PIER ANGELI: Little Garbo

FIlms of the Golden Age
Issue Number103
Winter 2020/2021

“We grew up too fast during the war in Italy. I saw many things before I was 13 that nobody saw in their whole life … Now I just want to be young and have fun.”

Unlike fellow native Italian bombshells Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida, docile PIER ANGELI (1932-1971) attracted major Hollywood attention with her soft, delicate beauty. A teenage star in her homeland following her debut in TOMORROW IS TOO LATE (1949), she became an entrancing MGM figure throughout most of the 1950s starting with her title role as an Italian war bride in TERESA (1951). From there she captured hearts in the arms of Paul Newman, Kirk Douglas, Stewart Granger, Danny Kaye and others before breaking her studio contract and falling from grace. Returning to Italy in an effort to recapture her former cinematic glory, she failed and died a probable suicide at age 39.\

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