Valentina Cortese

10 titles·Since 1949

January 1, 1923 · Milan, Lombardy, Italy

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.

Frequently works with

Gabriele Ferzetti

2 titles together

Filmography (10)

Appassionata

1974 · Elisa Rutelli

Day for Night

1973 · Séverine

The Assassination of Trotsky

1972 · Natalia Trotsky

Juliet of the Spirits

1965 · Valentina

The Possessed

1965 · Irma

The Girl Who Knew Too Much

1963 · Laura Craven-Torrani

Le Amiche

1955 · Nene

The Barefoot Contessa

1954 · Eleanora Torlato-Favrini

The House on Telegraph Hill

1951 · Victoria Kowelska

Thieves' Highway

1949 · Rica

January 1, 1923 · Milan, Lombardy, Italy

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.