Laura Betti
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- May 1, 1927
- Died
- July 31, 2004
- Birthplace
- Casalecchio di Reno, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Laura Betti (née Trombetti; 1 May 1927 – 31 July 2004) was an Italian actress known particularly for her work with directors Federico Fellini, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Bernardo Bertolucci. She had a long friendship with Pasolini and made a documentary about him in 2001. Betti became famous for portraying bizarre, grotesque, eccentric, unstable or maniacal roles, like Regina in Bernardo Bertolucci's 1900, Anna the medium in Twitch of the Death Nerve, Giovanna la pazza in Woman Buried Alive, hysterical Rita Zigai in Sbatti il mostro in prima pagina, Therese in Private Vices, Public Virtues, Emilia the servant in Pier Paolo Pasolini's Teorema for which she won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, and Mildred the protagonist's wife in Mario Bava's Hatchet for the Honeymoon. Born Laura Trombetti in Casalecchio di Reno, near Bologna, she grew up to be interested in singing. She first worked professionally in the arts as a jazz singer and moved to Rome. Betti made her film debut in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960). In 1963, she became a close friend of the poet and movie director Pier Paolo Pasolini. Under his direction, she proved a wonderful talent and played in seven of his films, including La ricotta (1963), Teorema (Theorem, 1968), his 1972 version of The Canterbury Tales, in which she played the Wife of Bath; and his controversial Salo (1975) ("120 Days of Sodom"). In 1976, Betti portrayed Regina, a cruel and eroto-maniacal fascist in Bernardo Bertolucci's Novecento (1900). She also played Miss Blandish in his Last Tango in Paris (1972), though her single scene was deleted. In 1973 she dubbed the voice of the Devil for the Italian version of William Friedkin's The Exorcist. From the 1960s, Betti dedicated much of her time to literature and politics. She became the muse for a number of leading political and literary figures in Italy and came to personify the revolutionary and Marxist era of 1970s Italy. In 2001, she made a documentary about Pasolini, Pier Paolo Pasolini e la ragione di un sogno. She also donated her papers related to their long friendship along with more than 1000 volumes and many documents connected to Pasolini to the archives of the Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna, thus creating the Centro Studi Archivio Pier Paolo Pasolini. This Centro, strongly wanted by Betti, owns also thousands of photograph and all the works of Pasolini: poetry, literature, cinema and journalism. After her death in 2004 her brother Sergio Trombetti has donated all the personal documents of her career to the Centro that has absorbed them under the name Fondo Laura Betti. Source: Article "Laura Betti" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Filmography
Marx Can Wait 2021
as Irina (archive footage) (uncredited)
Maresco / Pasolini 2021
as Self
Laura's Passion 2011
as Self (archive footage)
The Beaches of Agnès 2008
as Self (archive footage)
Pasolini and the Secret Humiliation of Chaucer 2006
as Interviewee
Fratella e Sorello 2005
as Presidente Del Tribunale
Raul - Right to Kill 2005
as Usuraia
Renzo e Lucia 2004
as Madre Superiora
Household Accounts 2003
as Contessa Celi Sanguineti
Happiness Costs Nothing 2003
as Suora guardiana
Gli astronomi 2003
as Pavoncella
- Il diario di Matilde Manzoni
Il diario di Matilde Manzoni 2002
as Teresa Manzoni Borri
Pier Paolo Pasolini and the Reason of a Dream 2002
Director
Fat Girl 2001
as Fernando's Mother
- Pasolini, el poeta en la playa
Pasolini, el poeta en la playa 2000
as Herself
Film 2000
Writer
The Protagonists 1999
as Judge
Marianna Ucrìa 1997
as Giuseppa
We Free Kings 1996
as Una delle ragazze del coro
Un eroe borghese 1995
as dott.ssa Trebbi
With Closed Eyes 1994
as Beatrice
Mario, Maria and Mario 1993
as Laura
La ribelle 1993
as Sister Valida
The Great Pumpkin 1993
as Aida
Suffocating Heat 1991
as Laura
Gallant Ladies 1990
as Catherine de Medicis
The Carpathian Mushroom 1990
as Olympia
Le rose blu 1990
as La donna con la rosa blu
I cammelli 1988
as Milena
Jane B. by Agnès V. 1988
as Lardy
Widow's Walk 1987
as Keli
Jenatsch 1987
as Mademoiselle von Planta
Sweets from a Stranger 1987
as Jolanda
Blame it on Paradise 1985
as direttrice
Mother Ebe 1985
as Lidia Corradi
Class Relations 1984
as Brunelda
The Defective Detective 1984
as Carlotta Batticelli
Art of Love 1983
as Clio
Venise en hiver 1982
as Mme Poli
That Night of Varennes 1982
as Virginia Capacelli
Far from Manhattan 1982
as Madame Hanska
Whoever Says the Truth Shall Die 1981
as Self
My Name Is Anna Magnani 1980
as Self
The Little Archimedes 1980
as La signora Bondi
- Einzelzimmer
Einzelzimmer 1979
as Calogera
Lovers and Liars 1979
as Laura
Butterfly on the Shoulder 1978
as Mme Carrabo
At Night All Cats Are Crazy 1977
as Jacqueline
The Seagull 1977
as Irina
The Gang 1977
as Felicia
1900 1976
as Regina
Private Vices, Public Virtues 1976
as Teresa
Pier Paolo Pasolini : vivre et encore plus 1976
as Elle-même
- Il silenzio è complicità
Il silenzio è complicità 1976
Director
ABCinema 1975
as Self
The Last Day of School Before Christmas 1975
as Passenger coach
The Woman with Red Boots 1974
as Léonore
The Murri Affair 1974
as Tisa Borghi
Allonsanfan 1974
as Esther Imbriani
The Cousin 1974
as Rosalia Scuderi
The Return 1973
as Clara
Woman Buried Alive 1973
as Giovanna la Pazza
Slap the Monster on Page One 1972
as Rita Zigai
The Canterbury Tales 1972
as The Wife from Bath
Sonny and Jed 1972
as Betty
In the Name of the Father 1971
as Franco's Mother
A Bay of Blood 1971
as Anna Fossati, Additional Writing
A Man Called Sledge 1970
as Sister
Stop the World... I Want to Get Off! 1970
Actor, Writer
Hatchet for the Honeymoon 1970
as Mildred Harrington, Screenplay
Paulina Is Leaving 1969
as Hortense
RARA 1969
Actor
Orgy 1968
as Donna
Theorem 1968
as Emilia, the Servant
Caprice Italian Style 1968
as Desdemona
What Are the Clouds? 1968
as Desdemona
Oedipus Rex 1967
as Jocasta's Maid (uncredited)
The Earth As Seen from the Moon 1967
as un turista
The Witches 1967
as Male Tourist (segment "La Terra vista dalla Luna")
Ecco 1963
as Self
La ricotta 1963
Actor
Ro.Go.Pa.G. 1963
as Sonia, the 'Diva' (segment "La ricotta")
Escape by Night 1960
as Teresa
Red Lips 1960
as The Painter
La Dolce Vita 1960
as Laura
Noi siamo le colonne 1956
as La cantante annoiata (no acreditado)
Credits from TMDB.