Happy 65th Birthday Edwige Fenech

Edwige Fenech was born Edwige Sfenek on December 24, 1948 in Bône, Constantine, France. She began her show business career as a participant in beauty contests (she won the title of "Miss Mannequin de la Cote d'Azur" at age 16 and even won a Miss France beauty contest) and worked as a photo model in. Fenech then moved from Nice to Rome in 1967 for her first Italian film “Samoa, regina della giungla” by Guido Malatesta. In 1968, she came under contract with Austrian director Franz Antel and from the late 1960s to early 1970s; she acted in various films of Antel (including his acclaimed “Frau Wirtin” series) as well as some Franz Marischka films.

 
Fenech starred in many genres of cinema but her greatest commercial success came with Italian sex comedies, particularly her early works “Ubalda, All Naked and Warm” (1972) and “Giovannona Long-Thigh” (1973), as well as the following l'insegnante (school teacher), la soldatessa (soldier), la poliziotta (policewoman) series and other films that featured Fenech in stereotypical professions, which further bolstered Fenech's position as the most popular actress of the genre. She often paired with Carlo Giuffrè and later with Renzo Montagnani in these films.
 
Fenech was also a regular in giallo films. Her works in this genre include “Five Dolls for an August Moon” (1970), “The Case of the Bloody Iris” (1971), “The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh” (1971), “Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key” (1972), “All the Colors of the Dark” (1972), and “Nude per l'assassino” (1975). Edwige appeared in only one Euro-western: “Heads or Tails” (1969) in the role of Manuela.
 
In the 1980s, she became a television personality, typically appearing with Barbara Bouchet on a chat show on Italian television.
 
After many years of work in movie production, she became a producer and produced, among others, “The Merchant of Venice” (2004) with Al Pacino, and Fenech accepted Quentin Tarantino's offer to star in another movie, “Hostel: Part II” (2007).
 
Today we celebrate Edwige Fenech’s 65^th birthday.