Cortese was born in Milan to a single mother and raised in the countryside, before being sent to Turin to live with her maternal grandparents in 1930.[3][4][5] After meeting conductor Victor de Sabata, then married with children and 31 years her senior, she quit high school and followed him to Rome, where she enrolled at (and later graduated from) the National Academy of Dramatic Arts (Accademia d'arte drammatica).[4] She first appeared on stage before receiving a contract at Scalera Film in 1941[4] and giving her film debut with a small role in L'orizzonte dipinto.[5]
While her later films were mostly of lesser artistic interest, Cortese was continuously successful on stage,[3] working with Giorgio Strehler, with whom she had a long-lasting relationship,[3][4] Franco Zeffirelli,[3][4]Luchino Visconti[3] and Patrice Chéreau.[5] In 1980, she married industrialist Carlo De Angeli.[4] Her last film was Zeffirelli's 1993 Sparrow.[3]
Cortese died on 10 July 2019, aged 96.[3][13] In 2017, Francesco Patierno documented her life in the film Diva!, based on her 2012 autobiography Quanti sono i domani passati ("How many tomorrows have gone by").[3]
Sparrow (1993) – Mother Superior (final film role)
Referencesedit
^Crowther, Bosley (24 September 1949). "'Thieves' Highway,' One of Best Melodramas of the Year, Opens at the Roxy". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
^Crowther, Bosley (30 September 1954). "'The Barefoot Contessa' Arrives at Capitol". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
^ abcdefghijklmnopqBergan, Ronald; Lane, John Francis (10 July 2019). "Valentina Cortese obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
^ abcdefghiAttanasio, Debora (10 July 2019). "È morta Valentina Cortese, la gran dama del cinema dal foulard perenne". Marie Claire (in Italian). Retrieved 6 January 2023.
^ abcdFormenti, Christina (2019). Valentina Cortese: Un'attrice intermediale. Mimesis Edizioni. ISBN 9788857551043.
^Lev, Peter (2013). Twentieth Century-Fox: The Zanuck-Skouras Years, 1935–1965. University of Texas Press. p. 156. ISBN 9780292744479.
^Hammer, Tad B. (1991). International Film Prizes: An Encyclopedia. Garland. p. 256. ISBN 9780824070991.
^"BAFTA Awards: Film in 1974". BAFTA. 1974. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
^"Past Awards". National Society of Film Critics. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
^"1973 New York Film Critics Circle Awards". New York Film Critics Circle. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
^"THE 47TH ACADEMY AWARDS 1975". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
^"Ingrid Bergman Wins Supporting Actress: 1975 Oscars". Archived from the original on 28 October 2021 – via www.youtube.com.
^"Addio Valentina Cortese, l'ultima diva". ANSA (in Italian). 11 July 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
External linksedit
Media related to Valentina Cortese at Wikimedia Commons
Porro, Maurizio (2 April 2012). "Cortese: i foulard, l'amore e la mia bimba mai nata". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 6 January 2023.
Pizzuto, Angelo (17 July 2019). "In memoria di Valentina Cortese. Forza e sovranità della "delicatezza"". Sipario (in Italian). Retrieved 7 January 2023.