Isabella Rossellini

Isabella Rossellini

Born Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini
(1952-06-18) 18 June 1952
Rome, Italy
Occupation
Years active 1976–present
Spouse(s)
Partner(s)
Children 2
Parent(s)

Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini (born 18 June 1952)[1][2][3] is an Italian actress, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and model.

Rossellini is noted for her 14-year tenure as a Lancôme model, and for her roles in films such as Blue Velvet and Death Becomes Her. She has been nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in Crime of the Century (1996).

Background and early life

Rossellini was born in Rome, the daughter of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman, who was of Swedish and German descent, and Italian director Roberto Rossellini, who was born in Rome from a family originally from Pisa, Tuscany. She has three siblings from her mother: her twin sister Isotta Ingrid Rossellini, who is an adjunct professor of Italian literature; a brother, Robertino Ingmar Rossellini;[4] and a half-sister, Pia Lindström, who formerly worked on television and is from her mother's first marriage with Petter Lindström. She has four other siblings from her father's two other marriages: Romano (died at age nine), Renzo, Gil, and Raffaella.[5]

Rossellini was raised in Rome, as well as in Santa Marinella and Paris. She underwent an operation for appendicitis at the age of five.[6] At 11, she was diagnosed with scoliosis.[7] In order to correct it, she had to undergo an 18-month ordeal of painful stretchings, body casts, and surgery on her spine using pieces of one of her shin bones. Consequently, she has permanent incision scars on her back and shin.

At 19, she went to New York, where she attended Finch College, while working as a translator and a RAI television reporter. She also appeared intermittently on L'altra Domenica ("The Other Sunday"), a TV show featuring Roberto Benigni. However, she did not decide to stay full-time in New York until her marriage to Martin Scorsese (1979–1982).

Career

Modeling

At the age of 28, her modeling career began, when she was photographed by Bruce Weber for British Vogue and by Bill King for American Vogue. During her career, she has also worked with many other renowned photographers, including Richard Avedon, Steven Meisel, Helmut Newton, Peter Lindbergh, Norman Parkinson, Eve Arnold, Francesco Scavullo, Annie Leibovitz, Denis Piel, and Robert Mapplethorpe. Her image has appeared on such magazines as Marie Claire, Harper's Bazaar, Vanity Fair, and ELLE. In March 1988, an exhibition dedicated to photographs of her, called Portrait of a Woman, was held at the Musee d'Art Moderne in Paris.

Rossellini's modeling career led her into the world of cosmetics, when she became the exclusive spokesmodel for the international cosmetics brand Lancôme in 1982, replacing Nancy Dutiel in the United States and Carol Alt in Europe. At Lancôme, in 1990, she was involved in product development for the fragrance Trésor. In 1996, when she was 44, she was removed as the face of Lancôme for being "too old."

In October 1992, Rossellini modelled for Madonna's controversial book Sex. Rossellini also appeared in Madonna's music video for her successful Top 5 hit song "Erotica", released in the autumn/fall of 1992. In 1995, Rossellini worked with the Coty Group and developed her own brand of cosmetics, "Isabella Rossellini's Manifesto". She is signed to Trump Model Management.

Rossellini was the inaugural brand ambassador for the Italian Silversea Cruises company in 2004, and she appeared in print ads and on their website. Barbara Muckermann, the senior vice-president of worldwide marketing and communications in 2004, said at the time of the announcement, "Isabella is the ideal personification of Silversea's exclusive standard of elegance, glamour and sophistication."[8][9]

Film and television

Rossellini on location at Tempelhof Airport in Berlin to shoot some scenes for the film The Innocent, 1992

Rossellini made her film debut with a brief appearance as a nun opposite her mother in the 1976 film A Matter of Time. Her first role was the 1979 film Il Prato, and then in 1980 she appeared in Renzo Arbore's film Il pap'occhio with Martin Scorsese.

Following her mother's death in 1982, Rossellini was cast in her first American film, White Nights (1985). This was followed by her notable role as the tortured nightclub singer Dorothy Vallens in the David Lynch film Blue Velvet, in which she also contributed her own singing. Other significant film roles during this period include her work in Cousins (1989), Death Becomes Her (1992), Fearless, and Immortal Beloved (1994). In 1996, she appeared as herself in an episode of the TV series Friends called "The One With Frank Jr."

In 2003, Rossellini was a recurring character on the television series Alias. In that same year, she also appeared in the Canadian film The Saddest Music in the World, directed by Guy Maddin. In 2004, she played the High Priestess Thar in the Sci-Fi Channel miniseries Legend of Earthsea, and director Robert Lieberman stated that Rossellini "brings a very big persona to the screen. She carries a great deal of beauty. We needed someone who had a feeling of authority to be this kind of mother superior type and at the same time not be totally dour and unattractive."[10]

In 2006, Rossellini appeared in several television documentaries. First, she narrated a two-hour television special on Italy for the Discovery Channel's Discovery Atlas series. Then, alongside Segway PT inventor Dean Kamen, she spoke about her past and current activities on an episode of Iconoclasts'', a series that featured on the Sundance Channel (known as SundanceTV from 2014 onwards), an independent film network founded by film industry veteran Robert Redford.[11] The Sundance Channel then purchased the 2006 Guy Maddin-directed short film My Dad Is 100 Years Old,[12] a tribute that Rossellini created for her father. In the film, she played almost every role, including Federico Fellini, Alfred Hitchcock, and her mother Ingrid Bergman. Rossellini's twin sister, Isotta Ingrid,[13] criticized the short film, calling it an "inappropriate" tribute.[14]

In 2007, Rossellini guest starred on two episodes of the television show 30 Rock, playing Alec Baldwin's character's ex-wife.[15] Around the same time, Rossellini enrolled at Hunter College in New York, US to study Animal Behavior, and the Sundance Channel commissioned her to contribute a short-film project to the environmental program The Green.[12] Rossellini explained in a 2013 interview:

They contacted me again when they had allocated some money to experiment in making a web series. At first, I thought I didn't know what to say, I didn't know what to write and then thought it might be really fun to do little short films about animals. This is how the first three episodes of Green Porno came about. When I showed them the pilot, Sundance commissioned eight more. It was a huge hit![12]
Rossellini (left) worked on Green Porno with Jody Shapiro (right).

Debuting in 2008, the first series of Green Porno garnered over 4 million views on YouTube and two further seasons were produced; there is a total of 18 episodes in the series. Rossellini worked with a small budget for Green Porno and she was responsible for the scripts, helped to design the creatures, directed the episodes, and is the primary actor in the series. In each of the episodes Rossellini acts out the mating rituals and reproductive behaviour of various animals while commentary is concurrently played.[16]

Green Porno was followed by two other animal-themed television productions: Seduce Me: The Spawn of Green Porno and Mammas. Seduce Me: The Spawn of Green Porno is a five-episode online series that premiered in mid-2010 and explores the topic of animal courtship—as with Green Porno, Rossellini wrote, directed, and acted in the series (she is also a producer of the series). Rossellini explained in 2010, " I always wanted to make films about animals-- there's not an enormous audience, but there's an enormous audience for sex."[17]

Mammas debuted in the United States on 12 May 2013, Mother's Day weekend, and is a celebration of the maternal aspects of the animal world. Rossellini is again the primary actor and plays the maternal versions of animals such as spiders and hamsters.[18] Rossellini explained in a 2013 interview part of the research process for Mammas: "First of all it's about diversity. When talking about motherhood, I would find examples of ten different species that either don't get pregnant in the belly but in the mouth or back. Or species that abandon their children all-together so that I don't tell ten stories that are too similar."[12]

Since the completion of her Green Porno productions, Rossellini acted in the film Enemy, alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, which was shown at the 2013 Toronto Film Festival (TIFF). Rossellini praised the film during a TIFF interview: "I love the subtlety of the film. It reminded me of Kafka. It’s very metaphysical, but yet it’s also a solid thriller. It made me leap up out of my seat at the end." Rossellini also plays silent film actor Rudolph Valentino's mother[19] in Vlad Kozlov's Silent Life, a feature-length version of the director’s silent, black-and-white short film Daydreams of Rudolph Valentino.[20] Kozlov's film was due for release in 2012, but, as of February 2014, the film has not been officially released.[21]

Rossellini was the President of the Jury for the 61st Berlin International Film Festival in 2011.[22] In April 2015 she was announced as the President of the Jury for the Un Certain Regard section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.[23]

Writing

Rossellini has written three books: her self-described fictional memoir, Some of Me (1997), Looking at Me (on pictures and photographers, 2002), and In the name of the Father, the Daughter and the Holy Spirits: Remembering Roberto Rossellini (2006). In the name of the Father, the Daughter and the Holy Spirits: Remembering Roberto Rossellini was published as a written tribute alongside the short film, My Dad Is 100 Years Old, and used the script from the short film as its basis.[24]

As an accompaniment to the third series of Green Porno, Rossellini produced a multimedia collection that contains a book and DVD, both of which serve as additional information for the series' third season, that was released in 2008.[25]

Stage and live performance

In 2004, Rossellini acted in an Off-Broadway production of Terrence McNally's The Stendhal Syndrome, alongside Richard Thomas.[26]

Rossellini's friend Carole Bouquet, also a model who later became an actress, suggested that Green Porno could be transformed into a lecture format with a longer duration. Bouquet then introduced Rossellini to French filmmaker and screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière, and the pair created a 70-minute-long monologue that expands upon the Green Porno films. The structure of the performance is in accordance with the types of reproductive systems:

Some animals reproduce with male and female; some animals change sex – they start female and they end male or vice-versa. Some fish do that. Some animals are hermaphrodites – they don’t need anybody, they have both vaginas and penises. Then we have animals that don’t need sex at all, they just clone themselves.[16]

In the live show, Rossellini explores the topics of homosexuality (“I think society has made the mistake of seeing the act of making love or mating as an act of reproduction, when actually it is used for other things, too. Animals use it for social events, bonding, solving conflict and so on.") and maternal instincts, and has explained that her research has influenced her perspective on societal notions of beauty: "If you look at nature, there is no perfection. Everything is always evolving and adapting according to whatever the environmental pressure. The more diversity there is, the more things are going to survive."[16]

Rossellini debuted the live version of Green Porno at the Adelaide Festival of Arts on 15 March 2014 and was warmly received by the audience. The show was the first of the 2014 program to sell out.[27]

Activism

Rossellini is involved in conservation efforts. She is the current president and director of the Howard Gilman Foundation—a leading institution focused on the preservation of wildlife, arts, photography and dance[28][29]—and she previously was a board member of the Wildlife Conservation Network.[30] She received $100,000 from Disney to help with her conservation efforts in those two organizations.[31] She has also helped with the Central Park Conservancy,[32] and is a major benefactor of the Bellport-Brookhaven Historical Society of Bellport, Long Island, where she is a part-time resident.[33]

Rossellini is involved in training guide dogs for the blind.[34][35] She is a former trustee of the George Eastman House and a 1997 George Eastman Award honoree for her support of film preservation.[36] She is also a National Ambassador for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.[37]

Awards

Rossellini received a 1987 Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her role in Blue Velvet. In 1997, she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV for her role in Crime of the Century and an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her work on the television series Chicago Hope. Also in 1997, Rossellini was awarded The George Eastman Award.[38] In 1998, she received an Honourable Mention at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival for her role in the film Left Luggage.[39] At the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival she is to be awarded with the Berlinale Camera.[40]

Personal life

Rossellini with David Lynch at the Cannes Film Festival (1990)

Rossellini holds dual Italian and United States citizenship.[8][41]

She was married to Martin Scorsese from 1979 to 1982.[42] After her marriage to Scorsese ended, she married Jon Wiedemann (1983–1986), a Harvard-educated and former fashion model from Texas (now a Microsoft design manager).[43] Later, she dated David Lynch,[44] Gary Oldman and Gregory Mosher.[45]

She has a daughter, Elettra Rossellini Wiedemann[9] (born 1983) and a son, Roberto (born 1993).[46]

She has always lived near her twin sister Isotta Ingrid,[13] while growing up in Rome, Italy or residing in New York City, US. Because of this, her twin sister's children Tommaso and Francesca grew up closely with their cousins Elettra and Roberto.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1976 A Matter of Time Sister Pia
1979 The Meadow Eugenia
1980 In the Pope's Eye Isabella
1985 White Nights Darya Greenwood
1986 Blue Velvet Dorothy Vallens Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead
1987 Tough Guys Don't Dance Madeleine Regency Nominated—Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress
1987 Siesta Marie Nominated—Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress
1988 Zelly and Me Mademoiselle Zelly
1989 Cousins Maria
1989 Red Riding Hood Lady Jean
1990 Wild at Heart Perdita Durango
1990 Dames Galantes Victoire
1990 Ivory Hunters Maria DiConti Television movie
1991 Caccia Alla Vedova
1991 Lies of the Twins Rachel Marks Television movie
1992 Death Becomes Her Lisle von Rhoman Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
1993 The Pickle Planet Cleveland Woman Uncredited
1993 The Innocent Maria
1993 Fearless Laura Klein
1994 The Gift Television movie
1994 Wyatt Earp Big Nose Kate
1994 Immortal Beloved Anne Marie
1995 Croce e delizia Henriette
1996 Crime of the Century Anna Hauptmann Television movie
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film
1996 Big Night Gabriella
1996 The Funeral Clara
1997 The Odyssey Athena
1998 Left Luggage Mrs. Kalman
1998 The Impostors The Veiled Queen
1998 Merlin Nimue Television movie
2000 Don Quixote The Duchess Television movie
2000 Il Cielo cade Kathcen
2002 Empire La Colombiana
2002 Roger Dodger Joyce
2003 The Tulse Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story Mme. Moitessier
2003 The Saddest Music in the World Lady Helen Port-Huntley
2003 Monte Walsh Countess Martine Television movie
2004 The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 2: Vauz to the Sea Mme. Moitessier
2004 Heights Liz
2004 Legend of Earthsea Thar Television movie
2005 La Fiesta Del Chivo Urania
2005 My Dad Is 100 Years Old Herself
2006 The Architect Julia Walters
2006 Infamous Marella Agnelli
2006 Infected Carla Plume Television movie
2006 Filthy Gorgeous Antonia Television movie
2007 The Last of Jews of Libya
2008 The Accidental Husband Mrs. Bollenbecker
2009 Two Lovers Ruth Kladitor
2009 My Dog Tulip Ms. Cavenenini
2010 The Solitude of Prime Numbers Adele
2011 Keyhole Haycinth
2011 Chicken with Plums Parvine
2011 Silent Life Gabriella
2011 Late Bloomers Mary
2013 Enemy Adam's mother
2014 The Zig Zag Kid Lola
2015 Closet Monster Buffy
2015 Joy Trudy

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1989–1990 The Tracey Ullman Show Mae 3 episodes
1993 Fallen Angels Babe Lonsdale Episode: "The Frightening Frammis"
1995 Tales from the Crypt Betty Spinelli Episode: "You, Murderer"
1996 Friends Herself Episode: "The One with Frank Jr."
1997 Chicago Hope Professor Marina Giannini 2 episodes
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
1999 The Simpsons Astrid Weller Episode: "Mom and Pop Art"
2002 Napoléon Joséphine de Beauharnais 4 episodes
2004–2005 Alias Katya Derevko 5 episodes
2007 30 Rock Bianca Donaghy 2 episodes
2008–2009 Green Porno Male Bee 18 episodes
2009 The Phantom Dr. Bella Lithia 2 episodes
2012 Treme Theresa Episode: "I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say"
2013 The Blacklist Floriana Campo Episode: "The Freelancer"

Video game

Year Title Role Notes
1996 Goosebumps: Escape from Horrorland Lady Cadaver Voice role

References

  1. ↑ "Isabella Rossellini". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  2. ↑ "18th June, Isabella Rossellini at 60 – The sixtieth birthday of actor Isabella Rossellini". Magnum Photos. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  3. ↑ "Isabella Rossellini". la Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  4. ↑ Mocci, Alessia (18 June 2010). "Isabella Rossellini: Happy Birthday!!! 18 giugno 2010". SuperEva.it. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
  5. ↑ MacNab, Geoffrey (6 September 2004). "Like Father...". Guardian Unlimited (London: Guardian News and Media Limited). Retrieved 29 January 2007.
  6. ↑ "Ingrid and Daughter have Tearful Reunion". The Miami News. 8 July 1957.
  7. ↑ Rossellini, Isabella (1997). "Deformity". Some of Me. Random House. ISBN 978-0-679-45252-2.
  8. 1 2 "News: Actress Isabella Rossellini Joins Silversea". Cruise Critic News: Cruise Reviews and News. 11 October 2004. Retrieved 9 February 2007.
  9. 1 2 "Silversea Cruises signs up Isabella Rossellini". Marketing Week. Centaur Media plc. 21 October 2004. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  10. ↑ "Isabella Rossellini brings her legendary looks to Sci Fi Channel's 'Earthsea' fantasy miniseries". Temple Daily Telegram. 12 December 2004. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  11. ↑ "Episode 4: Isabella Rossellini + Dean Kamen". Iconoclasts: change the way you see celebrity. Sundance Channel L.L.C. Retrieved 29 January 2007.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Luigi Tadini (8 May 2013). "ISABELLA ROSSELLINI ON HER NEW MOTHERHOOD WEB SERIES, MAMMAS". Paper Mag. Paper Mag. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  13. 1 2 "Twins: Isabella & Isotta Ingrid". The Film Experience. Nathaniel Rogers. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  14. ↑ Caryn James (8 May 2006). "Isabella Rossellini's Tribute to Her Father, Cinema's Great Neorealist Talking Belly". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  15. ↑ Maureen Ryan (30 January 2007). "Pee-wee, Isabella Rossellini and Pete's temptation: This week's '30 Rock'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  16. 1 2 3 Dee Jefferson (4 February 2014). "Green Porno: Isabella Rossellini". Time Out Melbourne. Time Out Group Ltd. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  17. ↑ "Seduce Me (VIDEO): Isabella Rossellini Takes On The Spawn Of Green Porno". The Huffington Post. 21 June 2010. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  18. ↑ Katherine Brooks (9 May 2013). "Isabella Rossellini's 'Green Porno' Follow-Up Series 'Mammas' Debuts For Mother's Day (VIDEO)". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  19. ↑ Vlad Kozlov (15 March 2012). "15 March 2012". Vlad Kozlov on Twitter. Twitter. Retrieved 17 February 2014. Journalists keep on repeating another journalist's mistake. Isabella Rossellini does not play Valentino's wife, she plays his mother
  20. ↑ Saibal Chatterjee (18 March 2012). "Colourless and silent gems". The Tribune. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  21. ↑ Tim Masters (17 November 2011). "The Artist pays homage to Hollywood's silent era". BBC News. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  22. ↑ "Isabella Rossellini to head Berlin Film Festival jury". BBC News. 30 August 2010. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  23. ↑ "Isabella Rossellini, President of the Un Certain Regard Jury". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  24. ↑ Alex Clark (11 June 2006). "Daddy dearest". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  25. ↑ Richard, Michael Graham (9 March 2009). "Isabella Rossellini's Green Porno Renewed for a 3rd Season and a Book". TreeHugger. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
  26. ↑ Ernio Hernandez (11 December 2003). "Thomas Replaces Langella in McNally's The Stendhal Syndrome Off-Broadway". Playbill. Playbill, Inc. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  27. ↑ Michaela Boland (17 March 2014). "Isabella Rossellini’s animal act wows the crowd". The Australian. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  28. ↑ "Foundation Announces 2 New Grant Programs". The New York Times. 21 February 2002.
  29. ↑ "Famous Conservationists: Isabella Rossellini". Animal Planet. Discovery Communications. Retrieved 29 January 2007.
  30. ↑ "About WCN". Wildlife Conservation Network. Wildlife Conservation Network, Inc. Archived from the original on 1 January 2007. Retrieved 29 January 2007.
  31. ↑ "Environmentality: Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund". Disney Worldwide Outreach. Disney. Retrieved 29 January 2007.
  32. ↑ "Power Play - July 2004 - Isabella Rossellini". Park and Recreation Magazine. National Recreation and Park Association. Archived from the original on 21 May 2006. Retrieved 29 January 2007.
  33. ↑ Mead, Julia C. (24 August 2003). "EXHIBITS; How the Gruccis' Pyrotechnics Grew". New York Times (NYT). Retrieved 2 December 2007.
  34. ↑ "Puppy Program". Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, Inc. Retrieved 29 January 2007.
  35. ↑ Dobnik, Verena (28 December 2004). "Rossellini gains new insight from guide dog training". Chicago Sun-Times (The Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.). Retrieved 29 January 2007.
  36. ↑ "Press Room: Isabella Rossellini visits Eastman House May 1". George Eastman House: International Museum of Photography and Film. George Eastman House. 29 March 2006. Archived from the original on 1 October 2006. Retrieved 29 January 2007.
  37. ↑ "News Releases: Angela Bassett, Alyssa Milano, Isabella Rossellini, Liv Tyler and Courtney B. Vance appointed National Ambassadors for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF". United States for UNICEF. United States Fund for UNICEF. 18 November 2003. Archived from the original on 7 January 2006. Retrieved 29 January 2007.
  38. ↑ List of award recipients at Eastman House web site
  39. ↑ "Berlinale: 1998 Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  40. ↑ "Berlinale Camera 2013 for Isabella Rossellini and Rosa von Praunheim". Berlinale. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  41. ↑ Isabella Rossellini (6 November 2001). "In Defense of Fallaci". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 February 2007.
  42. ↑ "Isabella Rossellini". Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  43. ↑ Paton, Maureen (17 October 2009). "'I don't live through my family': Isabella Rossellini's daughter Elettra Wiedemann eclipses her Hollywood heritage". Mail Online.
  44. ↑ "My Dad would be happy to know his two girls are fighting over him.". The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 July 2006.
  45. ↑ Lauerman, Connie (2 July 1997). "Partial confession: Isabella Rossellini's new autobiography tells some but not all". Chicago Tribune.
  46. ↑ "Roberto Rossellini". Retrieved 22 June 2014.

Further reading

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