Nicoletta Braschi

Nicoletta Braschi

Braschi receiving an award, 2005
Born April 19, 1960
Cesena, Italy
Occupation actress, producer
Years active 1983 2005
Spouse(s) Roberto Benigni (1991-present)

Nicoletta Braschi (born April 19, 1960) is an Italian actress and producer, best known for her work with her husband, actor and director Roberto Benigni.

Life and career

Born in Cesena, Braschi studied in Rome's Academy of Dramatic Arts where she first met Benigni in 1980. Her first film was with Benigni in 1983, the comedy Tu Mi Turbi ("You Upset Me"). She later appeared in two Jim Jarmusch films, Down by Law and Mystery Train.

Braschi's two most successful collaborations with her husband have been Johnny Stecchino (1992) and La Vita è Bella (Life is Beautiful) (1998). The first, an Italian comedy that cast the actress as the girlfriend of a mobster (Benigni), was a huge hit in Italy; while the second, in which Braschi played the wife of an Italian Jew (Benigni) imprisoned in a concentration camp, was a widely praised success that launched both Braschi and her husband into the international spotlight.

In 1997 Braschi starred in Ovosodo as a depressed teacher encouraging a student to work and study harder. The film won her much praise from critics and public and from it she won a David di Donatello award.

She was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award as a cast member of Life is Beautiful, in which Benigni played the role of her character's husband. She is also a David di Donatello award winner (Italy's equivalent of the Oscars).

In 2002, she was a member of the jury at the Berlin Film Festival.

In 2005 she starred in and produced The Tiger and the Snow (It. La tigre e la neve) a love story set during the initial stage of the Iraq War. This is her last film.

As of 2010 she tours the Italian theatres starring in "Tradimenti". Based on Harold Pinter's play Betrayal.

Filmography

Year Film Role
1983 Tu mi turbi Virgin Mary
1986 Down by law Nicoletta
1988 Ya bon les blancs Luisa
1988 The Little Devil Nina
1989 Mystery Train Luisa (Segment- Ghost)
1990 The Sheltering Sky French Woman
1991 La domenica specialmente Girl (Segment La domenica specialmente)
1991 Johnny Stecchino Maria
1993 Son of the Pink Panther Jacqueline Gambrelli
1994 The Monster Jessica
1995 Pasolini, un delitto italiano Graziella Chiracossi
1996 Sostiene Pereira Marta
1997 Ovosodo Giovanna
1998 La vita e bella Dora Orefice
2002 Pinocchio Blue Fairy
2003 Mi piace lavorare Anna
2005 The Tiger and the Snow Vittoria

External links