Lea Padovani

Lea Padovani (1923-1991) was an Italian stage and film actress. She appeared in 60 films between 1945 and 1990. She starred in the French crime film Le Dossier noir/Black Dossier (André Cayatte, 1955) which was entered into the 1955 Cannes Film Festival.


Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 448. Photo: Titanus. Lea Padovani in Pane, amore e...../Scandal in Sorrento (Dino Risi, 1955).


Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 1454. Photo: Agenzia Liliana Francini Sabatello.

Excellent acting skills

Lea Padovani was born in Montalto di Castro, in 1923. Against her father's advice, Lea enrolled at L'Accademia d'Arte Drammatica, the National Academy of Dramatic Art in Rome, which she left in 1944.

She made her debut as a soubrette in Garinei and Giovannini's revue 'Cantachiaro'. The following year, she was part of Erminio Macario's company in 'Febbre azzurra'. She demonstrated excellent acting skills and enjoyed great success.

Her meeting with Macario led to work in the film industry. She made her film debut with the female leading role in the comedy L'innocente Casimiro/The Innocent Casimiro (Carlo Campogalliani, 1946) starring Erminio Macario.

In 1946 she began her long and successful career as a theatre actress with Armand Salacrou's 'Un uomo come gli altri' and with Jean Cocteau's 'I parenti terribili' in Luchino Visconti's Milanese revival.

In 1953, she was alongside Ruggero Ruggeri on a tour to London and Paris with 'Enrico IV' and 'Tutto per bene'. In 1954 she was awarded a special Nastro d'Argento (Silver Ribbon award) for her theatrical performances.


Small German collectors card in the 'Film Stars der Welt' series by Greiling-Sammelbilder, series E, no. 101. Photo: Super-Film. Lea Padovani in Atto di accusa/The Accusation (Giacomo Gentilomo, 1950).


Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 1229. Lea Padovani in La contessa di Castiglione/The Contessa's Secret (Georges Combret, 1954).

Orson Welles' original Desdemona

From 1947 Lea Padovani appeared in international films, such as Una lettera al Alba/Letter at Dawn (Giorgio Bianchi, 1948) and the British social drama Give Us This Day (Edward Dmytryk, 1949) with Sam Wanamaker.

Orson Welles originally cast Lea as Desdemona in his 1952 film production of Othello back in 1948. After Welles began the filming in Venice, producer Montatori Scalera informed Welles that he wanted to make Verdi's opera, not the Shakespearean play, so the money ran out and the film was shelved. By the time the film was made years later, Lea had been replaced by Suzanne Cloutier.

She starred in the French crime film Le Dossier noir/Black Dossier (André Cayatte, 1955) which was entered into the 1955 Cannes Film Festival. A big hit was the comedy Pane, amore e...../Scandal in Sorrento (Dino Risi, 1955) in which she co-starred with Sophia Loren and Vittorio De Sica. In the 1950s, Padovani also took part in several TV dramas, including Piccole done (Anton Giulio Majano, 1955), Il romanzo di un giovane povero (Silverio Blasi, 1957) and Ottocento (Anton Giulio Majano, 1959-1960).

During the 1960s, the stage and television became more important than her film career. In 1990, she made her last film, La putain du roi/The King's Whore (Axel Corti, 1990) with Timothy Dalton and Valeria Golino. Shortly before her death, the actress told writer Renzo Allegri about her encounters with Padre Pio in the late 1950s, asking for help for one of her lovers, who was terminally ill with cancer.

Lea Padovani died in 1991 of a heart attack. In 2006, director Oliver Parker directed the film Fade to Black, based on the novel 'Fade to Black' by Davide Ferrario, inspired by a fictional story involving the actress, played in the film by Paz Vega, and director Orson Welles, played by Danny Huston. In 2012, a theatre named after Lea Padovani was inaugurated in Montalto di Castro by Mayor Sergio Caci and Culture Councillor Eleonora Sacconi.


Italian card.


Italian postcard by Nannina, Milano.

Sources: Wikipedia (Italian and English) and IMDb.