ORNELLA MUTI
Born: March 9, 1956, Italy
Christened Francesca Romana Rivelli, to a Soviet/Estonian mother and a strict Italian father, a sharp Neopolitan journalist who died when Ornella was only twelve. She has starred in films since the age of 14. At 15 she left school. By 18 she had posed for Playboy, married her co-star, Alessio Orano, from the film SUN ON THE SKIN (SUMMER AFFAIR) (where she bathed nude in the sea off the coast of Circeo) and had a child by another man! By 20 she was a film star in both Italy and Spain, where she had made many movies. But she was still a child, with long silky doll's hair falling down to her hips, and a flawless porcelain complexion. Nearly all her early roles played on this look: a child's heart (and face) in a woman's body. And to highlight the perverse side of this fact, her partners were often much older, fatherly lovers or fatherly husbands. - Italian Movie Goddesses edt. Stefano Masi, Enrico Lancia, 1997
Muti's career has run the gamut from low-budget Italian erotica to glossy US TV movies and she has played important parts in several prestigious European productions, including Volker Schlondorff's SWANN IN LOVE and Francesco Rosi's CHRONICLE OF A DEATH FORETOLD. Combining sophisticated sensuality with an innocent, childlike quality, Muti was particularly effective in two of Marco Ferreri's psychosexual onslaughts, THE LAST WOMAN and THE FUTURE IS WOMAN. - Baselines Encylopedia of Film/Cinemania 1996
A model in her adolescence, Italian beauty Ornella Muti posed for illustrated novels before her film bow at age 14. Ornella has worked for such European cinematic greats as Francesco Rosi and Volker Schlondorff; her most celebrated appearances have been in the erotic psychological dramas directed by Marco Ferreri. The bulk of her starring films have borne such come-hither titles as Appasionata and Bilingual Lover. American movie fans got an eyeful of Ornella Muti as the sensuous Princess Aura in 1980's Flash Gordon, while television fans were treated to Ornella's formidable presence in the 1987 TV movie Casanova. Her complete filmography follows.
Former Playboy playmate (in Italy), she's been dubbed "The World's Most Beautiful Woman" by the Italian Harper's Bazaar and other magazines. She's also an extremely prolific actress, having performed in some 57 films.
1969.........La moglie più bella........D. Damiani.....Italia........aka: MOST BEAUTIFUL WIFE.......... A 16 year old girl rebels against Sicilian tradition by refusing to partake in a pre-arranged marriage. ........AVAILABLE IN ITALIAN
1970.........Il sole nella pelle .... Lisa .......G. Stegani Casorat.......Italia.....aka: Amour Jeune Amour Fou, Summer Affair, Sunshine on the skin ........AVAILABLE IN ITALIAN........... ....Ornella Muti naked on the beach @ 16.....Her first film nudity... .....Directed by Giorgio Stegani (George S. Casorati) ....Starring: Ornella Muti, Alessio Orano.....A hot summer romance forms the basis of this fantasy that follows two defiant young lovers who steal away aboard a sailboat to tryst and end up marooned on a lonely island.......A very young Ornella Muti plays a rich girl who falls for an older hippie boy.
1971.........Love stress....Ingrid.......aka: Un posto ideale per uccidere....aka: Deadly Trap....aka: Dirty Pictures.....aka: Oasis of Fear....Directed by Umberto Lenzi.....Italia.......A philandering man's wife decides to take matters into her own murderous hands.......Starring: Irene Papas, Ray Lovelock, Ornella Muti ........AVAILABLE IN ITALIAN
1971...........La Casa de las palomas *.....-- aka....House of Doves, "Violation of Laura", Un Solo grande amore ....Director: Claudio Guerin (Claudio Guerin Hill).....This Spanish/Italian erotic drama concerns the rivalry between a mother and her virginal daughter (Ornella Muti @ 17 years) for the affections of a rakish drifter.
1972.........Esperienze prematrimoniali.....P. Maso.....Spagna
1972.........Fiorina la vacca.....V. Sisti.....Italia............AVAILABLE
1972.........Le monache di Sant'Arcangelo .... Isabella.....-- aka "Mark of the Devil Part III....aka: The Nuns of Sant'Arcangelo....D. Paolella.....Italia/Francia............. From the Middle Ages onward, certain monasteries and nunneries were basically elegant retirement homes for rich noblemen and noblewomen. .......AVAILABLE IN ITALIAN
1972.........Tutti i figli di Mamma Santissima.....A. Caltabiano.....Italia
1973............Una chica y un señor
1973.........Paolo il caldo -- aka "The Sensuous Sicilian...aka: The Sensual Man......M. Vicario......Italia ........AVAILABLE IN ITALIAN
1973.........La segretaria......Spain.........Director: F. Lara Polop (Paco Lara)...Starring: Ornella Muti, Phillippe Leroy, Emilio Gutierrez Caba, Fernando Guillén.....aka: Cebo Para Una Adolescente, La Secretaire......A young woman (Ornella Muti at 18 years old) was seduced by a high positioned official who is married but when she falls in love with a young man she tries to break the other relationship...Filmed in Segovia, Spain ........AVAILABLE
1973.........L'amante adolescente...Director: Pedro Masó...Spain.....w/ Sergio Fantoni ...... aka: Una Chica y un señor.......A young woman was seduced by a high positioned official who is married but when she falls in love with a young man she tries to break the other relationship... .......AVAILABLE IN ITALIAN
1973.........Appassionata .... Virginia..........Italia....aka: Les Passionnees .....A dentist is seduced by his daughter and her girl friend. Ornella Muti @ 18....Very erotic......Director: Jacques Leitienne.....Starring: Ornella Muti, Elenora Giorgi ........AVAILABLE IN FRENCH
1974.........Romanzo popolare-- aka "Come Home and Meet My Wife.....M. Monicelli.....Italia ........AVAILABLE IN ITALIAN
1975.........Leonor-Cronaca di altri tempi.....Bumlnuel.....Spagna-Francia-Italia
1975.........Come una rosa al naso.....F. Rossi.....Italia-GB
1975..........La joven casada........aka: Il mio primo uomo.....Director: Mario Camus.....Spain...............AVAILABLE
1975.........L'ultima donna .... aka: The Last Woman.....Valerie.....Marco Ferreri............Very Graphic Sexual Scenes.......Gerard Depardieu castrates himself...............AVAILABLE........
1976...........Virginity?
1976.........La stanza del vescovo.....aka: The Bishops Bedroom......D. Risi.....Italia...In this drama, Temistocle Orimbelli (Ugo Tognazzi) is a middle-aged man with a profound appreciation for womankind -- .......AVAILABLE IN ITALIAN
1977.........Mort d'un pourri -- aka "Death of a Corrupt Man......G. Lautner.....Francia
1977.........I nuovi mostri-- aka "Viva Italia!...... Monicelli/Risi/Scola...... Italia
1977.........Ritratto di borghesia in nero.... Elena Mazzarini.....-- aka "Portrait of a Bourgeois in Black....aka: Nest of Vipers.......T. Cervi.....Italia
1978.........Primo amore......D. Risi......Italia....aka: First Love.......Villa Serena is a retirement home for aging theatrical and vaudeville performers in this film, which stars Ugo Tognazzi as its newest inmate, Picchio, a former comedy great. There, he meets and falls in love with the beautiful young attendant Renata (Ornella Muti ........AVAILABLE
1978.........Eutanasia di un amore-- aka "Break Up"......E.M. Salerno......Italia
1978.........Giallo napoletano ....Lucia.... ........Italia...........Directed by Sergio Corbucci......Starring: Marcello Mastroianni, Ornella Muti, Renato Pozzetto, Michel Piccoli.....aka: Atrocious Tales of Love and Revenge, Neapolitan Thriller...Marcello Mastroianni as one strange musician....Ornella Muti at extremely cute 23 years.....Rare appearance by the beautiful Afro/Italian actress Zeudi Araya (Miss Ethiopia in 1969)..... ........AVAILABLE IN ITALIAN
1979.........AVEUX SPONTANES............1979:Soviet Union / Italy........ Directed by Grigori Chukhraj (Grigori Chukrai)......Starring: Ornella Muti, Giancarlo Giannini.....aka: Freedom to Love, Life Is Beautiful, Zhizn' prekrasna, La Vita e bella ....Thriller by the critically acclaimed Russian director Grigori Chukhrai -- A very beautiful Ornella Muti is a waitress in a local café. ........AVAILABLE IN ITALIAN
1979.........Flash Gordon .... Princess Aura ......M. Hodges......USA
1979.........Love and money .... Catherine Stockheinz ......J. Toback.......USA
1980.........Il bisbetico domato.......Castellano e Pipolo......Italia........aka: Taming of the Rogue...Set In Italy, Milan, city, countryside farmhouse.........This Taming of the Shrew in Italian is also a take off on the 1970 French film L'ours et la Poupee, Ornella Muti as a gorgeous society snob. ........AVAILABLE IN ITALIAN
1981.........Storie di ordinaria follia .... Cass ......aka: Tales of Ordinary Madness ..........Italia/Francia.......aka: CONTE DE LA FOLIE ORDINAIRE............Director Marco Ferreri.......Starring Ornella Muti and Ben Gazarra.....From story by Charles Bukowski.........The stories of Charles Bukowski, the drunken poet of the LA fringe, are the basis for this film, directed by Marco Ferreri. ........AVAILABLE
1981.........Nessuno è perfetto.....aka: No one is perfect.......P. Festa Campanile......AVAILABLE IN ITALIAN
1981.........Innamorato pazzo......Castellano e Pipolo......Italia.....aka: Wildly in Love...Cristina (Ornella Muti) is a beautiful, rich, spoiled princess visiting Rome with her royal parents. ........AVAILABLE IN ITALIAN
1982.........La ragazza di Trieste .... Nicole .....-- aka "The Girl from Trieste"......P. Festa Campanile......Italia.......... This bizarre drama stars Ben Gazzara as an American cartoonist who sees a beautiful woman named Nicole (Ornella Muti) being saved from drowning while he draws on the beach. ........AVAILABLE
1982..........Famous T&A .... Lisa
1982.........Bonnie e Clyde all'italiana-- aka "Bonnie and Clyde Italian Style".....Steno.......Italia..........Rare Muti slapstick comedy with Paolo Villaggio....Ornella Muti Punked Out ........AVAILABLE
1983.........Un povero ricco......P. Festa Campanile.....AVAILABLE IN ITALIAN
1983.........Un amour de Swann .... Odette de Grêcy............Francia/Germania.......Directed by Volker Schlöndorff ....Starring: Jeremy Irons, Ornella Muti, Alain Delon, Fanny Ardant .......aka: Liebe von Swann, Eine, Love of Swann, Swann in Love..... Swann has become obsessed with Odette (Ornella Muti) ........AVAILABLE.
1984.........Il futuro è donna.....Malvina.......... .Italia/Francia/Germania ........ Directed by Marco Ferreri...Starring: Ornella Muti, Niels Arestrup, Hanna Schygulla.....aka: The Future Is Woman.....A story about a couple who do not want to have children of their own, and a pregnant, single woman who needs a home ........AVAILABLE
1985.........Tutta colpa del Paradiso.....F. Nuti.....Italia........aka: BLAME IT ON PARADISE...........In a tale of fatherly love and its sacrifices, (Francesco Nuti) stars as Romeo Casamonica, a thief just released from a five-year prison sentence who returns to his old haunts to look for his wife and son. .....AVAILABLE IN ITALIAN
1985.........The Hitchiker (TV movie)....."True Believer" (Dec 10, 1985)......G. Sckenkel.....USA
1985.........Grandi magazzini-- aka "Department Store"......Castellano e Pipolo......Italia ........AVAILABLE IN ITALIAN
1986.........Cronaca di una morte annunciata .... Angela Vicario.....-- aka "Chronicle of a Death Foretold"......F. Rosi.....Italia/Francia............Set In Colombia...........This suspenseful Italian crime drama is set in a Colombian river town and chronicles the series of events that led up to murder. ........AVAILABLE
1986.........Stregati -- aka "Bewitched".....F. Nuti.....Italia
1986.........Casanova (Tv movie) .... Henriette .....S. Langton.....USA
1987.........Io e mia sorella .... Sylvia.....-- aka "Me and My Sister".....C. Verdone.....Italia
1988.........Il frullo del passero .... Silvana.....-- aka "The Sparrow's Fluttering".........Italia/Francia.....aka: LA FEMME DE MES AMOURS.... Director: Gianfranco Mingozzi.....Starring: Ornella Muti, Philippe Noiret, Nicola Farron, Chiara Argelli, Claudine Auger.....Erotic Drama.....Rated R for Nudity & Strong Sexual Content .....Ornella Muti plays a Kept Woman whose keeper has the bad taste to die. ........AVAILABLE
1988.........Codice privato-- aka "Private Access".....F. Maselli.....Italia
1988.........'O Re.....aka: The King of Naples .......AVAILABLE IN ITALIAN
1989.........Wait until spring, Bandini .... Maria.....D. Deruddere.....USA/Italia/Francia/Belgio
1989.........La primavera di Michelangelo (Tv movie).....G. London.....Italia-GB ........AVAILABLE IN ITALIAN
1990.........Il viaggio di Capitan Fracassa .... Serafina.....-- aka "Captain Fracassa's Journey".....E. Scola.....Italia/Francia..........Made for French television production. Capitaine Fracasse travels the 17th century French countryside along with the company of two charming and beautiful ladies.( Emmanuelle Beart and Ornella Muti). Film director Ettore Scola takes us through a beautifully filmed journey through 17th century France. ........AVAILABLE
1990.........La domenica specialmente .... Anna.....-- aka "Especially on Sunday".....Tornatore/Bertolucci/.....Italia/Francia/Belgio........In "Especially on Sunday", the most erotic of the four segments.... by Bertolucci, a traveler encounters a woman and a man beside a river and offers them a ride. The woman (an astonishingly seductive Ornella Muti) is quite the coquette ........AVAILABLE IN ITALIAN
1990.........Stasera a casa di Alice-- aka "Tonight at Alice's".....C. Verdone.....Italia
1990.........Oscar .... Sofia Provolone .....J. Landis.....USA
1991.........Once upon a crime .... Elena Morosco.....E. Levy.....USA
1991.........Il conte Max .... Isabella.....-- aka "Count Max".....C. De Sica.....Italia/Francia ........AVAILABLE
1991...........A Season of Giants.... TV Movie
1991.........Vacanze di Natale 91.... Giuliana.....-- aka "Christmas Vacation".....E. Oldoini.....Italia
1992.........Non chiamarmi Omar.....S. Staino.....Italia
1992.........L'amante bilingue .... Norma....aka "The Bilingual Lover".....V. Aranda.....Spagna/Italia
1993.........Estasi.....Cicinnati/Exacoustos.....Italia
1994.........Il grande Fausto .... Giulia la "Dama Bianca" ..... (Tv movie).....A. Sironi.....Italia/Francia/Germania
1994.........Bienvenida Tatiana.....S.S. Miguel.....Spagna/Italia
1995.........Mordburo.....L. Kopp.....Francia
1996.........Somewhere in the city .... Marta.....Ramin Niami.....USA
1996.........Pour rire! .... Alice ....France .........Directed by Lucas Belvaux ....Starring: Ornella Muti, Antoine Chappey, Françoise Lebrun, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Tonie Marshall........aka: Just for Laughs...... ........AVAILABLE
1996.........Mi fai un favore... ...Giancarlo Scarchilli.....Italia
1997..........Cain
1997.........Avvocato Porta.....(Tv movie).....Franco Giraldi.....Italia
1997.........Widows* .... Maria Sommer.....Sherry Hormann.....Germania
1997.........Il Conte di Monte Cristo .... Mercédès.....TV Miniseries.....aka: Le Comte de Monte Cristo ...aka "The Count of Monte Cristo".......Josee Dayan......Francia ........AVAILABLE
1997.........L'inconnue de Strasbourg*.....Valeria Sarmiento.....Francia ........AVAILABLE
1998.........Esther .... Queen Vasti..... (The Bible) TV Movie.....Roberto Mertes.....USA-EUROPE
1998.........Panni Sporchi.....M.Monicelli.....Italia
1999.........Tierra del Fuego.... Armenia.....Miguel Lettin......Chile
1999.........Un colpo al cuore (TV Movie).....A. Benvenuti.....Italia...Everybody Dies .... Rafaella
1999.........Jet Set.....F. Auteniente.....Francia
1999.........UNSCARRED.....B. Giovinazzo......Germania
2000.........Domani......F. Archibugi.....Italia
2000.........Una lunga lunga lunga notte d'amore .....L. Emmer.....Italia
2000.........The man outside.....Anthony Hickox.....USA