Menu
Help

Known For

Elsa Martinelli is known for:

  • Hatari!
    A group of men trap wild animals in Africa and sell them to zoos. Will the arrival of a female wildlife photographer change their ways?
  • The Trial
    An unassuming office worker is arrested and stands trial, but he is never made aware of his charges.
  • The 10th Victim
    In the near future, big wars are avoided by giving individuals with violent tendencies a chance to kill in the Big Hunt. The Hunt is the most popular form of entertainment in the world and also attracts participants who are looking for fame and fortune. It includes ten rounds for each competitor, five as the hunter and five as the victim.

Top Casting Suggestions

Elsa Martinelli has been suggested to play 4 roles. Click below to see other actors suggested for each role, and vote for who you think would play the role best.

Biography

Elsa Martinelli (3 August 1932 or 30 January 1935, according to different sources) was an Italian actress and former fashion model. Born Elisa Tia in Grosseto, Tuscany, she moved to Rome with her family and in 1953 was discovered by Roberto Capucci who introduced her to the world of fashion. She became a model and began playing small roles in films. She appeared in Claude Autant-Lara's Le Rouge et le noir (1954), but her first important film role came the following year with The Indian Fighter opposite Kirk Douglas. Douglas claims to have spotted her on a magazine cover and hired her for his production company, Bryna Productions. In 1956 she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 6th Berlin International Film Festival for playing the title role in Mario Monicelli's Donatella. From the mid 1950s through the late 1960s, she divided her time between Europe and the USA appearing films such as Four Girls in Town (1957) with George Nader, Manuela (1957) with Trevor Howard, Prisoner of the Volga (1959) with John Derek, Hatari! (1962) with John Wayne, The Pigeon That Took Rome (1962) with Charlton Heston, The Trial with Anthony Perkins, The V.I.P.s (1963) with Orson Welles, Rampage (1963) with Robert Mitchum, and Woman Times Seven (1967) with Lex Barker. In Candy (1968), her co-stars were Charles Aznavour, Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, James Coburn, Walter Matthau and Ringo Starr. Since the late 1960s, she has worked in Europe in mostly foreign language productions. Her last English language role was as Carla the Agent in 1992s Once Upon a Crime. Her most recent appearance was in the 2005 European television series Orgoglio as the Duchessa di Monteforte. Martinelli was first married to Count Franco Mancinelli Scotti di San Vito, by whom she has a daughter, Cristiana Mancinelli (born 1958), also an actress. She later was married to the Paris Match photographer and 1970s furniture designer Willy Rizzo. Description above from the Wikipedia article Elsa Martinelli, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.