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Laura Betti

Laura Betti

Acting

May 1, 1927 – July 31, 2004 (died at 77)
Casalecchio di Reno, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Female
89 Movies
5 TV Shows

Laura Betti (née Trombetti; 1 May 1927 – 31 July 2004) was an Italian actress known particularly for her work with directors Federico Fellini, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Bernardo Bertolucci. She had a long friendship with Pasolini and made a documentary about him in 2001. Betti became famous for portraying bizarre, grotesque, eccentric, unstable or maniacal roles, like Regina in Bernardo Bertolucci's 1900, Anna the medium in Twitch of the Death Nerve, Giovanna la pazza in Woman Buried Alive, hysterical Rita Zigai in Sbatti il mostro in prima pagina, Therese in Private Vices, Public Virtues, Emilia the servant in Pier Paolo Pasolini's Teorema for which she won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, and Mildred the protagonist's wife in Mario Bava's Hatchet for the Honeymoon. Born Laura Trombetti in Casalecchio di Reno, near Bologna, she grew up to be interested in singing. She first worked professionally in the arts as a jazz singer and moved to Rome. Betti made her film debut in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960). In 1963, she became a close friend of the poet and movie director Pier Paolo Pasolini. Under his direction, she proved a wonderful talent and played in seven of his films, including La ricotta (1963), Teorema (Theorem, 1968), his 1972 version of The Canterbury Tales, in which she played the Wife of Bath; and his controversial Salo (1975) ("120 Days of Sodom"). In 1976, Betti portrayed Regina, a cruel and eroto-maniacal fascist in Bernardo Bertolucci's Novecento (1900). She also played Miss Blandish in his Last Tango in Paris (1972), though her single scene was deleted. In 1973 she dubbed the voice of the Devil for the Italian version of William Friedkin's The Exorcist. From the 1960s, Betti dedicated much of her time to literature and politics. She became the muse for a number of leading political and literary figures in Italy and came to personify the revolutionary and Marxist era of 1970s Italy. In 2001, she made a documentary about Pasolini, Pier Paolo Pasolini e la ragione di un sogno. She also donated her papers related to their long friendship along with more than 1000 volumes and many documents connected to Pasolini to the archives of the Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna, thus creating the Centro Studi Archivio Pier Paolo Pasolini. This Centro, strongly wanted by Betti, owns also thousands of photograph and all the works of Pasolini: poetry, literature, cinema and journalism. After her death in 2004 her brother Sergio Trombetti has donated all the personal documents of her career to the Centro that has absorbed them under the name Fondo Laura Betti. Source: Article "Laura Betti" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

The Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales

1972 6.1

as The Wife from Bath

Age 45 (now 77)
Theorem
Theorem

Theorem

1968 7.0

as Emilia, the Servant

Age 41 (now 77)
1900
1900

1900

1976 7.8

as Regina

Age 49 (now 77)
Hatchet for the Honeymoon
Hatchet for the Honeymoon

Hatchet for the Honeymoon

1970 6.4

as Mildred Harrington

Age 43 (now 77)
A Bay of Blood
A Bay of Blood

A Bay of Blood

1971 6.6

as Anna Fossati

Age 44 (now 77)
Fat Girl
Fat Girl

Fat Girl

2001 6.2

as Fernando's Mother

Age 73 (now 77)
La Dolce Vita
La Dolce Vita

La Dolce Vita

1960 8.0

as Laura

Age 32 (now 77)
Slap the Monster on Page One
Slap the Monster on Page One

Slap the Monster on Page One

1972 7.6

as Rita Zigai

Age 45 (now 77)
Ro.Go.Pa.G.
Ro.Go.Pa.G.

Ro.Go.Pa.G.

1963 7.2

as Sonia, the 'Diva' (segment "La ricotta")

Age 35 (now 77)
Blame it on Paradise
Blame it on Paradise

Blame it on Paradise

1985 6.5

as direttrice

Age 58 (now 77)
Allonsanfan
Allonsanfan

Allonsanfan

1974 6.9

as Esther Imbriani

Age 47 (now 77)
Oedipus Rex
Oedipus Rex

Oedipus Rex

1967 6.8

as Jocasta's Maid (uncredited)

Age 40 (now 77)
Jane B. by Agnès V.
Jane B. by Agnès V.

Jane B. by Agnès V.

1988 6.7

as Lardy

Age 60 (now 77)
In the Name of the Father
In the Name of the Father

In the Name of the Father

1971 6.4

as Franco's Mother

Age 44 (now 77)
That Night of Varennes
That Night of Varennes

That Night of Varennes

1982 6.9

as Virginia Capacelli

Age 55 (now 77)
Private Vices, Public Virtues
Private Vices, Public Virtues

Private Vices, Public Virtues

1976 5.3

as Teresa

Age 49 (now 77)