Born inGenoa to aSardinian father and aTuscan mother fromGarfagnana.[1] In her teen years, she dreamed about becoming an opera singer and enrolled inTeatro Carlo Felice. Later she decided to concentrate on the pop music genre, in 1960, accompanied by mother, she transferred to Milan,[2] where she made her film debut in 1961. The first big success to her career happened a year later, when she was spotted byMario Monicelli and cast to be the main actress in "Renzo e Luciana", one of the four episodes ofBoccaccio '70;[1][3] the same year she appeared inBernardo Bertolucci's film debut,La commare secca and acted on stage inFogli d'album at theFestival dei Due Mondi.[3] Later she starred in a large number of genre films, especiallySpaghetti Westerns, and appeared in several successful TV-series.[3][4]
Solinas was nicknamed the Phoenix of Italian cinema because she reimagined herself several times, always with great success transforming into some different kind of performer.[5]
As a photomodel, Solinas made 750 covers,[6] and posed forGina Lollobrigida's photobooks and projects.[5][7]
She was also a singer, and published two albums and several singles, one of these released byLa voce del padrone.[8]
On set ofBoccaccio '70, she metLuigi Tenco. For many years, they remained close friends.[9] After the death of Tenco, she claimed that his demise was not least because of a 6 mln debt he owed to pay a bribe toSanremo Music Festival management team, and his frustration about clandestine gambling on the results. The Sanremo team sued Solinas in the Spring of 1967. The actress also received threats to hurt her son Davide in attempt to pressure her to retain the statement.[10][2][11]
She died on 12 February 2019, at the age of 79.[12]
