Mariangela Melato | |
|---|---|
 Melato in Lo chiameremo Andrea (1972) | |
| Born | 19 September 1941 Milan, Italy |
| Died | 11 January 2013 (aged 71) Rome, Italy |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1963–2010 |
Mariangela Caterina Melato[1] (19 September 1941 – 11 January 2013), sometimes billed as Maria Angela Melato, was an award-winning Italian film and theatre actress.[2][3] She is most remembered for her roles in films of director Lina Wertmüller, including The Seduction of Mimi (1972), Love and Anarchy (1973), and Swept Away (1974).[2][3] In cinema, she also appeared in films of Claude Chabrol, Elio Petri and Vittorio De Sica, and on stage in productions by Dario Fo, Luchino Visconti and Luca Ronconi.[1][2][4] Her roles in English-language films include the 1980 science fiction film Flash Gordon.[2]
Melato was born in Milan, Italy, to Triestine traffic policeman Alfredo Melato and Milanese seamstress Lina.[1] Her father, born Alfred Hönig, was originally of Austrian descent and later Italianised his name.[1] While still attending school, she worked as a window dresser, attended painting courses and enrolled at the Accademia dei Filodrammatici,[1] studying acting under Esperia Sperani.[5][6]
In the early 1960s, she entered the stage company of Fantasio Piccoli in Bolzano, giving her first performances in 1963 in plays like Binario cieco by Carlo Terron, Our Town by Thornton Wilder and O di uno o di niente by Luigi Pirandello.[1][4] Upon her return to Milan, she worked with Dario Fo in Settimo: ruba un po' meno and La colpa è sempre del diavolo in 1964 and 1965.[1][7] After her engagement with Fo's company ended, she left Milan again, working with directors such as Giuseppe Maffioli, Damiano Damiani and Giovanni Poli.[1] In 1967, she appeared in Luchino Visconti's The Nun of Monza, but censors shut down the play.[2] She worked with Visconti again in 1969 in The Advertisement by Natalia Ginzburg.[1] The same and the following year, she starred in Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso and The Revenger's Tragedy, both directed by Luca Ronconi.[1][2]
In 1970, Melato moved to Rome and made her film debut in Pupi Avati's Thomas e gli indemoniati, which never saw a cinematic release.[1][8] Subsequent roles followed in Nino Manfredi's Between Miracles (1971), Elio Petri's The Working Class Goes to Heaven (1971) and Vittorio De Sica's Lo chiameremo Andrea (1972).[2]
In 1972, Melato starred alongside Giancarlo Giannini in The Seduction of Mimi, directed by Lina Wertmüller. For this film, she had to abandon Pietro Garinei's and Alessandro Giovannini's popular musical show Alleluja brava gente, which led to a dispute with the producers.[1] The Seduction of Mimi was the start of a successful relationship between Wertmüller, Melato and Giannini that continued with Love and Anarchy (1973), in which Melato played a communist prostitute, and Swept Away (1974).[2] Melato's critically acclaimed comedic performance in this film as a spoiled aristocrat is one of her internationally best-remembered roles.[2][3]
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 appeared on television, playing the role of Princess Bithiah in the miniseries Moses the Lawgiver, and in two episodes of the serialised TV adaptation of Ariosto's Orlando Furioso (both 1974).[1] During the 1970s and 1980s, she only sporadically returned to the stage in productions like Aeschylus' Oresteia in 1972[9] and Carlo Bertolazzi's El nost Milan in 1979, the latter directed by Giorgio Strehler.[1]
In the 1980s, Melato starred in two American productions, as the villainess General Kala in Flash Gordon and in the comedy So Fine (1981) alongside Ryan O'Neal.[3] In the Pope's Eye (1980), directed by Renzo Arbore, was heavily attacked by the Catholic press and even seized from the cinemas.[10][11] Melato and Lina Wertmüller eventually reunited for the filming of Summer Night (1986), a variation on Swept Away.[12] Notable theatre appearances of this decade include Euripides' Medea (1986) and William Gibson's The Miracle Worker (1988), both directed by Giancarlo Sepe.[1][2]
In the early 1990s, Melato returned permanently to the stage, reducing her presence on the screen and on television.[1] She signed a long-term contract with the Teatro Stabile di Genova (now Teatro Nazionale di Genova), where she appeared in productions such as Karel Čapek's The Makropulos Affair (1993), Copi's Tango barbaro (1995) and Eugene O'Neill's Mourning Becomes Electra (1997).[1][7][9] One of the rare film appearances during this time was the 1993 The End Is Known.[9] Due to increasing health issues, she ended her career in 2010.[1]
Melato died from pancreatic cancer on 11 January 2013 in Rome, Italy, at age 71.[2][13]
Melato had long-term relationships with actor and director Renzo Arbore and with musician and actor Giorgio Gaber.[1][14]
Melato received numerous stage and film awards.
David di Donatello Award:[15]
Nastro d'Argento Award for Best Leading Actress:[14]
