Athina Cenci (born 13 March 1946), is a Greek-born Italian former actress, stand-up comedian and politician.

Life and career

Born in Kos, Greece, Cenci was co-founder and member, together with Francesco Nuti and

Alessandro Benvenuti Alessandro Benvenuti (born 31 January 1950) is an Italian actor, film director and screenwriter. He was co-founder, together with Francesco Nuti and Athina Cenci, of the comedy ensemble "GianCattivi" with whom he achieved his first successes o ...

, of the comedy ensemble "GianCattivi" with whom she achieved her first successes on stage and on television.Giorgio Dell’Arti, Massimo Parrini. ''Catalogo dei viventi''. Marsilio, 2009. . She made her film debut with GianCattivi in ''

West of Paperino ''West of Paperino'' ( Italian: ''Ad ovest di Paperino'') is a 1981 Italian comedy film directed by Alessandro Benvenuti. It is the first film of the comedy trio "I GianCattivi", formed by Athina Cenci, Francesco Nuti and Benvenuti, who won the ...

'' (1982), then, after the group split, she started a successful solo career winning two

David di Donatello Awards The David di Donatello Awards, named after Donatello's ''David'', a symbolic statue of the Italian Renaissance, are film awards given out each year by the ''Accademia del Cinema Italiano'' (The Academy of Italian Cinema). There are 26 award cat ...

for best supporting actress for her performances in

Mario Monicelli Mario Alberto Ettore Monicelli (; 16 May 1915 – 29 November 2010) was an Italian film director and screenwriter and one of the masters of the ''Commedia all'Italiana'' (Comedy Italian style). He was nominated six times for an Oscar, and was awa ...

's ''

Let's Hope It's a Girl ''Let's Hope It's a Girl'' ( it, Speriamo che sia femmina) is a 1986 Italian comedy film directed by Mario Monicelli. For this film Monicelli was awarded with a David di Donatello for Best Director and a Nastro d'Argento in the same category. Th ...

'' and Carlo Verdone's ''

Compagni di scuola ''Compagni di scuola'' is a 1988 Italian comedy film directed by and starring Carlo Verdone. It was shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy at the 67th Venice International Film Festival. Plot Federica is a 35 years old a kept woman ...

''. She later also worked with other notable directors, including Paolo and Vittorio Taviani and

Ettore Scola Ettore Scola (; 10 May 1931 – 19 January 2016) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He received a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film in 1978 for his film ''A Special Day'' and over the course of his film career was nominated for fiv ...

, and was active on stage and on television, in TV-series and variety shows. In 1999 Cenci was elected with the Democrats of the Left in the city council of Florence. In 2001 she suffered a stroke that forced her to interrupt her artistic and political activities for many years. She reappeared in public in 2014 and the year after returned on stage as protagonist.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cenci, Athina Italian film actresses Italian television actresses Italian stage actresses 1946 births People from Kos Living people David di Donatello winners Ciak d'oro winners Democrats of the Left politicians Italian actor-politicians Greek emigrants to Italy Italian people of Greek descent