Ornella Muti (born Francesca Romana Rivelli; 9 March 1955) is an Italian actress. She made her film debut as Francesca Cimarosa in the 1970 film ''
La moglie più bella
''The Most Beautiful Wife'' ( it, La moglie più bella) is a 1970 Italian film directed by Damiano Damiani, based on the 1965 case of Franca Viola, who challenged the still frequent southern Italian custom of kidnapping and raping a prospective ...
.''
Early life
Muti was born in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
to a
Neapolitan
Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to:
Geography and history
* Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city
* Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and Hig ...
journalist father and Ilse Renate Krause, a
Baltic German
Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...
sculptor from
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
. Her maternal grandparents emigrated from
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
(now
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, Russia) to Estonia.
Career
Muti modeled as a teenager and made her film debut in the 1970 film ''
La moglie più bella
''The Most Beautiful Wife'' ( it, La moglie più bella) is a 1970 Italian film directed by Damiano Damiani, based on the 1965 case of Franca Viola, who challenged the still frequent southern Italian custom of kidnapping and raping a prospective ...
'' (''The Most Beautiful Wife'').
She has primarily worked in Italian films but made her
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
-speaking film debut as
Princess Aura
Princess Aura is a fictional character in the Flash Gordon comic strips and serials. She has been portrayed by various actresses in the many ''Flash Gordon'' adaptations in film and television.
Character overview
Aura is the daughter of the ser ...
in ''
Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' adve ...
'' in 1980.
American movies she appeared in include ''
Love and Money'' (1982), ''
Casanova
Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (, ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, (''Story of My Life''), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about the c ...
'' (1987), ''
Wait Until Spring, Bandini
''Wait Until Spring, Bandini'' is a novel by American author John Fante. Released in 1938, it was his first published novel; '' The Road to Los Angeles'', written in 1936, was discovered after Fante has died and was released posthumously in 1985. ...
'' (1989), ''
A Season of Giants'' (1990), ''
Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology) ...
'' (1991), ''
Once Upon a Crime'' (1992), ''
Somewhere in the City
''Somewhere in the City'' is a 1998 American indie comedy-drama film written and directed by Ramin Niami.
Cast
* Sandra Bernhard as Betty
* Ornella Muti as Marta
* Robert John Burke as Frankie
* Peter Stormare as Graham
* Bai Ling as Lu Lu
* ...
'' (1998) and ''
To Rome with Love'' (2012).
In 2008, Muti introduced her own line of jewelry and subsequently opened shops in Paris, Milan, Rome, Riga, Moscow and Almaty. In 1999 she insured her breasts for $350,000.
In 2015, the Italian court of Pordenone condemned her to 8 months in prison for having canceled a theatrical performance following a health problem, which did not prevent her from participating in a social dinner with
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
in Saint Petersburg in December 2010. She avoided prison by paying the sum of 30,000 euros to the Verdi theater as compensation.
Personal life
Muti has been married twice, first to Alessio Orano (a fellow actor in ''The Most Beautiful Wife''), from 1975 to 1981.
She was married, secondly, to Federico Fachinetti, from 1988 to 1996.
Muti has three children:
Naike Rivelli
Naike Rivelli (born 10 October 1974) is an Italian actress and singer.
Biography
Rivelli is the eldest daughter of actress Ornella Muti. For many years, she believed Spanish film producer José Luis Bermúdez de Castro was her father; following ...
(born 1974), a fashion model, singer, and actress; a son, Andrea, and a second daughter, Carolina, both from her marriage to Fachinetti.
On February 1, 2022, the actress announced that she would like to obtain
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
citizenship. She told
TASS
The Russian News Agency TASS (russian: Информацио́нное аге́нтство Росси́и ТАСС, translit=Informatsionnoye agentstvo Rossii, or Information agency of Russia), abbreviated TASS (russian: ТАСС, label=none) ...
: "It would be nice for me to get citizenship, because it is part of my culture associated with my mother. She died this year, and it would be a gift for her." In 2022, Muti was criticised by the
far right
Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
for supporting the
legalisation of cannabis in Italy.
Filmography
Films
Television
References
External links
*;
* .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muti, Ornella
1955 births
Living people
Actresses from Rome
Italian child actresses
Italian film actresses
Italian television actresses
Italian people of Russian descent
Italian people of Estonian descent
Italian people of Baltic German descent
Nastro d'Argento winners
Ciak d'oro winners
20th-century Italian actresses
21st-century Italian actresses