Nicoletta Braschi

Italian actress Nicoletta Braschi is most familiar as the better half of actor, director, and all-around wild card Roberto Benigni, with whom she frequently collaborates. Braschi was born in Cesana and studied at Rome's Academy of Dramatic Arts, which is where she and Benigni met and fell in love. She appeared in his 1983 film "Tu mi turbi," and in 1991 she and Benigni scored their first big hit in Italy with "Johnny Stecchino," a gangster comedy in which she portrayed the girlfriend of Benigni's mobster character. Their biggest international success came in 1997 with the touching Holocaust tale "Life Is Beautiful." Braschi was in familiar territory, playing the wife of Benigni's character. Renowned around the world, the film, which Benigni directed and starred in, won numerous awards including the Grand Prize of the Jury at Cannes and Best Foreign Film at the Oscars. The duo followed this up five years later with a live-action version of "Pinocchio" which she produced, and in which she portrayed the Blue Fairy.