Giselda Lombardi, better known by her screen name Leda Gys (March 10, 1892 – October 2, 1957), was an Italian

film actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lite ...

of the

silent era A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

. The poet

Carlo Alberto Salustri Trilussa, anagrammatic pseudonym of Carlo Alberto Camillo Mariano SalustriSome biographers as Claudio Rendina report ''Marianum'' as his fourth name (Rendina, p.19) (Rome, 26 October 1871 – 21 December 1950), was an Italian poet, writer and jo ...

gave the aspiring actress her new name and introduced her to the film business in 1913. Her breakthrough role came in the

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...

Christus Christus may refer to: * Christ (title) People * Petrus Christus (c. 1410s – c. 1475), Dutch painter * Sir Christus (1978–2017), Finnish musician Music * ''Christus'' (Liszt), an oratorio * ''Christus'' (Mendelssohn), an unfinished oratorio ...

'', which was shot in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. She then married the producer

Gustavo Lombardo Gustavo Lombardo (1885–1951) was an Italian film producer. He founded the Naples-based production company Lombardo Film in 1917, having previously made his reputation in film distribution. He was married to the actress Leda Gys who starred in hi ...

and worked for his

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

-based Lombardo Films, generally appearing in comedies that were often directed by

Eugenio Perego Eugenio Perego (1876–1944) was an Italian film director of the silent era. During the 1920s he directed a number of comedy films starring Leda Gys.Abel p.292 Selected filmography * '' The Two Sergeants'' (1913) * ''The Railway Owner'' (1919 ...

.Abel p.292

Selected filmography

* ''

Pierrot the Prodigal ''Pierrot the Prodigal'' (Italian: ''Histoire d'un Pierrot'') is a 1914 Italian silent film directed by Baldassarre Negroni and starring Francesca Bertini, Leda Gys and Emilio Ghione.Moliterno p.33 Cast * Francesca Bertini as Pierrot * Leda Gy ...

'' (1914) * '' The Wedding March'' (1915) * ''

'' (1916) * '' Naples is a Song'' (1927)

References

Bibliography

* Abel, Richard. ''Encyclopedia of Early Cinema''. Taylor & Francis, 2005.

External links

* 1892 births 1957 deaths Italian film actresses Italian silent film actresses 20th-century Italian actresses Actresses from Rome {{Italy-actor-stub