Maria Michi(1921-1980)
- Actress
First a typist at a law firm, young Maria Michi then became an
usherette at Teatro Quattro Fontane in Rome. She was in the right place
to become an actress, for was soon noticed and given small parts in the
company of Sergio Stofano and Diana Torreri during the 1942-1943
season. Her first major assignment was in the revue 'Con un palmo di
naso' with 'Toto' and
Anna Magnani. Her companion at that time
was screenwriter Sergio Amidei, which was
another chance, since he introduced her to
Roberto Rossellini. Hence a
breathtaking debut for the beautiful young actress who appeared in two
masterpieces of Italian neorealism on the run: Open City (in which she
was the two-faced fiancée of a resistant) and Paisan (where she was the
moving Francesca, an ordinary girl turned prostitute due to the postwar
circumstances). Her next films paled by comparison and Maria Michi,
disappointed by the turn of her career, quit the movie world for no
less than thirteen years. During this period she married Prince Augusto
Torlonia and returned to the theatre. She made her comeback in 1960 and
for fifteen years Maria Michi, now a very good mature character
actress, appeared in small parts in good movies signed
Claude Chabrol,
Bernardo Bertolucci,
Peter Del Monte and
Mauro Bolognini. She also did worthwhile
radio and television work. She retired in 1976 and died too young at
the age of fifty-eight.
