Grand (credited)
- Il corsaro della Mezza Luna .... Infanta Caterina (credited)
- La Gerusalemme liberata .... Armida (credited)
1958 - La rivolta dei gladiatori .... Amira (credited)
- Le fatiche di Ercole .... Antea (credited)
- The Silent Enemy .... Conchita (credited)
- The Whole Truth .... Gina Bertini (credited)
1959 - I cavalieri del diavolo .... Baroness Elaine of Faldone (credited)
1960 - Gli avventurieri dei tropici .... Libertad (poster credit - role unconfirmed)
- Il conquistatore d'Oriente .... Zobeida (credited)
- L'ultimo zar .... Czarina Alexandra (credited)
- La regina delle Amazzoni .... The Amazon Queen (credited)
- La Venere dei pirati .... Sandra (credited)
1961 - Il conquistatore di Corinto .... Artimide (credited)
- Maciste contro il vampiro .... Astra (credited)
- The Treasure of Monte Cristo .... Lucetta Di Marca (credited)
1962 - Il figlio di Spartacus .... Claudia (credited)
- Il guascone .... Princess Fausta Borgia (credited)
- La tigre dei sette mari .... Consuelo (credited)
1963 - Il boom .... Silvia Alberti (credited)
- Il leone di San Marco .... Rosanna (credited)
- Le avventure di Scaramouche .... Suzanne (credited)
1964 - Il ponte dei sospiri .... Imperia (credited)
- Il treno del sabato .... Luisa Mancini (poster credit - role unconfirmed)
- Italy's Film Stars meet the Queen (1957) Newsreel footage
- Aquila nera (1946) IMDb / Wikipedia
- Rigoletto (1946) IMDb lists "Anna Marie Canale" as being credited in this and the film below, while the comments mention it as being Gianna Maria's film debut. The title is also found on various other filmographies.
- Madame Butterfly (1954) Mubi