Remembering Alida Chelli

Alida Rustichelli was born in Carpi, Emilia-Romagna, Italy on October 23, 1943. The daughter of film composer and conductor Carlo Rustichelli [1916-2004], sister of the composer Paolo Rustichelli [1953-    ], she began in her youth as a singer, participating in television variety shows and comedies.

 
She became well known with her version of the song “Sinno me moro”, which opens the film “Un maledetto imbroglio” (The Facts of Murder) with a soundtrack composed by her father in 1959: in the years that followed the song became a classic Italian song in the Roman dialect, and was recorded by Lando Fiorini and Gabriella Ferri paired with Luisa De Santis and later as a solo. During this period, Alida Chelli also recorded "Se è vero amore”.
 
She went on to star in many films and on stage, often singing, as in the musical “Quando dico che ti amo” and musical comedies such as Rugantino, in 1978, alongside Enrico Montesano and Cyrano, in 1979, with Domenico Modugno in “Aggiungi un posto a tavola”, in 1990 with Johnny Dorelli. She appeared in her only Euro-western “Three Silver Dollars” as Jauna in 1968.
 
Alida was married to actor Walter Chiari [1924-1991] from 1969-1981 and they had a son, the actor Simone Annichiarico [1970-    ], after their divorce, Chelli married Count Agusta and subsequently had been linked for some time to Pippo Baudo .
 
After a long illness she died in Rome on December 14, 2012 at the age of 69 years old.
 
Today we remember Alida Chelli on what would have been her 70^th birthday.