Lydia Alfonsi, born Lidia (Parma, April 27, 1928 — Parma, September 21, 2022)[1], was a great interpreter of the silver screen and in theater, but above all her name has linked to the sixties Rai television dramas, where she achieve notoriety for her dramatic interpretations.
She revealed herself to the television audience in 1960 as the protagonist of La Pisana, a script produced by Rai to celebrate the centenary of the Unification of Italy, based on Le confessioni di un italiano by Ippolito Nievo. Then she interpreted the dramas taken from literary works such as Mastro Don Gesualdo (1964), from the novel by Verga, Luisa Sanfelice (1966), from the novel by Dumas, and Il segreto di Luca (1969), from the novel by Ignazio Silone.[1]
Her first amateur experiences as an actress was in Parma with the theater group Gioventù studentesca and then with the amateur dramatics troupe Gli amici della prosa, with which she staged Luigi Pirandello's piece Il piacere dell'onestà. With this comedy she participated in a national competition in Pesaro, where she was awarded as best leading actress and where she was noticed by the director Anton Giulio Bragaglia, present in the jury and who engaged her in his troupe.[1]
Her theatrical debut as a professional actress took place in 1946, with Anna Christie by Eugene O'Neill, directed by Bragaglia. She continued to act in the theater for over 30 years: in 1957 she was in the cast of Il servitore di due padroni together with Marcello Moretti under the direction of Giorgio Strehler. Thanks to her skills as a dramatic actress, she has interpreted many classical roles, such as Medea, Elettra, Elena, Fedra and has also linked her name to the most important Italian theaters, such as the Piccolo Teatro of Milan and the Teatro Stabile of Genoa.[1]
She has acted in every type of film. Among her about thirty titles, there are: Vita da cani (1950) by Steno and Monicelli, La legge (1958) by Jules Dassin, Morgan il pirata (1960) by Primo Zeglio, La guerra di Troia (1961) by Giorgio Ferroni, Un uomo da bruciare (1962) by Valentino Orsini and Taviani brothers, I tre volti della paura - segment "Il telefono" (1963) by Mario Bava, Faccia a faccia (1967) by Sergio Sollima (1967), Porte aperte (1990) by Gianni Amelio. Her last appearance was in Roberto Benigni's award-winning movie La vita è bella (1997), in the role of the Mrs. Guicciardini.
Biographical note[5, 6]
- Height: 1,69 m.
- Foreign languages: French, Spanish, English.
- She lived in Rome, in via Cassia, 595.
Awards
- In 1970 she received the award as the best Italian television actress from French critics.[1]
- Awarded with the Pisa National Literary Prize Galeone d'oro.[2]
- In May 15, 1979 she had been awarded with the title of Grand Officer of the Italian Republic by the President Sandro Pertini.[3]
- In 2009 she received the Milan Palazzo Liberty Lifetime Achievement Award.[4]
Filmography
- I tre volti della paura - ep.: Il telefono (1963) .... Mary
Gallery
Notes and sources
1. Morta l'attrice Lydia Alfonsi, da 'La Pisana' a 'La vita è bella' di Benigni on La Repubblica.it. 2. Albo d'oro Premio Nazionale Letterario Pisa on Premio nazionale letterario Pisa.onweb.it. 3. Archivio storico della Presidenza della Repubblica. 4. È morta Lydia Alfonsi, aveva recitato ne La vita è bella on SkyTg24.it. 5. Dante Lazzaro. Cineguida 1961. 6. Dante Lazzaro. Cineguida 1963-64. 7. Ferraù, Onorati. Annuario degli attori 1976. 8. Ferraù, Onorati. Annuario degli attori 1987-88. |