Giulietta Masina | |
|---|---|
 Masina as Cabiria inNights of Cabiria (1957) | |
| Born | Giulia Anna Masina (1921-02-22)22 February 1921 |
| Died | 23 March 1994(1994-03-23) (aged 73) Rome, Italy |
| Burial place | Monumental Cemetery of Rimini |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1942–1991 |
| Spouse | |
| Signature | |
 | |
Giulia Anna "Giulietta"Masina (Italian pronunciation:[dʒuˈljettamaˈziːna]; 22 February 1921 – 23 March 1994) was an Italian film actress best known for her performances as Gelsomina inLa Strada (1954) and Cabiria inNights of Cabiria (1957), for which she won theCannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress at the1957 Cannes Film Festival.
Cinema historianPeter Bondanella described Masina's work as "masterful" and "unforgettable",[1] andCharlie Chaplin, with whose work Masina's is often compared,[2][3][4] called her "the actress who moved him most".
BothLa Strada andNights of Cabiria wonAcademy Awards forBest Foreign Language Film and were described as having been "inspired" by Masina's "humanity".[5]
Giulia Anna Masina, the eldest of four children, was born inSan Giorgio di Piano, north ofBologna. Her father was aviolinist and her mother was a schoolteacher. When Masina was four, her uncle took her to meet the Italian playwrightLuigi Pirandello, who was later to win theNobel Prize in literature. A few years later, when this uncle died, his widow, Masina's aunt, asked Masina's parents if they would allow her to come to Rome to stay with her. Masina's parents agreed, in part because they believed that inRome Masina would have more success in the arts for which she was already demonstrating a unique talent.[6]
Masina attended anUrsuline convent school and took lessons in voice, piano, and dance. Her first experiences acting took place duringWorld War II as part of thetheater section of Rome'sGruppi Universitari Fascisti, a state-sponsored but university-student-led arts organization. She graduated with a degree inLiterature fromSapienza University of Rome. She found work as a voice actress in radio during the war, which earned her more money and attention than stage acting. It was as a radio artist that Masina metFederico Fellini, a radio scriptwriter. They married in 1943, and a few months later, Masina suffered amiscarriage after falling down a flight of stairs. In 1944, she became pregnant again; Pierfederico (nicknamedFederichino) was born on 22 March 1945 but died fromencephalitis 11 days later. Masina and Fellini had no other children.[7]
Working together with her husband, Masina made the transition to on-screen acting.[8] Half of her Italian films, the more successful projects, were either written or directed by her husband. Masina made her film debut in an uncredited role inRoberto Rossellini'sPaisà (1946), which was co-written by Fellini. She received her first screen credit inAlberto Lattuada'sWithout Pity (Senza pietà, 1948), which was an adaptation co-written by Fellini, and played oppositeJohn Kitzmiller.[citation needed]
She starred withAnthony Quinn in Fellini'sLa Strada (1954), playing the abused stooge of Quinn's travelling circus strongman. She won theBest Actress Award at theCannes Film Festival for her portrayal of the title role in Fellini'sNights of Cabiria (1957). She played a prostitute who endures life's tragedies and disappointments with both innocence and resilience of biblical proportions. Both films received theAcademy Award for Best Foreign-Language Film. In a 1998New York Times review,Janet Maslin wrote that there is more "grace and courage" in Masina's performance than "all the fire-breathing blockbusters Hollywood has to offer."[9]
.jpg)
Masina's career was damaged by the critical and box office failure ofThe High Life (1960) directed byJulien Duvivier. Subsequently, she became dedicated almost entirely to her personal life and marriage. Nonetheless, she again worked with Fellini inJuliet of the Spirits (1965), which earned both theNew York Film Critics award (1965)[10] and theGolden Globe award (1966) for Best Foreign Language Film.[11] Roger Ebert stated that "Fellini lore has it that the master made 'Juliet Of The Spirits' as a gift to his wife".[12]
Masina performed inThe Madwoman of Chaillot (1969), her first film in English, which also starredKatharine Hepburn. After almost two decades, during which she worked sporadically only in television, Masina appeared in Fellini'sGinger and Fred (1986) withMarcello Mastroianni in which the leads play Italian impersonators ofFred Astaire andGinger Rogers reuniting for a television special. She then rejected outside offers to attend to her husband's precarious health. Her last film wasJean-Louis Bertuccelli'sA Day to Remember (1991). In the late 1960s, Masina hosted a popularradio show,Lettere aperte, in which she addressedcorrespondence from her listeners. The letters were eventually published in a book. From the 1970s on, she appeared on television. Two performances, inEleonora (1973) andCamilla (1976), respectively, were particularly acclaimed.[citation needed]
Masina died from lung cancer on 23 March 1994 at age 73, five months after her husband's death on 31 October 1993.[13] For her funeral, she requested that trumpeterMauro Maur play "La Strada" byNino Rota,[14] a poignantleitmotif fromthe film. Masina is buried with Fellini and their son, Pierfederico, in a bronze sepulchre sculpted byArnaldo Pomodoro in theMonumental Cemetery of Rimini.[15][16]
