Gorgeous Italian singer and actress Rosalina Neri (1927) was called 'the Italian Marilyn Monroe' in the 1950s. She moved to England where she appeared in TV shows and in the 1960s, she returned to Italy where she made a comeback on stage and later in the cinema.
Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, no. 420.
Rosalina Neri was born in Arcisate, Italy, in 1927. In the past, her bio has often been mixed up with that of Italian soprano Rosalba Neri, who was born in 1934 and performed in famous opera houses such as Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Italian Wikipedia still writes that Rosalina starred in such operas as 'La bohème', 'Faust', and 'Madama Butterfly', but that's not correct.
She made her screen debut at Italian Television in the show 'Invito al Sorriso', a song show with Marcello Marchesi. She continued with the musical comedy 'Tobia la Candida Spia' by Garinei and Giovannini, with Renato Rascel.
Rosalina began her film career in I Pinguini ci guardano/The Penguins Watch Us (Guido Leone, 1955) with Isa Barzizza. In the film, animals in a zoo watch the people around them and reveal interesting, human thoughts, spoken by such stars as Aldo Fabrizi and Anna Magnani.
Rosalina was presented with the same platinum blonde coup and the same revealing red dress as Marilyn Monroe. The Italian press loved her pictures and dubbed her 'The Italian Marilyn Monroe.'
In the following years, she appeared in a series of films including the comedy Due sosia in allegria/Two doubles in joy (Ignazio Ferronetti, 1956) with Scilla Gabel, Vivendo, cantando... che male ti fo?/Living, singing... what harm do I do to you? (Marino Girolami, 1957) starring Claudio Villa, and Lazzarella (Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, 1957).
In France, she appeared in the French-Italian coproduction Mon coquin de père/My Darned Father (Georges Lacombe, 1958) with Gaby Morlay and Claude Dauphin. After the comedy Valeria ragazza poco seria/Valeria - not very serious girl (Guido Malatesta, 1958) starring Maurizio Arena, followed a long interval in her film career.
She had met 'the man of her life', the English pianist, composer, dance band leader, theatrical impresario, and TV producer Jack Hylton. She moved to England with him, appeared in Jack Hylton's Monday Show (1958), and made for ITV The Rosalina Neri Show (1959). Hylton passed away in 1965.
Italian postcard by Bromostampa, Milano, no. 201.
Back in Italy, Rosalina Neri started to work on the Milanese stage with such directors as Giorgio Strehler and Filippo Crivelli. After an interval of more than ten years, Neri returned to the screen in a supporting part in the crime film Bocche cucite/Mouths sewn (Pino Tosini, 1970) starring Lou Castel.
Nearly 20 years later, she made another comeback in the TV Mini-series I promessi sposi/The Betrothed (Salvatore Nocita, 1989), based on the classic novel by Alessandro Manzoni. This Pan-European production had an impressive cast including Alberto Sordi, Valentina Cortese, Burt Lancaster, Helmut Berger, and Dario Fo, but according to the reviewers at IMDb, the series was a complete disaster.
However, from then on, Rosalina Neri regularly appeared in films and on television again, such as in the comedy Faccione/Big face (Christian De Sica, 1991), the drama Portagli i miei saluti... avanzi di galera/Jailbirds (Gianna Maria Garbelli, 1993), and the comedy Tre uomini e una gamba/Three Men and a Leg (Aldo Baglio, a.o., 1997).
From 1999 to 2004 he starred in the sitcom Finalmente soli/Finally alone with Gerry Scotti and Maria Amelia Monti. She played the role of grandmother Wanda. She played this role again in the sequels, Finalmente Natale/Last Christmas (Rossella Izzo, 2007), Finalmente a casa/Finally at home (Gianfrancesco Lazotti, 2008) and Finalmente una favola/Finally a fairy tale (Gianfrancesco Lazotti, 2008).
In 2010, she could be seen on the stage of the Teatro Manzoni in the Davide Van de Sfroos Show, with singer Laghee. Neri also appeared in the film Ci vuole un gran fisico/It takes a great body (Sophie Chiarello, 2013) with Angela Finocchiaro. Her most recent film appearance was a small role in the comedy-drama I predatori/The Predators (Pietro Castellitto, 2020).
Rosalina Neri in the Davide Van de Sfroos Show. Source: Marina Cauboi (YouTube).
Sources: Cecilia Ermini (Io Donna - Italian), Di Nardo e Associati (Italian), MyMovies (Italian), Wikipedia (Italian), and IMDb. And thanks, Marlene Pilaete, for the corrections!
This post was last updated on 27 June 2021.
Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, no. 420.
Penguins watch us
Rosalina Neri was born in Arcisate, Italy, in 1927. In the past, her bio has often been mixed up with that of Italian soprano Rosalba Neri, who was born in 1934 and performed in famous opera houses such as Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Italian Wikipedia still writes that Rosalina starred in such operas as 'La bohème', 'Faust', and 'Madama Butterfly', but that's not correct.
She made her screen debut at Italian Television in the show 'Invito al Sorriso', a song show with Marcello Marchesi. She continued with the musical comedy 'Tobia la Candida Spia' by Garinei and Giovannini, with Renato Rascel.
Rosalina began her film career in I Pinguini ci guardano/The Penguins Watch Us (Guido Leone, 1955) with Isa Barzizza. In the film, animals in a zoo watch the people around them and reveal interesting, human thoughts, spoken by such stars as Aldo Fabrizi and Anna Magnani.
Rosalina was presented with the same platinum blonde coup and the same revealing red dress as Marilyn Monroe. The Italian press loved her pictures and dubbed her 'The Italian Marilyn Monroe.'
In the following years, she appeared in a series of films including the comedy Due sosia in allegria/Two doubles in joy (Ignazio Ferronetti, 1956) with Scilla Gabel, Vivendo, cantando... che male ti fo?/Living, singing... what harm do I do to you? (Marino Girolami, 1957) starring Claudio Villa, and Lazzarella (Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, 1957).
In France, she appeared in the French-Italian coproduction Mon coquin de père/My Darned Father (Georges Lacombe, 1958) with Gaby Morlay and Claude Dauphin. After the comedy Valeria ragazza poco seria/Valeria - not very serious girl (Guido Malatesta, 1958) starring Maurizio Arena, followed a long interval in her film career.
She had met 'the man of her life', the English pianist, composer, dance band leader, theatrical impresario, and TV producer Jack Hylton. She moved to England with him, appeared in Jack Hylton's Monday Show (1958), and made for ITV The Rosalina Neri Show (1959). Hylton passed away in 1965.
Italian postcard by Bromostampa, Milano, no. 201.
Grandmother Wanda
Back in Italy, Rosalina Neri started to work on the Milanese stage with such directors as Giorgio Strehler and Filippo Crivelli. After an interval of more than ten years, Neri returned to the screen in a supporting part in the crime film Bocche cucite/Mouths sewn (Pino Tosini, 1970) starring Lou Castel.
Nearly 20 years later, she made another comeback in the TV Mini-series I promessi sposi/The Betrothed (Salvatore Nocita, 1989), based on the classic novel by Alessandro Manzoni. This Pan-European production had an impressive cast including Alberto Sordi, Valentina Cortese, Burt Lancaster, Helmut Berger, and Dario Fo, but according to the reviewers at IMDb, the series was a complete disaster.
However, from then on, Rosalina Neri regularly appeared in films and on television again, such as in the comedy Faccione/Big face (Christian De Sica, 1991), the drama Portagli i miei saluti... avanzi di galera/Jailbirds (Gianna Maria Garbelli, 1993), and the comedy Tre uomini e una gamba/Three Men and a Leg (Aldo Baglio, a.o., 1997).
From 1999 to 2004 he starred in the sitcom Finalmente soli/Finally alone with Gerry Scotti and Maria Amelia Monti. She played the role of grandmother Wanda. She played this role again in the sequels, Finalmente Natale/Last Christmas (Rossella Izzo, 2007), Finalmente a casa/Finally at home (Gianfrancesco Lazotti, 2008) and Finalmente una favola/Finally a fairy tale (Gianfrancesco Lazotti, 2008).
In 2010, she could be seen on the stage of the Teatro Manzoni in the Davide Van de Sfroos Show, with singer Laghee. Neri also appeared in the film Ci vuole un gran fisico/It takes a great body (Sophie Chiarello, 2013) with Angela Finocchiaro. Her most recent film appearance was a small role in the comedy-drama I predatori/The Predators (Pietro Castellitto, 2020).
Rosalina Neri in the Davide Van de Sfroos Show. Source: Marina Cauboi (YouTube).
Sources: Cecilia Ermini (Io Donna - Italian), Di Nardo e Associati (Italian), MyMovies (Italian), Wikipedia (Italian), and IMDb. And thanks, Marlene Pilaete, for the corrections!
This post was last updated on 27 June 2021.
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