Pier Angeli

Infobox actor
name = Pier Angeli


imagesize =
caption =Pier Angeli on the cover of her biography
birthname = Anna Maria Pierangeli
birthdate = June 19, 1932
location = Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
deathdate = Death date and age|1971|9|10|1932|6|19
deathplace = Beverly Hills, California, United States
occupation = Actress
spouse = Vic Damone

Pier Angeli (June 19, 1932 – September 10, 1971) was an Italian-born actress.

Biography

Early years and MGM

Born Anna Maria Pierangeli in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. Her twin sister is the actress Marisa Pavan. Angeli made her film debut with Vittorio de Sica in " [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041302/ Domani è troppo tardi] " (1950), after being spotted by director Léonide Moguy. She was discovered by Hollywood, and MGM launched her in her first American film, "Teresa" (1951). Directed by Fred Zinnemann, this film also saw the joint debuts of Rod Steiger and John Ericson. Enthusiastic reviews for her eloquent and understated performance compared her to Greta Garbo, and she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress. Under contract with MGM throughout the 1950s, she appeared in a series of films. In "The Light Touch" with Stewart Granger, she indeed brought a light touch of innocence to the film. Plans for a film of "Romeo and Juliet" with her and Marlon Brando fell through when a British-Italian production was announced.

Her next few films were respectable but unexciting: "The Story of Three Loves" (1953) with Kirk Douglas, "Sombrero", in which she replaced an indisposed Ava Gardner, and "Flame and the Flesh" (1954), where she lost her man to Lana Turner. MGM, after having discovered Leslie Caron, another Continental "ingénue", loaned Angeli out to other studios. She went to Warner Bros. for "The Silver Chalice", which marked the debut of Paul Newman, and made "Mam'zelle Nitouche" with the great French comic actor Fernandel. For Paramount, she should have had the role of Anna Magnani's daughter in "The Rose Tattoo", but motherhood having interfered, it went to her twin sister, Marisa Pavan, who was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for the role. She was loaned out again, to Columbia, for "Port Afrique" (1956). She showed a return to her old form when she returned to MGM for "Somebody Up There Likes Me" as Paul Newman's long-suffering wife (James Dean had originally been expected to play the starring role, which went to Newman after Dean's death). She was indifferent in "The Vintage" (1957) with Mel Ferrer and John Kerr, and finished her contract in "Merry Andrew," starring Danny Kaye.

Later career and personal life

Kirk Douglas and Angeli were engaged in 1950s, according to Douglas' autobiography. For a short time Angeli also had a close relationship with James DeanFact|date=September 2007, and there was a great deal of speculation at the time about possible marriage. However, under pressure from her domineering mother, she broke off the relationship and went on to marry singer/actor Vic Damone (1954–1959). This was to end in divorce, followed by highly publicized court battles for the custody of their one son. Her second marriage was to Italian composer Armando Trovajoli (1962–1969), with whom she had another son. This marriage also ended in divorce. Just before her death, she spoke of her relationship with James Dean and in part said, "There was only one love in my life, and that was Jimmy Dean."Fact|date=September 2007

During the 1960s and until 1970 the actress returned to live and work in Britain and Europe. Few of her films during that period were notable, despite a strong performance opposite Richard Attenborough in "The Angry Silence" (1960). She was reunited with Stewart Granger for "Sodom and Gomorrah" (1963), in which she played Lot's wife. She played a brief role in the war epic "Battle of the Bulge" (1965). 1968 found Pier in Israel, top billed in "Every Bastard a King", aboutevents during that nation's recent war, but steady work was eluding her. It seemed as if her acting career might revive when she was picked to play a role in "The Godfather", but she died soon before filming.

At the age of 39, despondent and lonely, Angeli was found dead of a barbituate overdose. [cite book|last=Crivello|first=Kirk|title=Fallen Angels: The Lives and Untimely Deaths of Fourteen Hollywood Beauties|publisher=Citadel Press|date=1988|pages=277|isbn=0-806-51096-X] [cite book|last=Frascella|first=Lawrence |coauthors=Weisel, Al|title=Live Fast, Die Young: The Wild Ride of Making Rebel Without a Cause|publisher=Simon and Schuster|date=2005|pages=180|isbn=0-743-29118-2] Reports vary as to whether the overdose was accidental or intentional.

She is interred in the Cimetière des Bulvis, in Rueil-Malmaison, Hauts-de-Seine, France.

Filmography

Features:
*"Tomorrow Is Too Late" (1950)
*"Tomorrow Is Another Day" (1951)
*"Teresa" (1951)
*"The Light Touch" (1952)
*"The Devil Makes Three" (1952)
*"The Story of Three Loves" (1953)
*"Sombrero" (1953)
*"Mam'zelle Nitouche" (1954)
*"Flame and the Flesh" (1954)
*"The Silver Chalice" (1954)
*"Meet Me in Las Vegas" (1956) (Cameo)
*"Port Afrique" (1956)
*"Somebody Up There Likes Me" (1956)
*"The Vintage" (1957)
*"Merry Andrew" (1958)
*"SOS Pacific" (1959)
*"Musketeers of the Sea" (1960)
*"The Angry Silence" (1960)
*"White Slave Ship" (1961)
*"The Last Days of Sodom and Gomorrah" (1962)
*"Panic in Bangkok" (1964)
*"M.M.M. 83" (1965)
*"Berlin, Appointment for the Spies" (1965)
*"Battle of the Bulge" (1965)
*"For One Thousand Dollars Per Day" (1966)
*"Red Roses for the Fuhrer" (1968)
*"One Step to Hell" (1968)
*"Every Bastard a King" (1968)
*"¡Viva América!" (1969)
*"Addio, Alexandra" (1969)
*"In the Folds of the Flesh" (1970)
*"That Particular" (1970)
*"Octaman" (1971)Short Subjects:
*"The Million Dollar Nickel" (1952)
*"Estoril and Its Film" (1960)

Awards and nominations

Footnotes

References

*cite book
last = Douglas
first = Kirk
authorlink = Kirk Douglas
title = The Ragman's Son
publisher = Pan
date = 1988
pages = 206
isbn = 0330310399

External links

*
* [http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=7234 Photographs of Pier Angeli]
*

Persondata
NAME= Angeli, Pier
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Pierangeli, Anna Maria
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Actress
DATE OF BIRTH= June 19, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH= Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
DATE OF DEATH= September 10, 1971
PLACE OF DEATH= Beverly Hills, California, United States