Happy 60th Birthday Dalila Di Lazzaro

Dalila Di Lazzaro was born on January 29, 1953 in Udine, Friuli-Venezia, Italy. She began her career in showbiz as a model and was used by different designers and was chosen for a series of commercials for a famous eye drops.

In 1972 he made her film debut in the Euro-western “It Can Be Done Amigo” with Bud Spencer and Jack Palance using the alias Dalila Di Lamar. She followed this film using the same alias in several films in minor roles until 1974 when she starred in “Il mostro è in tavola... barone Frankenstein” directed by Paul Morrissey. This was followed by a lead in “Oh, Serafina!” (1976), thanks to her beauty, Di Lazzaro was chosen and cast in films in the role of the femme fatale, turning out more than thirty films and television, becoming a leading protagonist of Italian cinema of the 1970s to 1990s. She made films in France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

In 1991, following the sudden loss of her 22 year-old only son Christian who was killed in a car accident she withdrew from the film industry. In subsequent years, the actress was subject to a form of chronic pain, as a result of a motorcycle accident that caused the fracture of a neck vertebra, forcing her to stay in bed, recovering for a long time.

Only recently has Dalila Di Lazzaro returned to appear on television. She also found a new way to communicate and connect with her audience, by writing, where she is able to shed light on the serious problem of her chronic pain. In 2006 she published her first book-length autobiography, which became a best-seller, entitled Il mio cielo (My sky), followed by “L'angelo della mia vita:  Piccoli miracoli intorno a me” (The Angel of My Life: Small Miracles Around Me) (2008), dedicated to her son Christian, “Touch my heart. Love, feelings and passions of my life” (2009), her second autobiographical novel, and “Il mio tesoro nascosto” (My Hidden Treasure) (2011).

In addition to writing, Dalila Di Lazzaro, is also involved in working for social purposes: during the Fashion Week in Milan in 2011, an event organized every year by Camera Moda, she was placed at the head of the so-called "sentinels anti-anorexia" having to monitor the models and to report their health to the Alderman of Milan for any pathological risks. She is also a proud champion in the fight for adoptions by unmarried parents, even though this is difficult to achieve in Italy because of red tape and legal issues, which has led her to lead a real movement of her private opinion.

A lover of the sea, she now lives, writes and works in Milan and on the French Riviera. Today we celebrate the 60th birthday of Dalila di Lazzaro.

Happy 70th Birthday Marcella Michelangeli

Marcella Gheardi was born on January 28, 1943 in Uscio, Genoa, Liguria, Italy. In the early 1960s she won many beauty contests including Miss Liguria 1962. She was a student at the Academy of Fine Arts and began acting at the Piccolo Teatro Duse in Genoa, where she had the opportunity to work with Dario Fo. After her studies, she moved to Rome, where she became a pop singer, recording some 45 LPs for the Society of General Disk using the pseudonym Marcella Perani.

In the late sixties she started her film career as a character actress as Marcella Michelangeli. On May 30, 1971, she made headlines in the newspapers with her arrest along with producer and director Farouk Agrama (her partner at the time) for possession of about 6 grams of drugs, the actress, however, was released after three days. She was married to actor Lou Castel in the 1970s. On television, she played the role of the writer Oriana Fallaci in the television drama ‘Panagulis Lives’ (1982), directed by Giuseppe Ferrara.

Her most significant film role was that of a lesbian in “Immacolata e Concetta, l'altra gelosia”, directed by Salvatore Piscicelli, that aroused quite a scandal in 1979 for the numerous and realistic sex scenes. She appeared in several crime films. Among her 20+ film roles were two Euro-westerns: “And God Said to Cain” (1969) as Maria Acomber and “Arizona Returns” (1970) with Anthony Steffen.

In the eighties she suffered a personal crisis and abandoned the film industry. Today she lives in Rome where she is celebrating her 70^th birthday.

Happy Birthday Fedele Gentile

Fedele Gentile was born in Montenero di Bissaccia, Italy on January 28, 1908. Fedele appeared in over 100 films among which was his appearance in “Benghazi” (1942) playing the part of Antonio and “Constantine the Great” (1960). During his long film career he appeared in ten Euro-westerns among which were: “Killer Kid” (1967), “Drummer of Vengeance” (1971) and “A Gunman Called Dakota” (1972). Later he became a producer of “The Wings of War” (1969). Gentile also appeared under the pseudonym Fidel Green. I can find no mention of his death so if he is still living he would be 105 today.

Remembering Jesús Tordesillas

Jesús Tordesillas Fernández was born on 28 January 28, 1893 in Madrid, Spain. At 18 he made his debut in the theater and would later found his own stage company. As for films he started in 1921 making silent films. His bulging filmography began in earnest in 1940, after the Spanish Civil War. He would go on to appear in over 90 films between 1921 and 1973. Jesús starred in the film “Reckless” which was entered in the 1951 Cannes Film Festival. He appeared in ten Euro-westerns playing older characters from Dons to undertakers. Among his Euro-westerns were: “The Shadow of Zorro” and “Zorro the Avenger (both 1962), “The Outlaw of Red River” (1964), “A Coffin for the Sheriff” (1965), “A Stranger in Paso Bravo” and “Ringo the Lone Rider (both 1968). After a long and full life Tordesillas passed away on March 24, 1973 from a heart attack in Madrid, Spain. Today we remember Jesús Tordesillas on what would have been his 120^th birthday.

Los Angeles, Italia Film, Fashion and Art Fest

Los Angeles Italia Film, Fashion and Art Fest February 17 – 23, 2013

Film festival produced by the Istituto Capri nel Mondo

Los Angeles, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre

TCL Chinese Theatre

6801 Hollywood Boulevard

Hollywood, CA 90028

On the eve of the Academy Awards® the weeklong Festival is back with previews, performances, awards, and lectures that promote the best of new Italian cinema as well as fashion, music and entertainment. 

The program is the 8th edition of the festival:

1 - a tribute to Sergio Leone with the screening of two of his most important films, Once upon a time in America (in the restored version presented at  the 2012 Cannes Film Festival) and Duck, You Sucker! (in the version restored by the Cineteca di Bologna);

2 - the exhibit  "Tribute to the myth of Sergio Leone" at the Chinese Theatre curated by three times Oscar® winning production designer Dante Ferretti and set decorator Francesca Lo Schiavo;

3 - the photographic exhibit 'Etoile - Eleonora Abbagnato" by Massimo Gatti al the Chinese Theater

4 - an homage to art of Emilia, the Italian area recently devasted by an earthquake, with the participation of professor Valerio Massimo Manfredi at the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and at the University of Southern California;

5 - a concert by rocker Edoardo Bennato accompanied by a string quartet

 EXCELLENCE AWARD will be given to noted Italian actors Franco Nero ("Django") and Giuliano Gemma ("Arizona Colt"). Both will be part of the Festival’s tribute to the famous “spaghetti western” movie heroes which inspired Quentin Tarantino's highly acclaimed new film “Django Unchained”. The prominent Italian designer created the distinctive ‘Excellence Award’ statuette.

The Fest will also include conferences at the University of Southern California and will present a selection of first and second movies from young Italian filmmakers.

February 17 Spaghetti western icon Giuliano Gemma is to be honored at the Chinese 6 Theatre at 10:30 p.m. Vera Gemma will debut her documentary that she directed on her father.