BETTI, Laura 1934-

PERSONAL: Original name, Laura Trombetti; born May 1, 1934, in Bologna, Italy.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Artmedia, 10 avenue George V, 75008 Paris, France.

CAREER: Actress, singer, director, and screenwriter. Actress in films, including Era notte a Roma (also known as Escape by Night, and Wait for the Dawn), 1960; (as Teresa) It Was Night in Rome, 1960; (as the painter) Labbra rosse (also known as Red Lips), Rotor/Gray/Orsay, 1960; (as Laura) La dolce vita (also known as La douceur de vivre), Astor/American International, 1960; Laviamoci il cervello (also known as Let's Have a Brainwash and RoGoPaG), Arco, 1962; Mondo di notte numero 3 (also known as Ecco and The Shocking World), 1963; (as Desdemona) "Che cosa sono le nuvole?" (also known as "A Night like Any Other"), Capriccio all'italiana (also known as Caprice Italian Style), Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica, 1966; (as tourist) "Senso civico," Le streghe (also known as The Witches and Les Sorcieres), Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica, 1967; Paulina s'en va, 1969; (as Mildred Harrington) Hatchet for the Honeymoon (also known as Il Rooso segno della follia, Un'accetta per la luna di miele, Blood Brides, The Red Mark of Madness, The Red Sign of Madness, and An Axe for the Honeymoon), G.G.P., 1969; La Battaglia del deserto (also known as Desert Battle), 1969; (as Emilia, the servant) Teorema (also known as Theorem), Continental Distributing, 1969; (as sister) A Man Called Sledge (also known as Sledge), Columbia, 1971; (as Franco's mother) Nel nome del Padre (also known as In the Name of the Father), Vides International, 1971; (as Mrs. Fusadi) Antefatto (also known as Reazione a catena, A Bay of Blood, Twitch of the Death Nerve, Before the Fact—The Ecology of a Crime, Bloodbath Bay of Blood, Bloodbath Bay of Death, Bloodbath, Carnage, Ecologia del delitto, The Ecology of a Crime, New House on the Left, and Last House on the Left, Part II), New Realm Distributors, 1971; (as the wife from Bath) Canterbury Tales (also known as I racconti di Canterbury), United Artists, 1972; La polizia ringrazia (also known as Execution Squad), 1972; (as Zigaina) Sbatti il mostro in prima pagina (also known as Slap the Monster on Page One), Euro International, 1972; (as Miss Blandish) Last Tango in Paris, United Artists, 1973; Sepolta viva, 1973; (as Donna Aparacito) Sonny and Jed (also known as J. and S.-storia criminale del far west and Bandera Bandits), Loyola Cinematography/Terra K-Tel, 1974; (as Tisa Borghi) Fatti di gente perbene (also known as Drama of the Rich, La grande bourgeoise, and The Murri Affair), Produzioni Atlas Consorziate, 1974; (as Leonore) La Femme aux bottes rouges (also known as The Woman with Red Boots, The Lady with Red Boots, La ragazza con gli stivali rossi, and La ragazza dagli stivali rossi), Union General Cinematographique/Sirius, 1974; La cugina (also known as The Cousin), 1974; (voice of Signora Vaccari) Salo o le centiventi giornate di Sodoma (also known as Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom and Salo o le 120 giornate di Sodoma.), United Artists/Cinecenta, 1975; (as Esther Imbriani) Allonsanfan, Artificial Eye, 1975; Bertolucci secondo il cinema (also known as The Cinema according to Bertolucci and The Making of "1900"), 1975; (as Regina) Amelia's Daughter, 1900 (also known as Novecento and Nineteen Hundred), Paramount/United Artists/Twentieth Century-Fox, 1976; (as Felicia) Le gang (also known as La gang del parigino), Warner Bros., 1976; (as Therese) Vizi privati, pubbliche virtu (also known as Private Vices and Public Virtue; Private Vices, Public Pleasures; and Vices and Pleasures), Fida Cinematografica, 1976; (as Jacqueline) La Nuit tous les chat sont gris (also known as At Night All Cats Are Gray), Societe Nouvelle Prodis/Exportation Francaise Cinematographique, 1977; (as Madame Carrabo) Un papillon sur l'epaule (also known as A Butterfly on the Shoulder), Gaumont, 1978; (as Ludovica) La luna (also known as Luna), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1979; (as Madame Bondi) Il piccolo Archimede (also known as The Little Archimedes), RAI-TV Channel 2, 1979; (as Laura) Lovers and Liars (also known as Viaggio con Anita, A Trip with Anita, and Travels with Anita), Levitt-Pickman, 1979; (as Madame Hanska) Loin de Manhattan, 1980; Le ali della colomba, RAI-TV, 1980; La certosa di Parma, RAI-TV, 1981; (narrator) Whoever Says the Truth Shall Die (documentary), Minnesota Film Center, 1981; (as Virginia Capacelli) La nuit de Varennes (also known as Il mondo nuovo and That Night in Varennes), Triumph, 1983; (as Clio) L'Art d'aimer (also known as The Art of Love and ArsAmandi-L'arte di amare), Parafrance, 1983; (as Leonide) La fuite en avant, 1983; (as Carlotta Battucelli) Retenez-moi . . . ou je fais un malheur (also known as Hold Me Back or I'll Have an Accident and To Catch a Cop), Gaumont, 1984; (as Brunelda) Klassenverhältnisse (also known as Amerika, rapports de classe and Class Relations), Artificial Eye/New Yorker, 1984; (as Lidia Corradi) Mamma Ebe, Clemi Cinematografica, 1985; (as social worker) Tutta colpa del paradiso (also known as Blame It on Paradise and All the Fault of Paradise), CEIAD, 1985; (as Laurie) Corps et biens (also known as Lost with All Hands), Films du Semaphore, 1986; (as Miss Von Planta) Jenatsch (also known as Jenach), Films Plain Chant/Metropolis, 1987; Caramelle da un sconosciuto (also known as Sweets from a Stranger and Sweets of One Unknown), Numero Uno Cinematografica, 1987; (as herself) A Futura memoria di Pier Paolo Pasolini (also known as In Remembrance of Pier Paolo Pasolini; documentary), Pegaso Inter-Communication, 1987; (as Keli) Noyade interdite (also known as Widow's Walk and L'Estate impura), Bac, 1987; (as Paulina, Anna's mother) I cammelli (also known as The Camels), Medusa Distribuzione, 1988; Jane B. par Agnès V. (also known as Jane B. by Agnes V.), Capital Cinema/Cene-Tamaris, 1988; (as astrologer) Il Segno di fuoco, Boa Cinematografica, 1989; Le ros blu (also known as The Blue Rose), Kitchen, 1989; (as Signora Bonelli) Courage Mountain (also known as A Heidi Adventure and The Adventures of Heidi), Emerald Films International/Trans World Entertainment, 1989; Le champignon des carpates, 1990; (As Catherine de Medicis) Dames galantes (also known as Donne di piacere and Gallant Ladies), 1990; (as Aida) Il grande cocomero (also known as The Great Pumpkin), 1993; Mario, Maria e Mario, 1993; (as Sister Valida) La Ribelle (also known as The Rebel), 1993; (as Beatrice) Con gli occhi chiusi (also known as With Closed Eyes), 1994; (as Dottoressa Trebbi) Un eroe borghese (also known as An Ordinary Hero), 1995; (as Giuseppa) Marianna Ucrèa (also known as La Vie silencieuse de Marianna Ucria), 1996; I Magi randagi (also known as We Free Kings), 1996; Un air si pur . . . (also known as An Air So Pure), 1997; (as judge) The Protagonists, Medusa Distribuzione, 1998; Paradiso e inferno, 1999; E insieme vivremo tutte le stagioni, 1999; L'amore era una cosa meravigliosa, 1999; (as Fernando's mother) À ma soeur! (also known as Fat Girl, A mia sorella!, and For My Sister), 2001; Il Diario di Matilde Manzoni, 2002; and (as Contessa Celi Sanguineti) Il quaderno della spesa, 2002.

Actress in stage productions, including I Saltimbanchi (revue); Il ventaglio, 1958; Il crogiuolo, Italy, 1958; Giro a vuoto (recital), Teatro Gerolamo, Milan, Italy, 1959; Le donne al parlamento, Italy, 1960; Potentissima signora, Italy, 1963; Il Candelaio, Italy, 1968; Orgia, Italy, 1968; Not I, Italy, 1970; Orgia, Italy, 1984.

Actress in made-for-television movies, including (as Clara) Ritorno (also known as Return), 1973; L'Eroe, 1974; (as Irina) Il Gabbiano (also known as The Seagull), RAI-TV Channel 1, 1977; La Certosa di Parma, 1977; (as Maria) The Word (miniseries), 1978; Venise en hiver, [France], 1982; Chambre d'amie, [France], 1985; and (as herself) Pasolini, el poeta en la playa, 2000. Head of Pasolini Foundation, 1980—.

AWARDS, HONORS: Golden Lion, Venice Film Festival, for Teorema.

WRITINGS:

(Editor) Pasolini: cronaca giudiziaria, persecuzione, morte, Garzanti (Milan, Italy), 1977.

Teta velata, second edition, Garzanti (Milan, Italy), 1979.

(And director) Film (screenplay), 2000.

(And director) Pier Paolo Pasolini e la ragione di un sogno (screenplay; also known as Pier Paolo Pasolini and the Reason of a Dream), 2001.

SIDELIGHTS: Laura Betti has been appearing on stage in her native Italy since 1958, and on screen since 1960. She is best known for her acting, but in the course of her life Betti has also done some writing. In 2001 she wrote and directed a tribute to one of her favorite film directors, Pier Paolo Pasolini. Betti acted in five films for Pasolini during her career, including Teorema, which won the actress a Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival. Pasolini was murdered in 1975, possibly by people who were threatened by his outspoken support of Marxism or because of his homosexuality. Since 1980 Betti has headed a foundation named after him which strives to keep his work and his dreams alive. The film she made in tribute to him, Pier Paolo Pasolini e la ragione di un sogno (Pier Paolo Pasolini and the Reason of a Dream), screened at several film festivals at 2001 and was generally well received. The film, which consists of archival footage of Pasolini talking about life, art, and culture interspersed with interviews with those who knew Pasolini in life, is "lively and stimulating" and illustrates "Pasolini's astute grasp of the consumerist, superficial direction in which Italian society was headed prior to his death," David Rooney wrote in a review for Variety.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television, Volume 34, Gale (Detroit, MI), 2001.

Stewart, John, Italian Film: A Who's Who, McFarland & Co. (Jefferson, NC), 1994.

PERIODICALS

Guardian (London, England), December 7, 2001, review of À ma soeur! p. 18.

Los Angeles Times, May 12, 1984, Kevin Thomas, review of Whoever Says the Truth Shall Die, p. 9.

New Yorker, March 21, 1983, Pauline Kael, review of La nuit de Varennes, pp. 121-123.

New York Times, February 16, 1983, Janet Maslin, review of La nuit de Varennes, p. 20; February 27, 1987, Vincent Canby, review of Class Relations, p. 28.

Record (Bergen County, NJ), October 12, 2001, Laurence Chollet, review of Fat Girl, p. 9.

Scotsman (Edinburgh, Scotland), August 11, 2001, review of À ma soeur! p. 8.

Variety, December 21, 1983, review of L'art d'aimer, p. 14; November 28, 1984, review of Whoever Says the Truth Shall Die, p. 21; January 15, 1986, review of Tutta colpa del paradiso, p. 26; August 7, 2000, Derek Elley, review of Film, p. 19; October 1, 2001, David Rooney, review of Pier Paolo Pasolini and the Reason of a Dream, p. 40.

ONLINE

San Francisco International Film Festival Web site,http://www.sffs.org/ (February 22, 2003), review of Pier Paolo Pasolini.

São Paolo International Film Festival Web site,http://www.mostra.org/ (February 22, 2003), review of Pier Paolo Pasolini and the Reason of a Dream.*