Ralli, Giovanna

(1935-)

   Actress. Ralli began acting in films from a very young age, one of her earliest appearances being a walk-on part in Vittorio De Sica's I bambini ci guardano (The Children Are Watching Us, 1943). After the war she became popular playing roles such as Marcella, the daughter, in Aldo Fabrizi's La famiglia Passaguai (The Passaguai Family, 1951) and the daughter in Mario Monicelli's Un eroe dei nostri tempi (A Hero of Our Times, 1955).

   Ralli was one of the girls in Valerio Zurlini's Le ragazze di San Frediano (The Girls of San Frediano, 1955) and then appeared in several films by Roberto Rossellini: as Valeria in Il Generale della Rovere (General della Rovere, 1959), Esperia in Era notte a Roma (Escape by Night, 1960), and Rosa in Viva l'ltalia (Garibaldi, 1961). After taking the lead role in Carmine Gallone's modern adaptation of the Bizet opera, Carmen di Trastevere (Carmen in Trastevere, 1963), she received a Nastro d'argento for her interpretation of Piera in Paolo Spinola's La fuga (The Escape, 1964). She played Anna, a left-wing journalist, in Carlo Lizzani's La vita agra (The Bitter Life, 1966) and was in a number of police thrillers before appearing in a key supporting role in Ettore Scola's C'eravamo tanto amati (We All Loved Each Other So Much, 1974), which earned her another Nastro d'argento. In the late 1970s she tended to appear in light comedies such as Languidi baci, perfide carezze (Languid Kisses, Wet Caresses, 1976). After a fallow period in the 1980s she returned to the big screen in Francesca Archibugi's Verso sera (Towards Evening, 1990). In the late 1990s she appeared in a number of popular television series before giving a credible performance as an aging Roman matriarch in Carlo Vanzina's Ilpranzo della domenica (Sunday Lunch, 2003).