Giulietta Masina

Actor

About

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Also Known As

Giulia Anna Masina

Birth Place

Italy

Born

February 22, 1920

Died

March 23, 1994

Cause of Death

Lung Cancer Which Spread To Her Brain

Biography

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Jaunty, wide-eyed Italian screen star, most typically cast as naive, hopeful waifs, best known for her roles in films by husband Federico Fellini. Masina's almost Chaplinesque ability to combine pathos and comedy was put to brilliant use as the strongman's devoted if simpleminded assistant in "La Strada" (1954), and as the optimistic prostitute in "Nights of Cabiria" (1957). She was also...

Filmography

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Aujourd'hui Peut-etre... (1991)

Ginger and Fred (1986)

Amelia Bonetti--

Frau Holle (1985)

The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969)

Juliet of the Spirits (1965)

Variety Lights (1965)

Photos & Videos

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La Strada (1954) — (Movie Clip) The Fool Will Perform

Ginger And Fred (1986) -- (Movie Clip) Are We In Such Bad Shape?

Family & Companions

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Federico Fellini

Husband

Director, screenwriter. Married October 30, 1943; died November 1, 1993; Masina acted in seven of his films.

Biography

Jaunty, wide-eyed Italian screen star, most typically cast as naive, hopeful waifs, best known for her roles in films by husband Federico Fellini. Masina's almost Chaplinesque ability to combine pathos and comedy was put to brilliant use as the strongman's devoted if simpleminded assistant in "La Strada" (1954), and as the optimistic prostitute in "Nights of Cabiria" (1957). She was also superb as the bored Roman housewife whose escape to the world of fantasy is the subject of Fellini's "Juliet of the Spirits" (1965). Masina's last collaboration with Fellini came with the wistful "Ginger and Fred" (1986), whose initials also suggest "Giulietta and Federico," about a fictional dance team, who gained fame in Italy imitating Rogers and Astaire, reunited after many years.

Masina's sporadic appearances in films by other directors have sometimes capitalized successfully on her fey charm, though the films themselves have been modest. Probably the best known of these was the all-star comedy misfire, "The Madwoman of Chaillot" (1969), a rare English-language feature for Masina, centering on the eccentrics antics of Katharine Hepburn in the title role.

Filmography

Cast (Feature Film)

Aujourd'hui Peut-etre... (1991)

Ginger and Fred (1986)

Amelia Bonetti--

Frau Holle (1985)

The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969)

Juliet of the Spirits (1965)

Variety Lights (1965)

Il bidone (1962)

... And the Wild, Wild Women (1961)

La Strada (1954)

The White Sheik (1952)

Europa '51 (1952)

Variety Lights (1950)

Senza Pieta (1947)

Cast (Special)

Anthony Quinn (1990)

Life Events

1950

First collaboration with Federico Fellini, "Luci del Varieta/Variety Lights"

1969

Rare English-language feature, "The Madwoman of Chaillot"

1986

Last collaboration with Fellini, "Ginger and Fred"

Videos

La Strada (1954) — (Movie Clip) The Fool Will Perform Innocent Gelsomina (Giulietta Masina, directed by her husband Federico Fellini) has run away from her employer/owner (barnstorming entertainer Zampano, Anthony Quinn) and wandered into a nearby town where she sees a Catholic festival, then one of his rivals (Richard Basehart as “Il Matto,” or “The Fool”), in the worldwide hit La Strada, 1954.

Ginger And Fred (1986) -- (Movie Clip) Are We In Such Bad Shape? Escaping the inescapably Federico Fellini-esque backstage scene of the low-rent Roman TV nostalgia special, the principals (the director’s wife Giullietta Masina as Amelia, a.k.a. Ginger and Marcello Mastroianni as Pippo, a.k.a. “Fred”) with their old friend Toto (Mignoli), assume their costumes and continue their reacquaintance, in Ginger And Fred, 1986.

Ginger And Fred (1986) -- (Movie Clip) Keep Rome Clean Opening in routine circumstances at a train station in Rome, Giulietta Masina in her last performance directed by her husband, arriving to a modest reception, as Federico Fellini’s authorship emerges, especially in pork-oriented advertising, in the well-received Ginger And Fred, 1986, also starring Marcello Mastroianni, Barbara Scoppa the reporter in the van.

Ginger And Fred (1986) -- (Movie Clip) I Don't See The Resemblance On the first evening in the modest Rome hotel, Amelia (Giulietta Masina, the director’s wife, stage name “Ginger,”) remains in good spirits, awaiting the corny TV special and her still-absent partner “Fred,” Martin Maria Blau the disinterested assistant director, in Federico Fellini’s Ginger And Fred, 1986.

Ginger And Fred (1986) -- (Movie Clip) It's Like A Landing Strip Still not discouraged that her old partner hasn’t turned up for the TV variety show in Rome, Amelia, (a.k.a. “Ginger,” Giulietta Masina, wife of the director Federico Fellini) manages to be charitable when she discovers he (Marcello Mastroianni, his first scene, as Pippo, a.k.a. “Fred”) is her noisy neighbor, in Ginger And Fred, 1986.

Madwoman Of Chaillot, The (1969) -- (Movie Clip) Must You Talk Sex? With her fellow crackpots (Margaret Leighton as Constance, Giulietta Masina as Gabrielle), the first significant scene for Katharine Hepburn (title character), approaching the action on location at the Place de l'Alma in Paris, in The Madwoman Of Chaillot, 1969.

Nights Of Cabiria -- (Movie Clip) She Lives The Life Second part of director Federico Fellini's opening, bystanders pull Giulietta Masina (Fellini's wife, title character) from the river she's been pushed into by a boyfriend who snatched her purse, from Nights Of Cabiria, 1957.

Nights Of Cabiria -- (Movie Clip) Best Dancer In Rome Starting over as a streetwalker, Giulietta Masina (title character) on a Roman evening with various associates including friend Wanda (Franca Marzi), in Nights Of Cabiria, 1957, directed by Masina's husband Federico Fellini.

Nights Of Cabiria -- (Movie Clip) Alberto Lazzari Reaching a standoff with a doorman, Giulietta Masina (title character) sets about work in Rome's Ostia neighborhood, when famous actor Alberto (Amedeo Nazzari) appears, with friend Jessy ("Dorian Gray"), in Federico Fellini's Nights Of Cabiria, 1957.

Nights Of Cabiria -- (Movie Clip) Stop Being So Jealous! Hiding in the hotel suite while actor Alberto (Amedeo Nazzari) makes up with Jessy ("Dorian Gray"), Giulietta Masina (title character) makes a getaway, in Nights Of Cabiria, 1957, directed by Federico Fellini.

Europa '51 -- (Movie Clip) You Must Like Children Having lost her son and now frequenting the slums of Rome, American Irene (Ingrid Bergman) meets Passerotto (Giuletta Masina, with a dubbed Brooklyn accent) and her brood, in Roberto Rossellini's Europa '51, 1952.

Ginger And Fred - (Original Trailer) Federico Fellini sends up Italian television in this story of a reunion of celebrity lookalikes played by Marcello Mastroianni and Fellini's wife Giulietta Masina.

TCM Video Podcast -- (Movie Promo) October 2011, Part Two Tati, Fellini, De Sica. On the latest TCM Podcast, TCM's Scott McGee and Guest Blogger Brandon Kyle Goco discuss why these pillars of foreign cinema should be household names. Share your thoughts on why classic foreign cinema does, or doesn't appeal to you. Post your answers at facebook.com/tcmtv

Companions

Federico Fellini

Husband

Director, screenwriter. Married October 30, 1943; died November 1, 1993; Masina acted in seven of his films.

Bibliography

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