Lia Franca

Lia Franca (1912–1988) was an Italian film actress. She was sometimes credited as Lya Franca and Libia Franca.[1]

Lia Franca
Franca in What Scoundrels Men Are! (1932)
Born
Livia Caterina Petra Penso

1912
Trieste
Died1988 (aged 76)
Rome
Other namesLya Franca
Libia Franca
OccupationActress

Life and career

Born Livia Caterina Petra Penso in Trieste, Franca started her career winning a beauty contest, "Miss Trieste", in 1927.[1][2] Eager to pursue a film career, shorty later Franca moved to Turin, where she tried without success to be put under contract from the production company "Società Anonima Stefano Pittaluga", and finally moved to Rome where she started her brief career.[1][2] She debuted in 1930 with the short film Arietta antica, and then starred in Resurrection by Alessandro Blasetti, the first Italian sound film,[3] thus becoming the first Italian actress to have spoken in a film.[2] Franca is best known for the role of Mariuccia in Mario Camerini's What Scoundrels Men Are!, starred alongside Vittorio De Sica;[1][2] in this time, at the height of her success, Franca knew and decided to marry the film director Mario Sequi, retiring from showbusinness.[1][2]

Selected filmography

References
  1. Pietro Spirito (5 August 2010). "È a lei che un giovanissimo Vittorio De Sica canta la canzone "Parlami d'amore Mariù"". Il Piccolo. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  2. Maurizio Radacich, Sergio Grmek Germani. Parlami d'amore Mariù: Lia Franca : una stella triestina nel firmamento del cinema italiano. Italo Svevo, 2011. ISBN 8862682263.
  3. Roberto Chiti; Roberto Poppi; Enrico Lancia. Dizionario del cinema italiano: I film. Gremese, 1991. ISBN 8876055487.
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