Valentina Cortese
Biography
Valentina Cortese (January 1, 1923 - July 10, 2019) was an Italian film actress. The Milan-born actress starred in The House on Telegraph Hill (1951) directed by Robert Wise, and costarring Richard Basehart and William Lundigan. Cortese, aged 28, married Basehart in 1951, and had one son with him before they divorced in 1960. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1975 for her performance in François Truffaut's Day for Night. Cortese appeared in Jules Dassin's Thieves' Highway (1949), Joseph L. Mankiewicz's The Barefoot Contessa (1954), Michelangelo Antonioni's Le Amiche (1955), Gérard Brach's The Boat on the Grass, Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), and in the Franco Zeffirelli projects such as the 1972 film Brother Sun, Sister Moon, his 1977 miniseries, Jesus of Nazareth and the 1993 film Sparrow.
Also Known As
Movie Appearances
Day for Night
as Séverine
1973
The Boat on the Grass
as Catherine
1971
Ring of Darkness
as Elena Merrill
1979
Brother Sun, Sister Moon
as Pica Di Bernardone
1972
Thieves' Highway
as Rica
1949
The Assassination of Trotsky
as Natalia Trotsky
1972
Les Misérables
as Fantine
1948
Barabbas
as Julia
1961
L'attore scomparso
1941
The Girl Who Knew Too Much
as Laura Craven-Torrani
1963
The Barefoot Contessa
as Eleanora Torlato-Favrini
1954
The House on Telegraph Hill
as Victoria Kowelska
1951
Jailbirds
as Luprandi's wife
1954
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
as Queen Ariadne / Violet
1988
Malaya
as Luana
1949
Sparrow
as Madre Superiora
1994
When Time Ran Out...
as Rose Valdez
1980
Le Amiche
as Nene
1955
Juliet of the Spirits
as Valentina
1965
Appassionata
as Elisa Rutelli
1974
