Wikipedia

Clara Calamai

Clara Calamai (7 September 1915 – 21 September 1998) was an Italian actress.

Clara Calamai
Calamai in the movie The Jester's Supper (1942)
Born(1915-09-07)7 September 1915
Prato, Tuscany, Kingdom of Italy
Died21 September 1998(1998-09-21) (aged 83)
Rimini, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Burial placeMonumental Cemetery of Rimini
Other namesClara Mais
OccupationActress
Spouse
Leonardo Bonzi
​
​
(m. 1945; ann. 1959)​

Career

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Calamai was born in Prato, Tuscany, on 7 September 1915.[1][2]

Calamai's first acting role was in the 1938 war film Pietro Micca, directed by Aldo Vergano.

In Alessandro Blasetti's The Jester's Supper (1942), Calamai briefly appeared topless in a scene. The scene is commonly credited with being the first time that an actress had appeared topless in an Italian sound film,[3][4] although Vittoria Carpi showed a bare breast for a moment in the 1941 film La corona di ferro (The Iron Crown), which was also directed by Blasetti. Calamai stated in a later interview that the original script did not have the character revealing herself this way and did not want to do the scene, but felt compelled by the director to do it and gave in when she was promised a closed set.[4]

Her most remembered role was in the film Luchino Visconti's Ossessione (1943), in which she played Giovanna, the ill-fated female protagonist.[2][5]

Calamai was offered the lead role in L'adultera (The Adulteress, 1946, directed by Duilio Coletti), after Anna Magnani, originally cast in the part, "was visibly five months' pregnant when she arrived on the set."[6] Calamai was awarded the Nastro d'Argento (Silver Ribbon) in 1946 for best actress for her performance in the film.

She played a prostitute in Luchino Visconti's Le notti bianche (1957) and appeared in Le streghe (1967).

After years of retirement, she returned in 1975 to appear in the horror film Profondo rosso (Deep Red, directed by Dario Argento) as the eccentric matriarch, Marta.

Personal life

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On 19 May 1945 she married explorer, and documentary film maker Count Leonardo Bonzi with whom she had two daughters. The marriage was annulled in November 1959, and she lived with Captain of Aviation Valerio Andreoni.[7]

Calamai died in Rimini on 21 September 1998.[1][2] Calamai is buried in the Monumental Cemetery of Rimini. In September 2022, a stele dedicated to her was unveiled in the cemetery behind the funerary monument of Federico Fellini.[8][9]

Partial filmography

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Una stele sulla tomba della Calamai" [A stele on Calamai's tomb]. Il Resto del Carlino (in Italian). 31 August 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Rimini celebra Clara Calamai. Dal 7 settembre una rassegna, una mostra e una cerimonia dedicata alla grande attrice italiana" [Rimini celebrates Clara Calamai: From 7 September, a review, an exhibition and a ceremony dedicated to the great Italian actress]. Comune di Rimini (in Italian). 30 August 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  3. ^ Il Mereghetti - Dizionario dei Film 2008, p. 556
  4. ^ a b Forgacs, David (2002). "Sex in the Cinema". In Reich, Jacqueline; Garofalo, Piero (eds.). Re-viewing Fascism: Italian Cinema, 1922-1943. Indiana University Press. pp. 159–61. ISBN 0-253-34045-4.
  5. ^ "The Dying Diva: Violent Ends for Clara Calamai in Ossessione and Profondo Rosso". Forum Italicum: A Journal of Italian Studies. 42 (2): 296–312. 2008. doi:10.1177/001458580804200204. S2CID 164517587. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  6. ^ Lane, John Francis (23 September 1998). "From Nudity to Neo-realism". The Guardian. p. 20.
  7. ^ Hanley, Anne (22 September 1998). "Obituary: Clara Calamai". The Independent. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  8. ^ "Rimini celebra Clara Calamai. Dal 7 settembre una rassegna, una mostra e una cerimonia dedicata alla grande attrice italiana" [Rimini celebrates Clara Calamai: From 7 September, a review, an exhibition and a ceremony dedicated to the great Italian actress]. Comune di Rimini (in Italian). 30 August 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  9. ^ "Una stele sulla tomba della Calamai" [A stele on Calamai's tomb]. Il Resto del Carlino (in Italian). 31 August 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
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