Amalia Pellegrini was a generica-actress who was active in Italian films from the mid 1930s and until the end of the 1950s.
A diminutive lady with a characteristic face dominated by a large nose and winning smile, she was most often cast as maids, but also played her fair share of grandmothers, nuns, old noblewomen etc. She mostly appeared in uncredited bit parts, but always knew how to make the most of her limited screen-time and managed to land roles in films by several of the most well-known directors, such as Luchino Visconti, Roberto Rossellini, Luigi Comencini and Alessandro Blasetti.
In the 1950s, Amalia's name began to appear more frequently in the on-screen credits, though for the most part, her roles didn't become much bigger. One notable exception was the comedy Piccola posta (1955), in which she had a memorable part as a rich old woman that Alberto Sordi keeps trying to murder in order to inherit her money. Around the same time she also appeared with Sordi in various other roles.
According to IMDb and Italian Wikipedia, she was born on 16 June 1873 in Vigevano - the source for which appears to be the Pavia e dintorni website. According to this website, "others" (whoever that's supposed to be) say she was born in Pavia in 1877. IMDb and Wikipedia also list her as having died on 13 September 1958 in New York of all places, which seems highly unlikely to be correct.
FILMOGRAPHY
- Il cappello a tre punte (uncredited) .... Maid
1938 - Voglio vivere con Letizia (uncredited) .... Housekeeper
1939 - I grandi magazzini (uncredited) .... Department store customer
1940 - Una romantica avventura (uncredited) .... Maid
1941 - Il prigioniero di Santa Cruz (uncredited) .... Maria, the maid
- L'elisir d'amore (uncredited) .... Woman at the party
1942 - Il romanzo di un giovane povero (uncredited) .... Maddalena
- Un garibaldino al convento (uncredited) .... Nun
1942 - Dagli Appennini alle Ande (uncredited) .... Rosita
- Il fidanzato di mia moglie (uncredited) .... Woman in the taxi
1944 - La Fornarina (uncredited) .... Marozia
- Sorelle Materassi (uncredited) .... The Swedish lady's maid
1945 - Lo sbaglio di essere vivo (uncredited) .... Adriano's neighbor
- Roma città aperta (uncredited) .... Boarding house maid
1946 - Un giorno nella vita (credited) .... Sister Scolastica
- Voglio bene soltanto a te! (uncredited) .... Rossi's maid
1948 - Il barone Carlo Mazza (uncredited) .... Woman at the funeral
1949 - Catene (uncredited) .... Woman who delivers secret message
- Fabiola (uncredited) .... Woman at the feast
- Monastero di Santa Chiara (uncredited) .... Aunt Ines
1950 - Faddija - La legge della venedetta (credited) .... Annarita's grandmother
- Prima comunione (uncredited) .... Guest at Carloni's house
1951 - Bellissima (credited) .... Grandmother at Cinecittà
- La famiglia Passaguai (credited) .... One of the three gossips
- La vendetta del corsaro (uncredited) .... Nun
- Signori, in carrozza! (uncredited) .... Train station employee
1952 - Altri tempi - segment "Una selezione di canzoni del tempo" (credited) .... The grandmother
- Città canora (credited as A. Pellegrini) .... Amalia, the maid
- Cuore forestiero (credited) .... Donna Carmela
1953 - Pane, amore e fantasia (uncredited) .... Matteo's grandmother
- Puccini (uncredited) .... Concierge
1954 - Amori di mezzo secolo - segment "Dopoguerra 1920" (uncredited) .... Alberto's aunt
- I tre ladri (uncredited) .... Witness at the trial
- Maddalena (uncredited) .... Filomena, the maid
- Pane, amore e gelosia (uncredited) .... Matteo's grandmother
- Peccato che sia una canaglia (credited) .... Old woman with luggage at the train station
- Questa è la vita - segment "Marsina stretta" (credited) .... Adele, the professor's maid
- Spettacolo fuori programma (TV movie) (credited) .... Wardrobe keeper
- Un americano a Roma (uncredited) .... Old woman watching TV
- Un giorno in pretura (credited as Amelia Pellegrini) .... The old rich woman
1955 - Bravissimo (credited) .... The maestro's mother
- L'intrusa (uncredited) .... Amelia, the priest's sister
- La bella mugnaia (credited) .... Donna Dolores' maid
- Piccola posta (credited) .... Donna Virginia
- Prigionieri del male (uncredited) .... Woman by the ex-voto
1956 - Cime tempestose (TV mini-series) - episode 3 (credited) .... Old woman at the ball
- Mio figlio Nerone (credited as Amelia Pellegrini) .... Agrippina's maid
- Moglie e buoi... (credited) .... Bevilacqua's maid
1957 - A vent'anni è sempre festa (poster credit) .... Role?
- La nonna Sabella (uncredited) .... Donna Valentina
- Totò, Vittorio e la dottoressa (uncredited) .... Hospital sister
1958 - Amore e chiacchiere (uncredited) .... Old woman requesting pension
- Ballerina e buon Dio (uncredited) .... Grandmother
1959 - The Nun's Story (uncredited) .... Nun
More Amalia!
Here's a list of further titles that Amalia is supposed to appear in, but for which I've not been able to find copies...
- Amicizia (1938) Wikipedia as Curious peasant woman
- L'orologio a cucù (1938) ANICA
- Il carnevale di Venezia (1939) ANICA as Curious old woman in the window
- Il ladro (1939) ANICA as Old woman with umbrella
- Un mare di guai (1939) ANICA as Procuress
- La canzone rubata (1940) ANICA
- Rosa di sangue (1940) ANICA as Mamita
- Il signore a doppio petto (1941) ANICA
- I due Foscari (1942) ANICA as Old woman in hovel
- Il ponte sull'infinito (1942) Cinematografo.it as Boarding house landlady
- Labbra serrate (1942) ANICA as D'Anzi's maid
- Dente per dente (1943) ANICA
- Gelosia (1943) ANICA as Friend of the marchese of Roccaverdina
- I dieci comandimenti (1945) ANICA
- La storia di una capinera (1945) ANICA
- Canto, ma sottovoce... (1946) ANICA as Old refugee
- Le vie del peccato (1946) ANICA as Pinna's maid
- Sperduti nel buio (1947) ANICA as Assunta, the maid
- Santo disonore (1950) ANICA as Commoner at the trial
- Carcerato (1951) ANICA
- Sentiero dell'odio (1951) ANICA as Angela, the grandmother
- Il romanzo di un giovane povero (1958) ANICA as Countess Giovanna
No Amalia!
Like always with little-known actors with large online filmographies, there are some titles that various sources list them as appearing in, but in which they are actually nowhere to be found.
- Harlem (1943) Listed at Cinematografo.it and IMDb with no role given. I couldn't find anyone that look like her.
- Io sono il Capataz (1951) Listed by ANICA with no role given. I couldn't find her, but there a lots of extras with hats, wigs etc, so I might well have missed her.
- Graziella (1954) Listed by ANICA with no role given. IMDb and Wikipedia list her with playing a noblewoman, but I couldn't find her anywhere. The print I watched was very bad, though, so I might possibly have missed her.
- L'ultimo amante (1955) Listed at IMDb as playing an old guest at the institute, but she doesn't play this role and doesn't appear anywhere else either. It's possible that someone has confused her with the somewhat similarly named Amelia Perrella.