Pia Velsi (stage name of Elpidia Sorbo; born 31 March 1924) is an Italian actress and singer.

Biography

Born in

L'Aquila L'Aquila ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy. It is the capital city of both the Abruzzo region and of the Province of L'Aquila. , it has a population of 70,967 inhabitants. Laid out within medieval walls on a hill in the wide valle ...

, she grew up in

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 ...

, where she began her career as a singer, performing live in the 1940s. After moving to Rome, she made her debut at the Ambra Jovinelli Theater, in a variety company. She was then called to replace the Neapolitan actress

Rosalia Maggio Rosalia Maggio (1 May 1921 – 25 July 1995) was an Italian actress, dancer, singer and showgirl. Biography Born in Palermo, she was the daughter of two comedian actors and sister of actors Enzo, Dante, Beniamino and Pupella Maggio. She deb ...

during a show (in which she had also to dance and act) at the Petruzzelli Theater in

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

, and from here began her career as an actress. At the beginning of the forties, in addition to acting and dancing, she also began an intense singing activity with the nickname of Nuovo Fiore. During this period she recorded numerous 78 rpm records for the Phonotype label. During her career in the world of cinema she has worked with many well-known directors, such as

Nanni Loy Nanni Loy (born Giovanni Loi; 23 October 1925 – 21 August 1995) was an Italian film, theatre and TV director. Specifically, Nanni Loy was Sardinian, and one of several notable Sardinian film makers, including Franco Solinas. Biography Lo ...

and

Renato Castellani Renato Castellani (4 September 1913 in Varigotti, Liguria – 28 December 1985 in Rome) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Early life Son of a representative of Kodak, he was born in Varigotti, a hamlet at the time of Final Pia, ...

; among her numerous film appearances, the short but effective characterizations in the films of

Luciano De Crescenzo Luciano De Crescenzo (; 18 August 1928 – 18 July 2019) was an Italian writer, film actor, director and engineer. Biography Born in Naples, he grew up with actor Bud Spencer. De Crescenzo graduated in engineering and worked for IBM Italy un ...

(the lady of the red horse in ''

Così parlò Bellavista ''Così parlò Bellavista'' is a 1984 Italian comedy film based on the novel of the same name by Luciano De Crescenzo. De Crescenzo directed the film and also played the main role. For this film De Crescenzo won David di Donatello and Nastro d'Arg ...

'' and in '' 32 dicembre'') are worthy of mention, as well as the only co-star 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 '' Parenti serpenti'', in which she plays grandmother Trieste. From the second half of the 1970s, with the role of leading comic actress, she devoted herself to the Neapolitan drama, joining with the Company of Mario and Sal da Vinci and staging numerous musical comedies on the major stages of Italy. She has also worked on television, acting in fiction such as Don Matteo and The wings of life. For many years she played a nun in a series of commercials for the Uliveto and Rocchetta waters, together with

Alessandro Del Piero Alessandro Del Piero (; born 9 November 1974) is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a deep-lying forward, although he was capable of playing in several offensive positions. Since 2015, he has worked as a pundit fo ...

and

Cristina Chiabotto Cristina Chiabotto (born 15 September 1986) is an Italian TV presenter, model and showgirl. She works as TV presenter for Juventus Channel. Chiabotto was born in Moncalieri, in the province of Turin (Piedmont). She has a younger sister, Serena ...

, and also participated in the television series Tutti pazzi per amore. In 2010 she starred in the TV miniseries for

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 ...

Uno entitled '' Il Signore della scuffa'', alongside

Gigi Proietti Luigi "Gigi" Proietti (2 November 1940 – 2 November 2020) was an Italian actor, voice actor, comedian, musician, singer and television presenter. Early life He was born in Rome to Romano Proietti, originally from Umbria, and Giovanna Ceci, a ...

, in the role of the widow Nencioni. Velsi returned to television again on March 31, 2015, as a guest of the program La vita in ricerca, during which his situation of precariousness and poverty is highlighted. Events and collections are created on the web and on social networks to support it.

References

{{reflist 1924 births Living people Italian film actresses