Mariangela Melato

Mariangela Melato (19 September 1941 – 11 January 2013) was an award-winning Italian cinema and theater actress. She won the David di Donatello for Best Actress four times between 1974 and 1981.[1]

Mariangela Melato
Melato in the movie Lo chiameremo Andrea (1972)
Born(1941-09-19)19 September 1941
Milan, Kingdom of Italy
Died11 January 2013(2013-01-11) (aged 71)
Rome, Italy
Other namesMaria Angela Melato
OccupationActress
Years active1969–2012

Melato began her stage career in the 1960s. Her first film role was in Thomas e gli indemoniati (1969), directed by Pupi Avati. She acted in many memorable films during the 1970s and was praised for her roles in The Seduction of Mimi (1972), Love and Anarchy (1973), Nada (1974), Swept Away (1974), Todo modo (1976), Caro Michele (1976) and Il gatto (1978).

Melato also starred in several English-language films, most notably as a villain in Flash Gordon (1980).[2] She died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 71 in Rome.[3]

Biography and career

Early years

Melato was born in Milan, Italy, to a Triestine traffic policeman and a Milanese seamstress. Her father emigrated from Nazi Germany and changed his name from Honing.[3] Melato studied painting at the Academy of Brera. She drew posters and worked as a window dresser at La Rinascente to pay for acting lessons with Esperia Sperani.[4][5][6] She began her theatre career in 1960, entering the stage company of Fantasio Piccoli and debuting as an actress in the play Binario cieco.[7]

From 1963 to 1965 she worked with Dario Fo in Settimo: ruba un po' meno and La colpa è sempre del diavolo. In 1967, she worked with Luchino Visconti in The Nun of Monza, and censors shut down the play.[4] She also starred in Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso in 1969 and his The Revenger's Tragedy in 1970.[4]

She made her film debut in 1969 with Pupi Avati's Thomas e gli indemoniati.[4]

1970s
Melato in the movie Di che segno sei? (1975)

In the 1970s, Melato starred in film roles such as a school teacher in Nino Manfredi's commedia all'italiana Between Miracles (1971), the female lead in Elio Petri's The Working Class Goes to Heaven (1971) and Vittorio De Sica's Lo chiameremo Andrea (We'll Call Him Andrew, 1972).[4]

In 1972, Melato was praised for her role as Giancarlo Giannini's Milanese mistress in The Seduction of Mimi (1972), directed by Lina Wertmüller. This film was the start of a successful relationship between Wertmüller, Melato and Giannini that continued with Love and Anarchy (1973), in which Melato played an anarchist prostitute, and Swept Away by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August (1974).[8] Melato's critically acclaimed comedic performance in this film as a spoiled, unsympathetic aristocrat is one of her more internationally well-known roles.[9]

For the remainder of the 1970s, Melato worked with some of Europe's most renowned directors, including Claude Chabrol in Nada (1974), Elio Petri in Todo modo (1976) and Luigi Comencini in Il gatto (1978). She also worked on television, playing the role of Princess Bithiah in the miniseries Moses the Lawgiver (1974), which also had a theatrical release.

Later years

After attaining international success, Melato starred in some American productions, playing one of her most famous roles as the villainess General Kala in Flash Gordon (1980). She co-starred with Ryan O'Neal in the comedy So Fine (1981).[2] Melato and Lina Wertmüller eventually reunited for the filming of Summer Night (1986), a response to Swept Away.[10] She also appeared in a number of Italian comedies and dramas.

In her later years, she returned to the stage, appearing in productions of The Miracle Worker, Euripides, Pirandello, and Shakespearian plays. For ten years, she performed with the Teatro Stabile di Genova.[4]

Death

Melato died from pancreatic cancer on 11 January 2013 in Rome, Italy, at age 71.[11]

Selected filmography

See also

References
  1. "Accademia del Cinema Italiano - Premi David di Donatello". www.daviddidonatello.it. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  2. Lyman, Eric J. (11 January 2013). "Italian Actress Mariangela Melato Dies at 71". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  3. Slotnik, Daniel E. (12 January 2013). "Mariangela Melato, Italian Actress, Dies at 71". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  4. Lane, John Francis (14 January 2013). "Mariangela Melato obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  5. Curzio Maltese, "Melato – Siate esagerate", La Stampa, 30 August 1995.
  6. Lietta Tornabuoni, "Il bell'inferno della Melato", ,La Stampa, 18 May 1972.
  7. "Addio a Mariangela Melato Signora del teatro e del cinema". L'Unità. 11 January 2013. Archived from the original on 29 May 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  8. Lane, John Francis (14 January 2013). "Mariangela Melato obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  9. Lyman, Eric J. (11 January 2013). "Italian Actress Mariangela Melato Dies at 71". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  10. "Summer Night Blu-ray - Mariangela Melato". www.dvdbeaver.com. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  11. John Francis Lane (14 January 2013). "Mariangela Melato | Film". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
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