Franca Valeri

Alma Franca Maria Norsa (31 July 1920 – 9 August 2020), known professionally as Franca Valeri, was an Italian actress, playwright, screenwriter, author, and theatre director.

Life and career
Born in Milan as Alma Franca Maria Norsa, she managed to survive the Holocaust in Milan with her non-Jewish mother due to a fake I.D. which purported her to be the illegitimate daughter of a gentleman from Pavia. Her Jewish father and brother were able to flee to Switzerland.

Since her father did not want her to become an actress, Norsa adopted the stage name Valeri in the 1950s as suggested by a friend of hers who was reading a book by French critic and poet Paul Valéry.

Valeri started her career on stage in 1947, and in 1949 she co-founded the Teatro dei Gobbi, along with Luciano Salce and her future husband Vittorio Caprioli. On the radio, she created and played the characters of La signorina Snob (Mrs. Snob), Cesira la manicure and Sora Cecioni. She co-starred in such films as A Hero of Our Times (1955), The Sign of Venus (of which she co-wrote both the story and the screenplay), and Il vedovo, as well as others. She often wrote her scenes in the films she starred in, even those where she played small roles. Among the major films she co-wrote, Parigi o cara (1962) is a rare case where the story is focused on her role only.

In the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, Valeri also frequently worked for the Italian TV. Directed by Antonello Falqui, she starred in Studio Uno, Le divine and Sabato Sera.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, she starred in a series of commercials for Pandoro Melegatti, which were well received and stretched over a number of years (Pandoro being a seasonal product tied to the Christmas holidays).

During the 2005–2006 theatrical season, she performed her own monologue, La Vedova di Socrate ("Socrate's Widow"), and Les Bonnes, by Jean Genet. In January 2008 she played the role of Solange in Les Bonnes at Milan's Piccolo Teatro.

On 8 May 2020, Valeri received an Honorary David di Donatello Award.

Valeri turned 100 on 31 July 2020 and died nine days later, on 9 August 2020.

Cinema

 * Luci del varietà (1951) – Mitzy, Hungarian designer
 * The Two Sergeants (1951)
 * Toto in Color (1952) – Giulia Sofia
 * Solo per te Lucia (1952)
 * Villa Borghese (1953) – Elvira (segment Concorso di bellezza)
 * Questi fantasmi (1954)
 * Le signorine dello 04 (1955) – Carla, shift manager
 * The Sign of Venus (1955) – Cesira
 * Piccola posta (1955) – Lady Eva
 * Il bigamo (1956) – Isolina Fornaciari
 * Un eroe dei nostri tempi (1957) – De Ritis' widow
 * Mariti in città (1957) – Olivetti
 * La ragazza del palio (1958) – countess Bernardi
 * Non perdiamo la testa (1959) – Beatrice
 * Il moralista (1959) – Virginia
 * Arrangiatevi! (1959) – Marisa 'Siberia'
 * Il vedovo (1959) - Elvira Almiraghi
 * Rocco and His Brothers (1960) – widow (uncredited)
 * Mariti in pericolo (1960) – Gina
 * Crimen (1960) – Giovanna Filonzi
 * Leoni al sole (1961) – Giulia
 * I motorizzati (1962) – Velia
 * Parigi o cara (1962) – Delia Nesti
 * Le motorizzate (1963)
 * The Shortest Day (1963)
 * Gli onorevoli (1963) – Bianca Sereni
 * I cuori infranti (1963) – Fatma Angioj (segment La manina di Fatma)
 * I maniaci (1964) – wife (segment Il pezzo antico)
 * Io, io, io... e gli altri (1966) – journalist
 * La ragazza del bersagliere (1967) – Bice Marinetti
 * Scusi, facciamo l'amore? (1968) – Diraghi
 * Basta guardarla (1970) – Pola Prima
 * Nel giorno del Signore (1970) – Anticoli's widow
 * Ettore lo fusto (1972) – Cassandra
 * Ultimo tango a Zagarolo (1974) – (playing the role of a) film director
 * La signora gioca bene a scopa? (1974) – Giulia Nascimbeni
 * L'Italia s'è rotta (1976)
 * Come ti rapisco il pupo (1976) – Dada
 * La Bidonata (1977) – Giovanna Bronchi
 * Grazie tante – Arrivederci (1977) – lady on the bus
 * Tanto va la gatta al lardo... (1978) – Maria
 * It's Not Me, It's Him (1980) – Carla Weiss
 * Un amore in prima classe (1980) – Mrs. Della Rosa
 * Non ti riconosco più amore (1980) – Maritza
 * Paulo Roberto Cotechiño centravanti di sfondamento (1983) – countess
 * Tosca e le altre due (2003) – Emilia
 * Alberto il grande (2013) – herself

Television

 * La cantatrice calva, directed by José Quaglio (1967)
 * Felicita Colombo, directed by Antonello Falqui (1968) - TV series
 * Le donne balorde, written and played by Franca Valeri, directed by Giacomo Colli (1970) - TV series
 * Sì, vendetta..., directed by Mario Ferrero (1974) - TV series
 * Nel mondo di Alice, directed by Guido Stagnaro (1974) - TV series
 * Le avventure della villeggiatura, directed by Mario Missiroli (1974)
 * Il barone e il servitore, directed by Davide Montemurri (1978) - TV series
 * La strana coppia, stage direction by Franca Valeri, tv direction by Roberto Russo (1989) - play
 * Papà prende moglie, directed by Nini Salerno (1993) - TV series
 * Norma e Felice, directed by Giorgio Vignali (1995) - TV series
 * Caro maestro, directed by Rossella Izzo (1996-1997) - TV series
 * Come quando fuori piove, directed by Mario Monicelli (2000) - TV series
 * Linda e il brigadiere, directed by Gianfrancesco Lazotti and Alberto Simone (2000) - TV series
 * Non tutto è risolto - TV film (2014)

Screenwriter

 * The Sign of Venus, directed by Dino Risi (1955)
 * Leoni al sole, directed by Vittorio Caprioli (1961)
 * Parigi o cara, directed by Vittorio Caprioli (1962)
 * Listen, Let's Make Love, directed by Vittorio Caprioli (1967)
 * Sì, vendetta..., directed by Mario Ferrero (1974) - TV series
 * Tosca e altre due, directed by Giorgio Ferrara (2003)