Virna Lisi, an Italian actress who was paired with many of Hollywood’s biggest stars during the 1960s, has died. She was 78.
Lisi died on Thursday in Rome. Italian media reported that she was diagnosed with cancer recently, reports Variety.
Lisi, born Virna Pieralisi in 1936, started in Italian films in 1953 thanks to her stunning beauty and blonde locks. She slowly climbed the ranks of the Italian film industry during the rest of the decade and continued working in Italy until the mid-1960s. Her notable Italian films during this part of her career include La Donna del Giorno (1957), Il Delitto (1963) and Casanova ‘70 (1965).
In 1965, Paramount brought her to Hollywood. She worked with Jack Lemmon in How To Murder Your Wife that year, then starred with Tony Curtis in Not With My Wife, You Don’t (1966) and in Assault on a Queen (1966) with Frank Sinatra.
A pivotal moment in her career came in 1970, when she turned down a chance to star in Barbarella and the part went to Jane Fonda. This lead to a break from films.
Lisi moved back to Europe, where she found great success in the ‘80s and ‘90s, earning several awards, notes The BBC. She earned a special Italian Golden Globe in 2004 and won awards for 1994’s La Reine Margot.
She is survived by her son and three grandchildren. She was married to architect Franco Pesci, who died in 2013, for 53 years.
image courtesy of INFphoto.com