Sandra Milo died today and it already seems impossible. He had accustomed us to his sweet and joking presence. She passed away in her sleep at the venerable age of 90, at home surrounded by her loved ones, as she had requested. Until the end she seemed in great shape, thanks to an old-fashioned fiber and an extraordinary desire to live.
Solar muse of Italian cinema
Born in Tunis on 11 March 1933, Sandra Milo was one of the protagonists of Italian cinema of the 60s with titles that made history such as 8 ½ , Juliet of the spirits, General Della Rovere, Adua and her companions, Ghosts in Rome. Sandra was born as Salvatrice Elena Greco from Sicilian father and Tuscan mother. He spent his childhood in Vicopisanoa village not far from Pisaand then moved to Viareggio during adolescence.
He attended school until the fourth grade and in 1948, a fifteen yearsthe, wife the marquis Cesare Rodighiero. The two have a premature baby who does not survive birth. There couple separates after less than a month of marriage obtaining theannulment of the Sacred Rota.
The debut alongside Sordi and with Rossellini
The debut by Sandra Milo dates back to 1955 alongside Alberto Sordi in the movie The bachelor by Antonio Pietrangeli, where she plays Gabriella, a dreamy and somewhat lonely hostess. A polite comedy in which the actress already emerges in all her stylistic features: spontaneous, prosperousfrom the childish voice with a streak of meloncholy. Enough to inspire other roles where naivety And hyper-femininity make Sandra an icon of post-war cinema.
Sandra Milo with her second husband Moris Ergas.
Four years later comes the first major role in the film General Della Rovere Of Roberto Rosselliniportrait of Northern Italy in the aftermath of8 September 1943. Here Sandra is one prostitute alongside the protagonist played by Vittorio De Sica. Rossellini’s film marks the encounter with the producer Greek-Italian Moris Ergaswith which the actress will have a long and tormented relationship.
The marriage with Moris Ergas between violence and quarrels
The second marriage by Sandra Milo is marked by furious arguments and repeated abuse. «I took a lot of those beating in my life” declared the actress in an interview with Sunday In talking about the manufacturer Moris Ergas. «We were in the caravan, we were filming and my husband thought I was Enrico Maria Salerno’s lover. He threw me on the ground, kicked me in the head breaking my nose and jaw. One ear was destroyed forever, they rebuilt the other one with platinum. I can still hear with only one ear.”
The marriage, which will last 11 years, ends with a series of lawsuits filed from Ergas, who will try to steal her daughter Debora from her. There career However proceeds. Milo is directed by Antonio Pietrangeli in Adua and her companionswhere he stars alongside Simone Signoret. The film addresses the theme of prostitution in Italy after the entry into force of Reads Merlin in 1958.
In the 1960 it is called by Claude Sautet for Hot asphaltwhile in 1961 is the protagonist, alongside Eduardo De Filippo, Vittorio Gassman And Marcello Mastroianni of comedy Ghosts in Romealso by Pietrangeli.
Sandra Milo and Jean-Paul Belmondo in “Hot Asphalt”, 1961. (Contrasto/Everett)
The meeting with Fellini and the «effect 8½»
Despite the resounding flop of Vanina Vaninidirected by Rossellini, Sandra is an increasingly sought-after actress. The comedy filmed in 1962 The shortest day Of Sergio Corbuccinext to TotoEduardo and Peppino De Filippo, Ugo TognazziJean-Paul Belmondo, Aldo Fabrizi, Franca Valeri and other sacred monsters of the time.
But the meeting that will mark his artistic and personal life is the one with Federico Fellini. Love at first sight, one clandestine history which would last for the next few 17 years, creating several short circuits on and off set. Clandestine like certain Pulcinella secrets: Giulietta Masinawife of Fellini and Oscar-winning actressCertainly He knew and so is Mastroianni, the director’s friend and confidant.
Fellini offers Milo the role of Carlapetite bourgeois with a physique exuberant And the vacant air And naughtywhich the protagonist of 8½The director in crisis Guido Anselmi played by Mastroianni, treats it as a pleasant pastime. The scene in which Guido, in a new one, is famous erotic gameputs heavy makeup on her, inviting Carla to “make a dirty face.” It was 1963 and the script Milo startledwho didn’t know how to cope with the request.
Sandra’s presence creates a short circuit: in the film Mastroianni is Fellini’s alter egowho sleeps with Carla, who is the director’s lover in reality. 8½ won awards 2 Oscars And 7 Silver Ribbons (including one to Sandra).
Visit, The beach umbrella And Juliet of the spirits
In 1963 Sandra Milo gave yet another proof of skill in the bitter comedy Visit by Antonio Pietrangeli. This time it’s Pina, thirty-six years old single, economically independent, who lives in a small countryside village. Naive and physically showy, the girl knows a bookstore clerk eager, like her, to settle down. From Rome the man comes to meet her loaded with expectations. The visit reveals the real characters in a crescendo poignant And tragicomic.
They follow The white voices by Massimo Franciosa and Pasquale Festa Campanile e The beach umbrella directed by Dino Risi, where she plays the wife of an engineer on holiday.
Two years after Fellini entrust to «Sandrocchia» (as the director affectionately called her) another iconic role, that of femme fatale joking and unscrupulous contrasted with the good, balanced bourgeois lady played by Giulietta Masina in Juliet of the spirits for which the second wins Silver Ribbon as a supporting actress.
Sandra Milo and Giulietta Masina in “Juliet of the Spirits”, 1965. (Contrasto/Everett)
The stop at the cinema and the wedding with Ottavio De Lollis
From the 1968 Sandra Milo yes away from the cinema for a decade also following the marriage (the third) with Ottavio De Lollis and the birth of children Cyrus And Blue. Little is known about De Lollis, apart from their cohabitation it didn’t last long and it was under the banner of mistreatment to his wife and negligence towards the offspringwhich Milo raised in solitude.
The birth of Blue in 1970 it is enveloped by an aura of miracle. The little girl is premature and he can’t breathe, he stays clinically dead for a few minutes but he comes brought back to life thanks to’intercession of sister Maria Pia Mastena, Then beatified from John Paul II. Later, in 1985, Azzurra he will escape together with the parents at Fiumicino massacre.
Sandra Milo with her children Ciro, Azzurra and Debora, 1977. (LaPresse)
The 80s, the success of Little fans, the story with Craxi
Towards the end of the 70s Sandra returns to the cinema but the real novelty is hers television career. Between 1982 and 1983 he hosted a lifestyle column on Rai 2 within the historic program Mixers Of Gianni Minoli. But it’s with Little Fans That marks history of Italian television: asinging performance Between children who take turns singing tracks their favourite singers.
The actress’s spontaneity is the subject of a cruel joke in 1990, when during the broadcast Love is a wonderful thing a anonymous phone call live informs you that the son Ciro He had a serious accident. Sandra runs away from the study shouting desperate, providing material for subsequent parodies on programs such as Blob, The news spreads And Target.
In 1992 Milo passes from Rai to Fininvest. She takes over from Enrica Bonaccorti in hosting the quiz Dear Parents, presents variety, participates as a protagonist in musical parody The true story of the mystery woman.
Romantically linked to the leader of the PSI Bettino CraxiSandra Milo caused a sensation at that time Tehran due to a reckless statement on his collection of underwearwhich cost her a tourist visa to transit the country.
Sandra Milo hosts the program “Piccoli fans”, 1985. (LaPresse)
At the turn of the new millennium between TV, cinema and theatre
In the 1990 – someone insinuated it was a publicity stunt but we like to stick to the romantic encounter – Milo celebrates the fourth marriagethis time with the Cuban Jorge Ordoñez. Between the mid-90s and the early 2000s, also due to her union with De Lollis, who never contributed to raising her children, Sandra experienced a period of economic difficultywhich brings it to the brink of complications financial affairs.
But since 2001 he has returned to the limelight with various television programmes. He participates in Life liveto TV dramaat the cinema with The heart elsewhere Of Pupi Avati (2003), interview-show for the theater. In 2006 she participated in the Italian version of 8 women and a mystery and to other theatrical productions such as Steel Flowers And Federico… Come here.
Sandra Milo at 90 years old. (Instagram)
From The island of the famous to Those good girls
But that’s not all, Sandrocchia ages well, like the best wines. And so in 2019 he decides to compete with the reality participating in The island of the famous 7. Not only that: he puts himself to the test with songwriting and in 2019 he leads the heart mail within Pierluigi Diaco’s program Me and you. On Italia 1 is judge in 2020 The girl and the nerd – And vice versaand in the same year she was sent for the Rai program Summer live. In 2021 he received the David di Donatello Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2022 he was a co-star, together with a wild Mara Maionchi and Orietta Berti, from the docu-reality Those good girls.
Vital, playful and above all herself
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