23 April 2025

Photo by Strelisky

The Strelisky studio was an acclaimed and extraordinarily popular photographic studio, operated uninterruptedly for nearly a hundred years. Founder Lipót Strelisky (1820–1905) was a master of the daguerreotype and one of the best-known Hungarian photographers of the 19th century. His son, Sándor Strelisky (1851-1923) was the studio photographer of Hungarian stars of the stage and screen in the 1900s and 1910. He made many pictures of the legendary and temperamental operetta and film diva Sári Fedák who was mixed up in many wild scandals but also enjoyed international triumphs.

Sári Fédak
Hungarian postcard by Kiadja Reinitz Jòzsef, Budapest. Photo: Strelisky, Budapest.

Hungarian actress and singer Sári Fedák (1879-1955) was one of the most famous prima donnas of her time. The temperamental operetta and film star was mixed up in several scandals.

Emmy Kosary
Hungarian postcard. Photo: Strelisky, Budapest 1917.

Emmi Kosáry (1889-1964) was a Hungarian opera diva and operetta prima donna with a beautiful soprano voice. She also became a film actress, who worked in Hungary with the young Michael Curtiz. Kosáry was the wife of composer Ákos Buttykay.

Valdemar Psilander
Hungarian postcard by Rubens, Budapest. Photo: Strelisky, 1914. Hungarian caption on the back of the card reads 'The world-famous star at the Royal Orfeum in Budapest'.

Valdemar Psilander (1884-1917) was the most popular male actor in the Danish cinema of the 1910s. Before and during the First World War, the Danish company Nordisk gained enormously - thanks to Psilander's success. Only 32 years old, Psilander passed away in 1917. At the peak of his career. Some say he died of a cardiac affliction, others say it was suicide.

Lipót Strelisky


Lipót Strelisky was one of the first to deal with daguerreotypes in Budapest in the 1840s. In his studio on Dorottya Street, he photographed the politicians, aristocrats and artists of the era. His son, Sándor Strelisky, who died in 1923, was the first photographer in Hungary to take multi-character photographs with a special technique.

Lipót Strelisky (1820–1905) was one of the best-known photographers in Budapest in the 19th century, according to one of the remaining articles about him got interested in photography in 1840, and made his first daguerreotypes - with the method invented by Louis Daguerre and Joseph Nicéphore - in 1843. Strelisky's teacher was probably a French daguerreotype specialist from Paris working in Pest.

He opened his first studio in 1846 in the house at today's 3 Október 6. Street. (then 3 Két sas Street - 1 Bálvány Street) in the 5th District of Budapest. The theatrical and literary magazine Der Schmetterling reported the opening of his studio in an ad, and it also specified that the equipment of the studio consisted of the most modern equipment of the age and came from Paris. The house that accommodated the studio was designed by József Hild. The studio was located on the third floor.

Lipót Strelisky exhibited his first daguerreotypes in 1846 at the exhibition of the Pest Association. Daguerreotype was from then on included in the multitude of art materials. The photographer’s career was also supported by the fact that the well-known actress of theatrical life of the age, Charlotte Wolter, and one of the greatest actors, Adolf von Sonnenthal, lived in the house on Október 6. Street. They were both members of the German Theatre on Gyapjú Street. Lipót Strelisky was soon known for his artistic portraits.

Lipót Strelisky was one of the first photographers to open his studio with overhead lighting in 1861, on the top floor of the house at 11 Dorottya Street. In an article on 29 October 1865, the Vasárnapi Ujság praised the photographer, who had now taken colour shots as follows: "No one has yet mastered Strelisky's process by which colours show unspeakable softness and vividness." Strelisky returned home with medals from the 1867 World's Fair in Paris and an 1871 exhibition in London. He won the title of imperial and Hungarian royal court photographer. All of this recognition was due to his meticulous work, great skill, and dedication. In the fall of 1878, the Strelisky family moved into the house at 9 Dorottya Street, next to his former studio, and their residence and studio were set up here.

Sári Fedák in stage costume
Hungarian postcard, no. 5668. Photo: Lipot Strelisky. Sári Fedák as the title character in the operetta 'Bob herceg' (Prince Bob / Duke Bob, 1902) by Jenő Huszka.

The premiere of 'Bob herceg' took place on 20 December 1902 at the Népszínház in Budapest. The libretto was written by Ferenc Martos and Károly Bakonyi. It was Jenő Huszka's first operetta and he was successful with it both at home and abroad. He thus opened the way to fame for other Hungarian authors (especially Viktor Jacobi and Emmerich Kálmán). The operetta was filmed in 1941 by director László Kalmár. The play by Huszka was extremely popular, especially because of Sári Fedák's performance. By February 1903, she had already done 50 performances with the play at the Népszínház theatre.

Sári Fédak
Hungarian postcard. Photo: Strelisky, Budapest. Sent by mail in 1903.

Sári Fedák or Fédak Sári was born in Beregszász, Hungary (now Berehove, Ukraine) in 1879. She studied acting with Szidi Rákosi until 1899 and began her career the same year with the Magyar Színház theatre company. From 1900, she played in Pozsony (now Bratislava), and in several theatres in Budapest.

Sári Fédak
Hungarian postcard by KIV, Budapest. Photo: Strelisky, Budapest.

Sári Fédak in Janos Vitéz (1904)
Hungarian postcard by Törvényesen Védve, Budapest, no. 376/13. Photo: Strelisky, Budapest. Sári Fédak in the stage play 'Janos Vitéz'.

'Janos Vitéz' (John the Valiant) was a musical play by Pongrác Kacsóh in three acts, based on a famous poem by Sándor Petőfi (1844). The premiere of 'Janos Vitéz' took place on 18 November 1904.

Sári Fédak in Janos Vitéz (1904)
Hungarian postcard by Törvényesen Védve, no. Budapest, no. 376/14. Photo: Strelisky, Budapest. Sári Fédak in 'Janos Vitéz'. Sent by mail in 1905.

Sári Fedák (1879-1955) recalled the premiere in 1904 of 'Janos Vitéz' by Pongrác Kacsóh, as her greatest success to date. In the success, the audience played a huge part.

Sári Fedák in János vitéz (1904)
Hungarian postcard by NPG. No. 376/1. Photo by Strelisky, Budapest. Sari Fedak in 'János vitéz' (John the Valiant, 1904).

The overwhelming success of 'János vitéz' surprised even its creators. The audience cheered and laughed, and during Bagó's movingly beautiful song, even tears were shed here and there. When the song was over, the audience demanded a reprise, but it took a while, because Mihály Papp, who played Bagó, had tears streaming down his face, the conductor József Konti was searching for his handkerchief, and even the composer Pongrác Kacsóh's eyes were watering.

Sári Fédak
Hungarian postcard by NPG, no. 0117/6, 1906. Sári Fedák in the stage operetta 'Leányka' at the Népszínház (People's Theatre), Budapest.

Sári Fedák became one of the most famous prima donnas of her time. The temperamental operetta and film star was mixed up in several scandals. Fedák was the well-paid star in a disastrous stage production of popular playwright Paul Widor, which ruined him and caused his suicide. According to an article in The Los Angeles Herald, angry crowds stormed her house and threatened her with death if she fell into their hands...

Sári Fédak
Hungarian postcard by NPG, no. 0123/12, 1906. Photo: Strelisky, Budapest. 

Sári Fédak and Marton Ratkay
Hungarian postcard by NPG. Photo: Strelisky, Budapest. Sári Fedák and Márton Rátkai in the stage operetta 'Leányvásár' (Girls For Sale) which premiered in 1911 at the Király Színház (Royal Theatre) in Budapest.

Sári Fedák left Hungary and conquered Berlin in 1908, Vienna in 1909, and London and Paris in 1910. When she returned to Budapest in 1911 the public welcomed her back. In 1912, she made her film debut in the short comedy Gazdag ember kabátja/Rich Man’s Coat (Andor K. Kovács, 1912) based on a story by the famous Hungarian playwright and novelist Ferenc Molnár.

Sári Fedák in A Babuska
Hungarian postcard by NPG. Photo: Strelisky, Budapest. Sári Fedák in 'the stage operetta A Babuska' (The Babushka).

The next year, Sári Fedák co-starred with Alfréd Deésy in Rablélek (1913), directed by Mihály Kertész who later became the famous Hollywood director Michael Curtiz. In the film Márta (Ödön Uher ifj., 1913), Fedák co-starred with Várkonyi Mihály, who became internationally known as Victor Varconi.

Sári Fedák
Hungarian postcard by KIV, Budapest. Photo: Strelisky, Budapest.

Another silent film was Három hét/Three Weeks (Márton Garas, 1917), based on a novel by Elinor Glyn. Following World War I, she spoke out against the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. In 1919, during the short run of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, she agitated for joining the Red Army. After the fall of the Republic, Fedák fled to Vienna but was captured and held in prison at Wiener Neustadt for a short time. As a supporter of the Republic, she could play only in Vienna in 1920 and 1921.

Sándor Strelisky


Sándor Strelisky (1851-1923), the son of Lipót Strelisky, learned the craft from his father. Lipót was the official photographer of the German theatre in Pest, and Sándor grew up spending his evenings at the theatre. From 1880 on, their photographs no longer include a first name, only the last name of the family -Strelisky. In 1890, at the Budapest Commercial and Exchange Court, the photography company was now registered in the name of Sándor Sterlisky, and by this time he was the head of his father's Dorottya Street studio. The exclusive photographic rights of the Millennium Exhibition were granted to eight professional representatives, so Károly Divald Jr., István Goszleth, György Klösz, the descendants of Károly Koller (Román Forché and István Gálfy), Mertens and Co., Manó Mai and Szigeti, Sándor Strelisky, and Antal Weinwurm. Sándor Strelisky was still working with his father at the exhibition.

The Vasárnapi Ujság regularly published photos of the millennium events by the Strelisky studio. Sándor had a significant role in making group photos. In his studio, he photographed each character separately in a pre-choreographed position and then assembled the multi-figure image from these individual shots. At that time, it was not possible to take real ball shots just because of the lack of lighting. The 1897 photo entitled 'Udvari Bál' (Court Ball) is also the result of a montage. The artist placed the characters photographed one by one in a recording of the ceremonial hall of the Buda Castle. His photographs were published in the photographic magazines Magyar Fényképészek Lapja (Hungarian Photographers' Journal) and A Fény.

The fashionable photographer took advantage of his success at the turn of the century to open studios in Bratislava, Pécs and Kecskeméti Street in Pest. The managers of these studios became independent over time. The house at 9 Dorottya Street in Budapest was demolished in 1910 and a new one was soon built in its place. At the time of the move, Sándor Strelisky opened a new studio at 7–9 Vörösmarty Square (then Gizella Square), on the top floor of Gerbeaud House. His father, Lipót, has already deceased at this time. The elegant studio had a fountain, a swimming pool, several sculptures, a conservatory and a terrace where he took winter shots. There were also developing rooms, copy and retouching rooms of course. There was a glass studio, a large studio, and a bright room for interior pictures.

The Strelisky photos give a wide panorama of the Hungarian theatrical life of the time. If Sándor Strelisky was photographing actors, a sign outside the theatre always announced the next photo shoot: "Tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. photography." The next day, at 8 a.m., a huge cart would appear in front of the studio with costumes and sets that would characterize a scene from each play. The most punctual of the actors was Márton Rátkai, Gyula Csortos was always late arriving at the studio, but Sári Fedák was always the last to arrive for these photo shoots. Usually sleepy-eyed by noon, she blamed Strelisky for not being able to sleep in again. With the help of the theatre director, the sets were arranged in a large glass studio, the costume scenes and stage sets were set up, and Sándor Strelisky took about 100 shots of them on one such occasion.

The pictures were enlarged to decorate the theatre lobby and for publicity purposes. As copyright legislation also protected the photographs, the postcard entrepreneurs obtained the rights to reprint these images from Strelisky. Sándor Strelisky had a large number of clients throughout. The aftermath of the First World War left the sprouting Hungarian film industry in ruins. Many actors and directors like Michael Curtiz and Alexander Korda left the country. There was a decline in the demand for photographic studios. Sándor Strelisky ran his studio until he died in 1923. Under the direction of his widow, the company survived until 1940 and then ceased to exist.

Gizella/ Giza Mészáros and Gyula Csortos in Gretchen
Hungarian postcard by NPG, no. S 2/2. Photo: Strelisky, Budapest. Gizella Mészáros and Gyula Csortos in the play 'Gretchen'. It was Csortos' first play at the Magyar Színház (Hungarian Theatre) in 1908.

Gizella Mészáros (1877–1953) aka Giza Mészáros was a Hungarian actress and the mother of Paulette Mészáros. From 15 November 1907, she joined the Magyar Színháze. The Fővárosi Hírlap described her in 1916 as "A great actress. She is clever, witty, has an excellent sense of humour, a lovely voice, and is even a sight to behold, which is not a last resort at night." Giza Mészáros had a modest film career in the 1910s, starting with Egy csók története (Sándor Góth, 1912), which starred her partner Gyula Csortos. Gyula József Csortos (1883-1945) appeared in 80 films between 1912 and 1944.

Lili Berky
Hungarian postcard. Photo: Strelisky, Budapest, 1913. Lili Berky in the operetta 'Aranyesö' composed by Béla Zerkovitz and with libretto by Adolf Mérei and Izor Béldia, first staged in 1913. Berky performed in it together with singer/comedian Horthy.

Lili Berky (1886–1958), aka Lilli Berky and Lili Berki, was a Hungarian stage and screen actress. Berky's first big film success was the silent drama Sárga csikó/The Yellow Foal (Félix Vanyl, 1913). She starred in over 30 Hungarian silent films between 1913 and the late 1920s and played in an equal amount of Hungarian sound films, mainly in the 1930s and early 1940s. In 1917 she became the wife of Hungarian actor and comedian Gyula Gózon. They often performed together.

Emmi Kosáry and Márton Rátkai in Csárdáskirálynö (1916)
Hungarian postcard by Magyar Rotophot Tarsáság, Budapest, no. 10. Photo: Strelisky, 1917. Emmi Kosáry and Márton Rátkai in the stage operetta 'Csárdáskirálynö' (The Gypsy Princess) (1916) by Hungarian composer Emmerich Kálmán, with a libretto by Leo Stein and Bela Jenbach.

Emmi Kosáry (1889-1964) was a Hungarian opera diva and operetta prima donna with a beautiful soprano voice. She also became a film actress, who worked in Hungary with the young Michael Curtiz. Kosáry was the wife of composer Ákos Buttykay. In 1916, she performed for the first time one of her most beloved roles, the lead role in the operetta 'Csárdáskirálynö' (Die Csárdásfürstin / The Gypsy Princess).

Irén Varsányi, Gyula Csortos, Frigues Tanay, Frida Gombaszögi, and Gyula Hegedüs
Hungarian postcard, no. 14. Photo: Strelisky, Budapest 1917. The stage actors Varsanyi, Csortos, Tanay, Gombaszögi, and Hegedüs pose in the photo studio of Strelisky. They appeared in the stage comedy 'Kék róka' (The Blue Fox) by Ferenc Herczeg. The play was later filmed as Der Blaufuchs/The Blue Fox (Viktor Tourjansky, 1938) with Zarah Leander.

The actors on the postcard are stage and screen actress Irén Varsányi who in 1918 played the lead in her first film, Anna Karenina, Gyula Csortos, who acted in 85 films between 1912 and his death in 1945, Frigyes Tanay, who acted in 10 Hungarian silent films, Frida Gombaszögi, who was the first Hungarian actress who represented the modern acting style in plays by Molnar, Chekhov and Gorky, and Gyula Hegedüs, who only acted in 3 silent films. Irén Varsányi (1878-1932) was once a renowned but now forgotten actress, who was one of the founders and first star of the Vígszínház Comedy Theatre in Budapest, and also acted in four Hungarian silent films. During her long and impressive career, Frida Gombaszögi (1890-1961) appeared only in two, silent films in the late 1910s.

Sources: Simon Flóra (PestBuda), Tőry Klára (Punkt - Hungarian), Szemerédi Ágnes (nemzetikonyvtar - Hungarian), Wikipedia (Hungarian and English) and IMDb.

22 April 2025

Giulietta Masina

Italian film and stage actress Giulietta Masina (1921-1994) starred in the classics La strada (1954) and Le notti di Cabiria (1957), both directed by her husband Federico Fellini and both winners of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The only 1.57 m long Masina was often called the ‘female Chaplin’. The skilled, button-eyed comedienne could deliver intense dramatic performances of naive characters dealing with cruel circumstances.

Giulietta Masina in La strada (1954)
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. 3381. Photo: N.V. Standaardfilms. Giulietta Masina as Gelsomina in La strada (1954).

Giulietta Masina in La Strada (1954)
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. 3382. Photo: N.V. Standaardfilms. Giulietta Masina as Gelsomina in La strada (Federico Fellini, 1954).

Giulietta Masina in La Strada (1954)
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. 3383. Photo: N.V. Standaardfilms. Giulietta Masina as Gelsomina in La strada (Federico Fellini, 1954).

Giulietta Masina
Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 446. Photo: Titanus. Giulietta Masina in Il bidone (Federico Fellini, 1955).

Giulietta Masina
Italian postcard by Casa Edite. Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze (Florence), no. 3180. Photo: Titanus. Publicity still for Il bidone (1955).

Giulietta Masina in Le notti di Cabiria (1957)
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. 3380. Photo: N.V. Standaardfilms. Giulietta Masina in Le notti di Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957).

Giulietta Masina in Fortunella (1958)
Italian postcard by Bromostampa, Milano in the series 'Hobby' (made to collect autographs by famous film stars). Giulietta Masina in Fortunella (Eduardo De Filippo, 1958), scripted by Federico Fellini, Ennio Flaiano and Tullio Pinelli. The film centres on a poor girl (Masina) who is convinced she is the daughter of a prince (Aldo Salvini).

Giulietta Masina & Federico Fellini
Swiss postcard by News Productions, Baulmes / Filmwelt Berlin, Bakede / News Productions, Stroud, no. 56517. Photo: Collection Cinémathèque Suisse, Lausanne. Caption: Giulietta Masina & Federico Fellini, 1965.

Federichino


Giulia Anna Masina was born in San Giorgio di Piano near Bologna in 1921. Her parents were Gaetano Masina, a violinist and a music teacher, and Anna Flavia Pasqualin, a schoolteacher. She had three elder siblings: Eugenia, and twins Mario and Maria.

Giulietta spent most of her teenage years in Rome at the home of a widowed aunt, where she cultivated a passion for the theatre. She attended the Hermanas Ursulinas school and graduated in Literature from the Sapienza University of Rome. At university, she turned to acting. From 1941 on, she participated in numerous plays that included singing, dancing, and acting, all in the Ateneo Theater of her university.

In 1942, she joined the Compagnia del Teatro Comico Musicale and played various roles on stage. After seeing her photographs, she was cast by Federico Fellini, who was writing the radio serial 'Terziglio' about the adventures of the newlyweds Cico and Pallina.

Masina and Fellini fell in love while working on the successful program and were married in 1943. Several months after her marriage to Fellini, in 1943, Masina suffered a miscarriage after falling down a flight of stairs. She became pregnant again. Pierfederico (nicknamed Federichino) was born on 22 March 1945 but died just a month later on 24 April owing to respiratory insufficiency. Masina and Fellini did not have another child.

Despite distancing herself from live theatre, Masina did return to the university stage for some time acting with Marcello Mastroianni. Her last stage appearance was in 1951. Working together with her husband, Masina made the transition to on-screen acting. Half of her Italian films, the most successful ones, would be either written or directed by her husband.

Giulietta Masina in La Strada (1954)
French postcard by DR / Le Cinémathéque Française. Giulietta Masina as Gelsomina in La strada (Federico Fellini, 1954).

Giulietta Masina
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 687. Photo: Teddy Piaz, Paris.

Giulietta Masina
German postcard by Ufa, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK 4154. Photo: Joachim G. Jung / Ufa.

Giulietta Masina
German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin-Charlottenburg, no. V 169. Photo: Unitalia Film / Luxardo / Alessi.

Giulietta Masina
German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. 236. Photo: Filmpress Zürich. Giulietta Masina in Le notti di Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957).

Giulietta Masina
Belgian postcard by Lotto Photo.

Giulietta Masina in La Strada (1954)
Swiss postcard by Collection Cinémathéque Suisse, Lausanne / News Productions, Baulmes, no. 56518. Photo: Ponti - De Laurentis. Giulietta Masina as Gelsomina in La strada (Federico Fellini, 1954).

Federico Fellini and Giulietta Masina
British postcard by BFI and Picturehouse. Photo: Studio Canal. Caption: Fellini with Giulietta Masina on the set of Le notti di Cabiria / Nights of Cabiria (1957).

Cabiria and Gelsomina


Giulietta Masina made her film debut in an uncredited role in the Neo-realist war drama Paisà / Paisan (Roberto Rossellini, 1946), co-written by Fellini. She received her first screen credit in the crime drama Senza pièta / Without Pity (Alberto Lattuada, 1948) starring Carla del Poggio, which was another adaptation by Fellini. Masina’s performance earned her a Silver Ribbon, Italy's most prominent film award, as Best Supporting Actress.

She then co-starred in Fellini’s début as a director, Luci del varietà / Variety Lights (Federico Fellini, Alberto Lattuado, 1950) with Peppino di Filippo and Carla del Poggio. It is a bittersweet drama about a bunch of misfits in a travelling Vaudeville troupe. A box office hit was the prostitution drama Persiane chiuse / Behind Closed Shutters (Luigi Comencini, 1951) with Massimo Girotti and Eleonora Rossi Drago. She had a supporting part in Europa '51 / The Greatest Love (Roberto Rossellini, 1952) starring Ingrid Bergman.

She also appeared in the second film of her husband, the hilarious comedy Lo sceicco bianco / The White Sheik (Federico Fellini, 1952) featuring Alberto Sordi. At AllMovie, Hal Erickson added (his review is now sadly deleted): “Featured in the cast is Fellini's wife Giulietta Masina as a prostitute named Cabiria, who'd be given a vehicle of her own, Nights of Cabiria, in 1955. Based on ‘an idea’ by Michelangelo Antonioni, The White Sheik was the main inspiration for Gene Wilder's The World's Greatest Lover (1977).”

After some lesser films by other directors, she finally had her international breakthrough in Fellini's La strada / The Road (Federico Fellini, 1954), as the young Gelsomina, who is sold to the violent travelling strongman Zampano (Anthony Quinn) by her poor mother. At IMDb, Matt Whittle writes: “Giulietta Masina is the highlight of the film. With a face like no other, it exudes a certain beauty but is also very odd, with a definite quirkiness to it.” She was also co-starring in Fellini’s next, lesser-known effort Il bidone / The Swindle (Federico Fellini, 1955) with Broderick Crawford, Richard Basehart, and Franco Fabrizi as a trio of con artists who victimise the Italian bourgeoisie who are shown to be no better than the crooks. Masina played Basehart’s wife.

In 1957, she won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival for her portrayal of the title role in Fellini's widely acclaimed Le notti di Cabiria / Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957). She played the innocent prostitute Cabiria who was born to lose - but still never would give up. In 1956 and 1957, Fellini and Masina were awarded the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, for La strada, and for Le notti di Cabiria. In the following years, Masina appeared in several films by other directors, including the prison drama Nella città l'inferno / ...and the Wild Wild Women (Renato Castellani, 1959) with Anna Magnani and the German-Italian production Jons und Erdme / Jons and Erdme (Victor Vicas, 1959) opposite Carl Raddatz.

Giulietta Masina
German postcard by ISV, no. D 15. Photo: ISV.

Giulietta Masina
German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin-Charlottenburg, no. S 772. Photo: Unitalia Film / Luxardo / Alessi.

Giulietta Masina
Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 907.

Giulietta Masina
Russian postcard.

Giulietta Masina in Nella città l'inferno (1959)
Italian postcard by La Rotografica Romana. Giulietta Masina in Nella città l'inferno / ...and the Wild Wild Women (Renato Castellani, 1959).

Giulietta Masina
Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin.

Ginger


In 1960, Giulietta Masina's career was damaged by the critical and box office failure of the massive international production Das kunstseidene Mädchen / The High Life (Julien Duvivier, 1960) with Gustav Knuth and Gert Fröbe. Subsequently, she became dedicated almost entirely to her personal life and marriage. Nonetheless, she again worked with her husband in Giulietta degli spiriti / Juliet of the Spirits (Federico Fellini, 1965), which earned both the New York Film Critics Award (1965) and the Golden Globe Award (1966) for Best Foreign Language Film.

In 1969, Masina did her first work in English in The Madwoman of Chaillot (Bryan Forbes, 1969) which starred Katharine Hepburn. From 1966 to 1969, Masina hosted a popular radio show, 'Lettere aperte a Giulietta Masina', in which she addressed correspondence from her listeners. The letters were eventually published in a book.

From the 1970s on, she appeared on television. Two performances, Eleonora (Silverio Blasi, 1973) and Camilla (Sandro Bolchi, 1976), respectively, were particularly acclaimed. After almost two decades, Masina appeared in Fellini's Ginger e Fred / Ginger and Fred (Federico Fellini, 1986).

Hal Erickson: "Fellini gently lampoons the world of small-time show business (...) Masina and Marcello Mastroianni star as Amelia Bonetti and Pippo Botticella, a onetime celebrity song-and-dance team. Having risen to fame with a dancing act where they recreated the acts of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire (hoping to become the Fred and Ginger of Italy), Amelia and Pippo parted company to pursue their separate lives. Neither one was particularly successful in other fields of endeavor, so when after many years Amelia is offered a guest-star gig on a TV variety show, she jumps at the chance. (...) The overall good cheer of the film was dampened when the real Ginger Rogers sued the distributors of Ginger and Fred for 'defamation of character'."

Masina then rejected outside offers to attend to her husband's precarious health. Her last film was Aujourd'hui peut-être / A Day to Remember (Jean-Louis Bertucelli, 1991). Giulietta Masina died from lung cancer in 1994, aged 73, less than five months after her husband's demise. They are buried together at Rimini cemetery in a tomb marked by a prow-shaped monument, the work of sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro.

Giulietta Masina
Vintage card. Giulietta Masina in Das kunstseidene Mädchen / The High Life (Julien Duvivier, 1960).

Giulietta Masina
Vintage card. Giulietta Masina in Das kunstseidene Mädchen / The High Life (Julien Duvivier, 1960).

Giulietta Masina
Vintage card. Giulietta Masina in Das kunstseidene Mädchen / The High Life (Julien Duvivier, 1960).

Giulietta Masina
Vintage card. Giulietta Masina in Das kunstseidene Mädchen / The High Life (Julien Duvivier, 1960).

Giulietta Masina
Vintage card. Giulietta Masina in Das kunstseidene Mädchen / The High Life (Julien Duvivier, 1960).

Giulietta Masina
Vintage card. Giulietta Masina in Das kunstseidene Mädchen / The High Life (Julien Duvivier, 1960).

Giulietta Masina
Vintage card. Giulietta Masina in Das kunstseidene Mädchen / The High Life (Julien Duvivier, 1960).

Giulietta Masina
Russian postcard by Izdanije Byuro Propogandy Sovietskogo Kinoiskusstva, no. 109/75, 1975. This postcard was printed in an edition of 200.000 cards. The price was 5 kop.

Giulietta Masina in Ginger e Fred (1986)
German press photo by Tobis. Giulietta Masina in Ginger e Fred / Ginger and Fred (Federico Fellini, 1986).

Sources: Matt Whittle (IMDb), Jason Ankeny (AllMovie - Page now defunct), Hal Erickson (AllMovie - Page now defunct), F.T. (Italica - now defunct), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

21 April 2025

Dorothy Tutin

Dame Dorothy Tutin (1930-2001) was one of the great actresses of the British theatre. Great promise was held for her after her film debut as Cecily Cardew in the Oscar Wilde adaptation The Importance of Being Earnest (1952). Despite acclaimed film roles opposite Laurence Olivier in The Beggar's Opera (1953) and in a remake of A Tale of Two Cities (1958) with Dirk Bogarde, Tutin abruptly left the cinema to return to the stage.

Dorothy Tutin in The Importance of Being Earnest (1952)
Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 128. Photo: Rank Film. Dorothy Tutin in The Importance of Being Earnest (Anthony Asquith, 1952).

Michael Denison and Dorothy Tutin in The Importance of Being Earnest (1952)
East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1069, 1959. Photo: J. Arthur Rank. Michael Denison and Dorothy Tutin in The Importance of Being Earnest (Anthony Asquith, 1952).

Ablaze like a diamond in a mine


Dorothy Tutin was born in 1930 in London. She was the daughter of John Tutin and Adie Evelyn Fryers, a Yorkshire couple who married the following year.

Lyn Gardner in her obituary in the Guardian: "A solitary, pent-up child, she was much affected by the sudden death of her beloved 10-year-old elder brother Eric when she was six. Born in London and educated at St Catherine's school in Bramley, Surrey, Tutin was determined to make a career as a musician, but abandoned that ambition at the age of 15, accepting, with a maturity beyond her years, that she did not have the talent."

"It was her theatre-loving father who, impressed by her performance as a last-minute replacement in a school production of J.M. Barrie's 'Quality Street', pushed his self-conscious daughter - who professed a horror at performing in public - towards the stage." Tutin completed her schooling at St Catherine's School near Guildford and went on to study acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She graduated at the age of 19 and within a year she was playing Katherine in 'Henry V' at the Old Vic.

Quickly, she became a sought-after stage actress. She made her film debut in 1952 as Cecily in the Oscar Wilde adaptation The Importance of Being Earnest (Anthony Asquith, 1952), for which she received a BAFTA nomination. In the 1950s, she played two other literary characters on the big screen. She was Polly Peachum to Laurence Olivier's Macheath in The Beggar's Opera (Peter Brook, 1953) based on the play by John Gay. Her next major film role was as Lucie Manette in the Charles Dickens film A Tale of Two Cities (Ralph Thomas, 1958) starring Dirk Bogarde.

However, she turned down other cinema roles as she did not find the main female characters in British cinema of the 1950s interesting enough. On stage, she received great critical acclaim for her performance as a sexually liberated young Catholic in Graham Greene's first play 'The Living Room' in 1953. The critic Kenneth Tynan was entranced, describing her as being "ablaze like a diamond in a mine". In 1954, she played the role of Sally Bowles in the first English production of John Van Druten's play 'I Am a Camera', on which the musical 'Cabaret' is based. After this second memorable performance, she was firmly established.

Dorothy Tutin in The Importance of Being Earnest (1952)
East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1071, 1959. Photo: J. Arthur Rank. Dorothy Tutin in The Importance of Being Earnest (Anthony Asquith, 1952).

Dorothy Tutin
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. D 207. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Organisation LTD.

A flop-turned-cult classic


Between 1958 and 1999, Dorothy Tutin performed regularly with the Royal Shakespeare Company, appearing in over two dozen of their productions.

Championed by Peter Hall, Tutin was a key figure in the early days of the RSC at Stratford and London's Aldwych theatre in the early 1960s. She played Desdemona, Varya in 'The Cherry Orchard', Polly Peachum in 'The Beggar's Opera' and, later in the decade, Rosalind.

By the end of her career, she had played almost all of Shakespeare's major female roles, including Juliet, Ophelia, Portia and Lady Macbeth. She was also seen several times in plays by Anton Chekhov, Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg. She also appeared several times in the works of Harold Pinter, for example in the world premiere of 'Old Times' in 1971.

By the early 1970s, partly preoccupied with marriage and motherhood, Tutin was seen far less in the theatre and more on the big screen again. She played Queen Henrietta in the historical film Cromwell (Ken Hughes, 1970) starring Richard Harris, and in the lead role of the flop-turned-cult classic Savage Messiah (Ken Russell, 1972) in which she played a Polish noblewoman and writer Sophie Brzeska married to the much younger sculptor, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska.

In 1984 she starred with James Mason, Edward Fox and Sir John Gielgud in the critically acclaimed The Shooting Party (Alan Bridges, 1984). The film is set in 1913, less than a year before the beginning of the First World War, and shows a vanishing way of life amongst English aristocrats, focusing on a shooting party gathered for pheasant shooting. Their situation is contrasted with the life of the local rural poor, who work on the estate and during the shoot serve as beaters, driving the game.

Dorothy Tutin
East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1102, 1959. Photo: J. Arthur Rank.

Dorothy Tutin
East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1070, 1959. Photo: J. Arthur Rank. Dorothy Tutin in The Importance of Being Earnest (Anthony Asquith, 1952).

An uncomprehending, terrified middle-aged Sleeping Beauty


From the 1970s to the 1990s, Dorothy Tutin was frequently seen on British television in distinctive character roles in literary adaptations or historical material. She played Anne Boleyn in the BBC's series The Six Wives of Henry VIII (Naomi Capon, John Glenister, 1970), which starred Keith Michell in the title role.

She was nominated three times for a BAFTA Award. In 1970, she was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for The Six Wives of Henry VIII, in 1973 for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Savage Messiah, and in 1975 for Best Actress for her role as the teacher Sarah Burton in the TV series South Riding (1974), based on the novel 'South Riding' by Winifred Holtby.

Another of her notable roles was as Goneril in an Emmy-winning television production of Shakespeare's King Lear (1983), opposite Laurence Olivier as King Lear. She guest starred in an episode of the 1980s TV series Robin of Sherwood as Lady Margaret of Gisbourne. Both on TV and in the West End, she gave a desperately moving performance, in Harold Pinter's 'A Kind Of Alaska' (1985).

Lyn Gardner in the Guardian: "She played Deborah, a teenager struck down by encephalitis lethargia who awakens 29 years later when given the drug L-DOPA. Tutin was mesmerising as this uncomprehending, terrified middle-aged Sleeping Beauty who still perceived herself as a tomboy teenager, and this should have given a boost to her career. Alas, it didn't. She was pained by her lack of job opportunities, telling the Guardian in 1991: 'You may as well ask, why aren't you employed more, Miss Tutin? One can get depressed'."

For her work in the theatre, Dorothy Tutin won two Olivier Awards and two Evening Standard Awards for Best Actress. She also received a Tony Award nomination for her role in the 1968 original Broadway production of 'Portrait of a Queen'. In 1967, Tutin was made a Commander in the Order of the British Empire for her artistic merits, and in 2000 she was ennobled as a Dame. From 1964 until her death, Tutin was married to the actor Derek Waring. They had a son, Nicholas, and a daughter, Amanda, both of whom were also sometime actors. In 2001, Dorothy Tutin died of leukaemia in King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst, West Sussex, at the age of 71.

Richard Johnson and Dorothy Tutin in Romeo and Julia (1958)
British postcard in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre series, no. 37. Photo: Angus McBean. Caption: Richard Johnson and Dorothy Tutin as Romeo and Juliet, Stratford-upon-Avon 1958.

Dorothy Tutin in The Six Wives of Henry VIII
English postcard by British Broadcasting Corporation, 1970, no. SBN 563 10218 7. Dorothy Tutin as Anne Boleyn in the BBC TV series The Six Wives of Henry VIII (Naomi Capon, John Glenister, 1970).

Sources: Lyn Gardner (The Guardian), Wikipedia (German and English) and IMDb.