Memorial Page for Alessandra Panaro

Alessandra Panaro (born 14 December 1939 in Rome; died 1 May 2019 in Geneva) was an Italian actress. She began her film career in the mid-1950s and reached a broad audience through Dino Risi's comedies around Poveri ma belli. Later she also appeared in Luchino Visconti's Rocco e i suoi fratelli and in many other Italian and international productions.

Early years and debut

Panaro was born in Rome and studied acting with Teresa Franchini. She was already working in front of the camera as a teenager. Her early work included Il barcaiolo di Amalfi, Destinazione Piovarolo and other roles in Italian productions of the 1950s. Her career began at a time when Italian cinema was moving between postwar stories, popular comedy and a new urban feeling.

Poveri ma belli

With Poveri ma belli Panaro reached a large audience in 1957. She played Anna Maria, sister of one of the two young male main characters. The film showed Rome, youth, flirtation, family and small social hopes in a light tone. Panaro and Lorella De Luca continued their roles in Belle ma povere and Poveri milionari and remained closely connected with this trilogy.

Il Musichiere and further roles

At the end of the 1950s Panaro also appeared with Lorella De Luca on the RAI programme Il Musichiere. In cinema she worked with directors including Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, Alessandro Blasetti, Dino Risi and Luchino Visconti. In Lazzarella she played the title role; in Rocco e i suoi fratelli she appeared as Ciro's fiancée.

International productions

In the 1960s Panaro appeared in adventure films, historical subjects and co-productions, including Ursus nella valle dei leoni, Il segreto dello sparviero nero, Il conquistatore di Corinto, Son of Captain Blood and Der Schatz der Azteken. These roles led her into a cinema that connected Italian studios, European markets and international distribution.

Later years

Panaro was first married to banker Jean-Pierre Sabet, who died in 1983. In 1992 she married actor Giancarlo Sbragia; he died in 1994. She later lived in Geneva. She remained occasionally present in film in later life; her late film La notte è piccola per noi was released in 2019.

Farewell

Alessandra Panaro died in Geneva on 1 May 2019. She was 79 years old. Her career connects Roman comedy of the 1950s, early Italian television entertainment, Visconti's social drama and European genre films of the 1960s.