Alida Valli

Strikingly beautiful Italian actress who began her career in the mid-1930s at the age of 15. Valli starred in mostly uninspired works until her temporary retirement in 1944, due to her refusal to appear in Fascist propaganda films (in 1945 her mother was shot as a collaborator). Following the war, Valli landed a contract with David O Selnzick, but her career did not really take off until her appearance as Harry Lime's faithful paramour in the Carol Reed classic "The Third Man" (1949). Often billed simply as "Valli," she shone in films including Visconti's "Senso" (1954), Henri Colpi's "Une Aussi longue absence" (1962), Bertolucci's "The Spider's Stratagem" (1970) and, more recently, in John Irvin's "A Month by the Lake" (1995).