Valentina Cortese
Acting • Born 1923-01-01 – Died 2019-07-10
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.
Filmography
94 credits
Day for Night
Movie • 1973
Séverine
The Boat on the Grass
Movie • 1971
Catherine
Ring of Darkness
Movie • 1979
Elena Merrill
Brother Sun, Sister Moon
Movie • 1972
Pica Di Bernardone
Thieves' Highway
Movie • 1949
Rica
The Assassination of Trotsky
Movie • 1972
Natalia Trotsky
Les Misérables
Movie • 1948
Fantine
Barabbas
Movie • 1961
Julia
L'attore scomparso
Movie • 1941
The Girl Who Knew Too Much
Movie • 1963
Laura Craven-Torrani
The Barefoot Contessa
Movie • 1954
Eleanora Torlato-Favrini
The House on Telegraph Hill
Movie • 1951
Victoria Kowelska
Jailbirds
Movie • 1954
Luprandi's wife
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Movie • 1988
Queen Ariadne / Violet
Malaya
Movie • 1949
Luana
Sparrow
Movie • 1994
Madre Superiora
When Time Ran Out...
Movie • 1980
Rose Valdez
Le Amiche
Movie • 1955
Nene
Juliet of the Spirits
Movie • 1965
Valentina
Appassionata
Movie • 1974
Elisa Rutelli
Black Magic
Movie • 1949
Zoraida
The Legend of Lylah Clare
Movie • 1968
Countess Bozo Bedoni
The Love Mates
Movie • 1970
Eva
The Rocket from Calabuch
Movie • 1956
Eloísa, la maestra de escuela
Black Sun
Movie • 1966
Maria
Secret People
Movie • 1952
Maria Brentano / Brent / Lena Collins
Blue Tango
Movie • 1987
Rachele Cigno
Magic Fire
Movie • 1955
Mathilde Wesendonk
Il matrimonio
Movie • 1954
Son tornate a fiorire le rose
Movie • 1975
Sabina Foschini
Tanto va la gatta al lardo...
Movie • 1978
Wilma/Leonilde Bosco Casagrande
Amore mio non farmi male
Movie • 1974
Sabina Foschini
First Love
Movie • 1970
Mutter
Il passatore
Movie • 1947
Barbara
Un americano in vacanza
Movie • 1946
Maria
Buster's Bedroom
Movie • 1991
Serafina Tannenbaum
La passeggiata
Movie • 1953
Lisa
Square of Violence
Movie • 1961
Erica Bernardi
The Visit
Movie • 1964
Mathilda Miller
Quarta pagina
Movie • 1942
Valentina
Story of San Michele
Movie • 1962
Eleonora Duse
La regina di Navarra
Movie • 1942
Girl of the Golden West
Movie • 1942
Madge
Orizzonte di sangue
Movie • 1942
Chronicle of a Homicide
Movie • 1972
Luisa Sola
Listen, Let's Make Love
Movie • 1968
Lallo's Mother
The Jester's Supper
Movie • 1942
Lisabetta
The Kiss
Movie • 1974
Elizabeth Blixen
The Glass Mountain
Movie • 1949
Alida Morrosini
Adriana Lecouvreur
Movie • 1955
Adriana Lecouvreur
L'ebreo errante
Movie • 1948
Ester
No One Comes Back
Movie • 1945
Valentina
Giorni felici
Movie • 1943
Marianna
Love and Troubles
Movie • 1958
Marisa
Les Misérables - Storm Over Paris
Movie • 1948
Cosetta
Crossroads of Passion
Movie • 1948
Maria Pilar
Give Her the Moon
Movie • 1970
Madeleine de Lépine
The Secret of Santa Vittoria
Movie • 1970
Gabriella (uncredited)
Facciaffittasi
Movie • 1988
Gina Grandi
Widows' Nest
Movie • 1977
Dolores
Angels of Darkness
Movie • 1954
Vally
Il bravo di Venezia
Movie • 1941
Alina
Kidnap Syndicate
Movie • 1975
Grazia Filippini
The Big Operator
Movie • 1976
Witwe
Il cav. Costante Nicosia demoniaco, ovvero Dracula in Brianza
Movie • 1975
Olghina Franchetti
4 girls dream
Movie • 1943
Oh, Grandmother's Dead
Movie • 1969
Ornella
Federico Fellini's Autobiography
Movie • 2000
Self
Soltanto un bacio
Movie • 1942
Maria Renda / Luisa Renda
Via Montenapoleone
Movie • 1987
madre di Guido
Diva!
Movie • 2017
Tender Dracula
Movie • 1974
Il corriere del re
Movie • 1947
Shadow of the Eagle
Movie • 1950
Elizabeth, Princess Tarakanova
Antonioni: Documents and Testimonials
Movie • 1965
Self
Primo amore
Movie • 1941
Nerina Redi
Rome: Free City
Movie • 1946
La ragazza
Il Conte Aquila
Movie • 1955
Teresa Casati
Nick the Sting
Movie • 1976
Regina
Kean: Genius or Scoundrel
Movie • 1957
Fanny
Chi l'ha visto?
Movie • 1945
Luisella
La Classe américaine
Movie • 1993
The Helicopter Man's Wife (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Possessed
Movie • 1965
Irma
The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire
Movie • 1971
Madame Sobieski
Lulù
Movie • 1953
Reporter’s Diary: 'Zoom on Fellini'
Movie • 1965
Self
Le ragazze di Milano
Movie • 2007
Self
Michelangelo Antonioni: The Eye That Changed Cinema
Movie • 2001
Self (archive footage)
Lux Video Theatre
TV • 1950
Emilie Gallatin
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV • 1951
Dr. Bruni
Jesus of Nazareth
TV • 1977
Herodias
I promessi sposi
TV • 1989
Donna Prassede
Il killer
TV • 1969
Facciaffittasi
TV • 1988
Gina Grandi