Miranda, Isa (1909–1982)

One of Italy's leading actresses. Born Inèes Isabella Sampietro in Milan, Italy, on July 5, 1909; died of an infected bone fracture in Rome, Italy, on July 8, 1982; married Alfredo Guarini (a film producer).

Selected filmography:

Tenebre (1933); La Signora di Tutti (1934); Come le Foglie (Like the Leaves, 1934); Du bist mein Glück (Ger., 1936); Passaporto Rosso (1936); Il Fu Mattia Pascal (L'Homme de nulle part also released as The Late Mathias Pascal and The Man From Nowhere, 1936); Scipione l'Africano (Scipio Africanus, 1937); Una Donna fra due Mondi (Between Two Worlds, 1937); Le Menzogne di Nina Petrovna (The Lie of Nina Petrovna, Fr., 1937); Hotel Imperial (US, 1939); Adventure in Diamonds (US, 1940); Malombra (1942); Zazà (1943); Lo Sbaglio di essere Vivo (My Widow and I, 1945); Au-delà des Grilles (Fr.-It., also known as Le Mura di Malapaga, 1948, released as The Walls of Malapaga, 1949); La Ronde (Fr., 1950); Les sept Péchès capitaux (The Seven Deadly Sins, Fr.-It., 1952); Siamo Donne (We the Women, 1953); Avant le Deluge (1953); Rasputin (1954); Summer Madness (Summertime, UK-US, 1955); Il Tesoro di Rommel (1956); Une Manche it la Belle (What Price Murder, Fr., 1957); La Noia (The Empty Canvas, 1963); The Yellow Rolls-Royce (UK, 1964); The Shoes of the Fisherman (UK-It., 1968); Das Bildnis des Dorian Gray (Dorian Gray, Ger.-It.Liecht., 1970); Il Portiere di Notte (The Night Porter, It.-UK, 1974); Le Faro da Padre (Bambina, 1974).

A leading actress of international films, Italian-born Isa Miranda trained for the stage at Milan Academy and was a bit player in Italian films when she was selected by the great German director Max Ophuls to play the lead in La Signora di Tutti (1934), one of the first films he made after leaving Germany following the Reichstag fire. Miranda went on to star in many Italian, German, French, and British films, winning the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for her performance in Au-delà des Grilles, released for English-speaking audiences as The Walls of Malapaga in 1949. Her American films included Hotel Imperial (1939) and Adventure in Diamonds (1940). Miranda also appeared on the Italian stage and television and was respected as a poet, novelist, and painter. She was married to the film producer Alfredo Guarini.