Paola Cortellesi (born 24 November 1973 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 ...

) is an Italian actress, singer, voice actress, and presenter. She has starred in about 20 movies as well as a number of theatrical shows, television shows, and radio shows.

Biography

Cortellesi debuted in the show business at the age of 13, as a singer for ''Cacao meravigliao'', the jingle of the popular

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

TV show ''Indietro tutta!'' by

Renzo Arbore Lorenzo Giovanni "Renzo" Arbore (; born 24 June 1937) is an Italian television host, singer, actor and film director. Career Arbore became nationally recognized as radio anchor man, together with Gianni Boncompagni, in the late 1960s, with ...

. At 19 she began studying as an actress at the "Teatro Blu" in Rome (the same theatre school that

Kim Rossi Stuart Kim Rossi Stuart (born 31 October 1969) is an Italian actor and director. Early life and career Rossi Stuart was born in Rome. His father, Giacomo Rossi Stuart, Giacomo, was an actor of Italians, Italian and Scottish people, Scottish descent ( ...

Gianmarco Tognazzi Gianmarco Tognazzi (born 11 October 1967) is an Italian actor. Life and career Born on 11 October 1967 in Rome, the son of actors Ugo Tognazzi and Franca Bettoia,Giorgio Dell’Arti, Massimo Parrini. ''Catalogo dei viventi''. Marsilio, 2009. . ...

Claudia Gerini Claudia Gerini (; born 18 December 1971) is an Italian actress and singer. Life and career Born in Rome, Gerini won the National Competition of Miss Teenager in 1985. She got her first part in a film, ''La ballata di Eva'', at 14. She subsequ ...

, Stefania Rocca, and

Claudio Santamaria Claudio Santamaria is an Italian actor; in 2016 he was awarded the David di Donatello for Best Actor award for portraying the superhero Enzo 'Jeeg' Ceccotti in ''They Call Me Jeeg''. Career His cinema debut came in 1997, with Leonardo Pieracci ...

, among others, have attended). She began her career in television with the show ''Macao'', presented by

Alba Parietti Alba Parietti (born 2 July 1961) is an Italian television presenter, television personality, showgirl, actress and former singer. Early life Parietti was born on 2 July 1961 in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, daughter of Francesco, a Piedmontese pa ...

, but eventually reached nationwide popularity as a comic actress in the TV show ''

Mai dire Gol ''Mai dire Gol'' was an Italian football television program of featuring Gialappa's Band, which was broadcast on Italia 1 from 18 November 1990 to 25 February 2001. The program was, at the beginning, the footballing version of Gialappa's Band's ...

'' by the

Gialappa's Band Gialappa's Band is the name used by Marco Santin (born 11 February 1962 in Milan), Carlo Taranto (born 16 December 1961 in Milan), and Giorgio Gherarducci (born 1 November 1963 in Milan), the Italian trio of TV and radio commentators. Overvi ...

(2000), which, in particular, showcased her skills at parodying famous people, a genre where she collected some of her most appreciated performances (the latest one being her parody of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

's mayor Letizia Moratti in the 2010-2011 edition of the popular TV show ''

Zelig ''Zelig'' is a 1983 American mockumentary film written, directed by and starring Woody Allen as Leonard Zelig, a nondescript enigma, who, apparently out of his desire to fit in and be liked, unwittingly takes on the characteristics of strong per ...

''). After ''Mai dire Gol'', Cortellesi has collaborated in several other TV Show of the ''Mai dire...'' franchise by Gialappa's Band. Other major performances of Cortellesi on television include the 2004 edition of the

San Remo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longest-running annual ...

and the leading role in the TV movie ''Maria Montessori: Una vita per i bambini'', a biography of

Maria Montessori Maria Tecla Artemisia Montessori ( , ; August 31, 1870 – May 6, 1952) was an Italian physician and educator best known for the philosophy of education that bears her name, and her writing on scientific pedagogy. At an early age, Montessori e ...

, for which Cortellesi received the "Maximo Award" at the Roma Fiction Fest. Her career in cinema includes several appreciated performances in comedies and comic movies, including a leading role in ''Tu la conosci Claudia?'', a very popular production starring the comic trio Aldo, Giovanni e Giacomo. In 2008, she was nominated for the David di Donatello award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the movie ''

Piano, solo ''Piano, solo'' is a 2007 Italian drama film directed by Riccardo Milani. It is based on the book by Walter Veltroni ''Il disco del mondo - Vita breve di Luca Flores, musicista'' and it depicts real life events of jazz pianist and composer Luca ...

'' by Riccardo Milani. In 2011 she won the David di Donatello for

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

for her leading role in ''

Escort in Love ''Escort in Love'' ( it, Nessuno mi può giudicare, "Nobody can judge me") is a 2011 Italian comedy film directed by Massimiliano Bruno. Paola Cortellesi won the 2011 David di Donatello for Best Actress for her performance as Alice. Plot A weal ...

''. One of her most appreciated theatrical performances was ''Gli ultimi saranno gli ultimi'' ("Last will be last") by

Massimiliano Bruno Massimiliano Bruno (born 4 June 1970) is an Italian director, screenwriter, playwright and actor. Life and career Born in Rome into a family of Calabrian origins, Bruno formed as an actor in a drama laboratory "Torre Spaccata". He started hi ...

, which has been staged 189 times from 2005 to 2007 in over 50 theatres, and for which Cortellesi has collected a number of awards. As a singer, Cortellesi has been described by Mina as "one of the best Italian voices"Mina: La migliore a Sanremo è Paola Cortellesi
/ref> and has cooperated with several notable Italian musicians, including

Elio e le Storie Tese Elio e le Storie Tese (; literally "Elio and the Troubled Stories"), often abbreviated EelST, was an Italian comedy rock band from Milan, formed in 1980. Its leader was Stefano Belisari, better known as Elio. They announced their split on 17 Oc ...

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Claudio Baglioni Claudio Baglioni (; born 16 May 1951) is an Italian pop singer-songwriter and musician. His career has been going on for over 50 years. Some songs from the 70s are part of Italian culture such as ''E tu come stai?''. In the 80s he released the ...

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, and

Neri per Caso Neri per Caso are an Italian a cappella musical group. Career The group formed in Salerno as Crecason in 1991 and consisted of six elements: Diego and Ciro Caravano (brothers), their cousins Mimì and Gonzalo Caravano (also brothers), Mario Cr ...

. In 2019 she was filmed in the titular role of ''

Petra Petra ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرَاء, Al-Batrāʾ; grc, Πέτρα, "Rock", Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: ), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is an historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is adjacent to t ...

'' for the four-part Italian TV crime drama, broadcast from September 2020. Cortellesi married director

Riccardo Milani Riccardo Milani (born 15 April 1958) is an Italian film and television director and screenwriter. Life and career Born in Rome, Milani began his career in 1985, as assistant director of Mario Monicelli in '' Let's Hope It's a Girl''. After b ...

on 1 October 2011. The couple have a daughter, Laura, born 24 January 2013.

Filmography

Writings

* (both a book and a film)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cortellesi, Paola 1973 births Living people David di Donatello winners Italian film actresses Actresses from Rome Italian stage actresses Italian television actresses 21st-century Italian singers 21st-century Italian women singers