Franca bettoja biography template

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The following year she appeared in Los amantes del desierto ("Desert Warrior", a Spanish-Italian desert epic starring Ricardo Montalban, Carmen Sevilla and Gino Cervi. She next appeared opposite Pietro Germi in L'uomo di paglia (1958), and opposite Macha Méril and Jacques Charrier in the French production La main chaude (1960, by Gérard Oury).

After marrying actor and director Ugo Tognazzi in 1972, with whom she already had two children, her appearances on the big screen became increasingly sporadic. In 1961, she starredopposite Alan Ladd in Orazi e Curiazi (Duel of the Champions), a sword and sandalsadventure set in ancient Rome.

In 1964, Bettoia co-starred with VincentPrice in the horror/science fiction film The Last Man on Earth (1964, by UbaldoRagone and Sidney Salkow), the firstscreenadaptation of Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend.

In 1961, she starred opposite Alan Ladd in Orazi e Curiazi (Duel of the Champions), a sword and sandals adventure set in ancient Rome.

In 1964, Bettoia co-starred with Vincent Price in the horror/science fiction film The Last Man on Earth (1964, by Ubaldo Ragone and Sidney Salkow), the first screen adaptation of Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend.

The two met in 1963 and married in 1972. She then played a princess in the adventure films Sandokan Fights Back (1964) and Return of Sandokan (1964). In 1967 she appeared as Ugo Tognazzi’s lover in the comedy Il fischio al naso (The Seventh Floor, 1967).

In addition to cinema, Franca Bettoja left an indelible mark on the world of fashion. The mother of Gianmarco and Maria Sole Tognazzi was one of the leading figures in Italian cinema from the 1950s to the 1970s, with a varied artistic career that marked the golden age of Italian cinema. An icon of style, with her sober and discreet elegance, she became over time a symbol of fashion and cultural renaissance in Italy after World War II.

Her professional story began with a small role in the film Un palco all'opera (1955), but it was in 1958, with her performance in Pietro Germi's L'uomo di paglia, that she won over the public and critics. She next appeared opposite Pietro Germi in L'uomo di paglia (1958), and opposite Macha Méril and Jacques Charrier in the French production La main chaude (1960, by Gérard Oury).

She then played a princess in the adventurefilmsSandokan alla riscossa (1964) and Sandokancontro il leopardo di Sarawak (1964). They had a daughter, film director Maria Sole Tognazzi.

Bettoia acted in only three more films after Il fischio al naso. Despite her husband's fame, Franca Bettoja always maintained a reserved position, away from the limelight.

In Touche pas à la femme blanche (Don’t Touch the White Woman, directed by Marco Ferreri in 1974) she starred alongside Catherine Deneuve, Marcello Mastroianni and Michel Piccoli. Bettoia and Tognazzi married in 1972. In the comedy Riusciranno i nostri eroi a ritrovare l'amico misteriosamente scomparso in Africa? (1968, by Ettore Scola) she starred alongside Alberto Sordi and Bernard Blier.

Subsequently, the general public came to know her definitively thanks to the 1960 television series La pisana, which opened the doors of Cinecittà and led her to work with directors such as Luigi Capuano, Ferdinando Baldi, and Terence Young in genre films between 1961 and 1964. In Touche pas à la femme blanche (Don’t Touch the White Woman), directed by Marco Ferreri in 1974) she starred alongside Catherine Deneuve, Marcello Mastroianni and Michel Piccoli.