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Pier Angeli
Pier Angeli
Born	Anna Maria Pierangeli; June 19, 1932; Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
Died	September 10, 1971 (aged 39); Beverly Hills, California
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1950–1971
Spouse(s)	Vic Damone (1954–1958); Armando Trovaioli (1962–1969)

Pier Angeli (June 19, 1932 – September 10, 1971) was an Italian-born television and film actress.

[edit] Early life and career

Born Anna Maria Pierangeli in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. Her twin sister is the actress Marisa Pavan. Angeli made her film debut with Vittorio de Sica in Domani è troppo tardi (1950), after being spotted by director Léonide Moguy. She was discovered by Hollywood, and MGM launched her in her first American film, Teresa (1951). Directed by Fred Zinnemann, this film also saw the joint debuts of Rod Steiger and John Ericson. Reviews for her performance in the film compared her to Greta Garbo, and she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress. Under contract with MGM throughout the 1950s, she appeared in a series of films. including The Light Touch with Stewart Granger. Plans for a film of Romeo and Juliet with her and Marlon Brando fell through when a British-Italian production was announced.

Her next few films were respectable but unexciting: The Story of Three Loves (1953) with Kirk Douglas; Sombrero, in which she replaced an indisposed Ava Gardner; and Flame and the Flesh (1954), in which she lost her man to Lana Turner. After discovering Leslie Caron, another continental ingénue, MGM loaned Angeli out to other studios. She went to Warner Bros. for The Silver Chalice, which marked the debut of Paul Newman, and she made Mam'zelle Nitouche with the French comic actor Fernandel. For Paramount, she should have had the role of Anna Magnani's daughter in The Rose Tattoo, but because motherhood interfered, the role went to her twin sister, Marisa Pavan, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role. Pier was loaned out again, to Columbia, for Port Afrique (1956). She returned to MGM for Somebody Up There Likes Me as Paul Newman's long-suffering wife (James Dean had originally been expected to play the starring role, which went to Newman after Dean's death). She then appeared in The Vintage (1957) with Mel Ferrer and John Kerr, and finished her contract in Merry Andrew, starring Danny Kaye.

During the 1960s and until 1970, Angeli returned to live and work in Britain and Europe. Few of her films during that period were notable, despite a strong performance opposite Richard Attenborough in The Angry Silence (1960). She was reunited with Stewart Granger for Sodom and Gomorrah (1963), in which she played Lot's wife. She had a brief role in the war epic Battle of the Bulge (1965). 1968 found Pier in Israel, top billed in Every Bastard a King, about events during that nation's recent war, but steady work was eluding her. It seemed as if her acting career might revive when she was picked to play a role in The Godfather, but she died soon before filming.

[edit] Personal life and death

According to Kirk Douglas' autobiography, he and Angeli were engaged in the 1950s after meeting on the set of the 1953 film The Story of Three Loves.^[1] For a short time, Angeli also had a romantic relationship with James Dean, however, under pressure from her domineering mother, she broke off the relationship and went on to marry singer and actor Vic Damone (1954–1958).^[2] Her marriage to Damone ended in divorce, followed by highly publicized court battles for the custody of their one son. Her second marriage was to Italian composer Armando Trovaioli (1962–1969), with whom she had another son. This marriage also ended in divorce.

At the age of 39, despondent and lonely, Angeli was found dead of a barbiturate overdose.^[3]^[4] Reports vary as to whether the overdose was accidental or intentional. She is interred in the Cimetière des Bulvis, in Rueil-Malmaison, Hauts-de-Seine, France.

She was later portrayed by Valentina Cervi in the 2001 TV movie James Dean, which depicted her relationship with Dean.

[edit] Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1950	Domani è troppo tardi	Mirella	English title: Tomorrow Is Too Late
1951	Domani è un altro giorno	Luisa
1951	Teresa	Teresa Russo
1952	The Light Touch	Anna Vasarri
	The Devil Makes Three	Wilhelmina (Willie) Lehrt
	The Million Dollar Nickel	Herself	Short subject
1953	The Story of Three Loves	Nina Burkhardt	Segment: "Equilibrium"
1953	Sombrero	Eufemia Calderon
1954	Mam'zelle Nitouche	Denise de Flavigny/Nitouche	Alternative titles: Oh No, Mam'zelle Santarellina
	Flame and the Flesh	Lisa
	The Silver Chalice	Deborra
1956	Meet Me in Las Vegas	Cameo	Uncredited
	Port Afrique	Ynez
	Somebody Up There Likes Me	Norma
1957	The Vintage	Lucienne
1958	Merry Andrew	Selena Gallini
1959	SOS Pacific	Teresa	Alternative title: S.O.S. Pacific
1960	I moschettieri del mare	Consuelo/Gracia	English title: Musketeers of the Sea
	The Angry Silence	Anna Curtis
	Estoril y sus fiestas	Herself	Short subject
1961	L'ammutinamento	Polly	English title: White Slave Ship Credited as Anna Maria Pierangeli
1962	The Last Days of Sodom and Gomorrah	Ildith	Credited as Anna Maria Pierangeli
1964	Banco à Bangkok pour OSS 117	Lila	English titles: Panic in Bangkok Shadow of Evil
1965	Missione mortale Molo 83	Hélène Blanchard	English title: M.M.M. 83
	Berlino - Appuntamento per le spie	Paula Krauss	English title: Berlin, Appointment for the Spies
	Battle of the Bulge	Louise
1966	Per mille dollari al giorno	Betty Benson	English title: For One Thousand Dollars Per Day Credited as Annamaria Pierangeli
1968	Rose rosse per il führer	Marie	English title: Red Roses for the Führer Credited as Anna Maria Pierangeli
	Caccia ai violenti	Mrs. Benton	English title: One Step to Hell
	Kol Mamzer Melech	Eileen	English title: Every Bastard a King
1969	¡Viva América!		Credited as Anna Maria Pierangeli
1969	Addio, Alexandra	Alexandra	Alternative title: Love Me, Love My Wife Credited as Anna Maria Pierangeli
1970	Nelle pieghe della carne	Falesse/Ester	English title: In the Folds of the Flesh Credited as Anna Maria Pierangeli
1970	Quell'amore particolare	Falesse/Ester	Credited as Anna Maria Pierangeli
1971	Octaman	Susan Lowry
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1958	Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse	Bernadette Soubirous	1 episode

[edit] Awards and nominations

Year	Result	Award	Category	Film or series
1961	Nominated	BAFTA Awards	Best Foreign Actress	The Angry Silence
1952	Won	Golden Globe Award	Most Promising Newcomer - Female	Teresa
1955	Nominated	Golden Globe Award	World Film Favorite - Female	-
1961	Won	Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists	Best Actress (Migliore Attrice)	Domani è troppo tardi

[edit] References

^ Douglas, Kirk (1989). The Ragman's Son: An Autobiography. G.K. Hall. pp. 35, 174, 187, 202. ISBN 0-816-14795-7.
^ Donnelley, Paul (2003). Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries. Omnibus. pp. 55. ISBN 0-711-99512-5.
^ Crivello, Kirk (1988). Fallen Angels: The Lives and Untimely Deaths of Fourteen Hollywood Beauties. Citadel Press. pp. 277. ISBN 0-806-51096-X.
^ Frascella, Lawrence; Weisel, Al (2005). Live Fast, Die Young: The Wild Ride of Making Rebel Without a Cause. Simon and Schuster. pp. 180. ISBN 0-743-29118-2.

[edit] External links

Pier Angeli at the Internet Movie Database
Pier Angeli at Allmovie
Pier Angeli at Find a Grave
Photographs and literature

[0] Douglas, Kirk (1989). The Ragman's Son: An Autobiography. G.K. Hall. pp. 35, 174, 187, 202. ISBN 0-816-14795-7.

[1] Donnelley, Paul (2003). Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries. Omnibus. pp. 55. ISBN 0-711-99512-5.

[2] Crivello, Kirk (1988). Fallen Angels: The Lives and Untimely Deaths of Fourteen Hollywood Beauties. Citadel Press. pp. 277. ISBN 0-806-51096-X.

[3] Frascella, Lawrence; Weisel, Al (2005). Live Fast, Die Young: The Wild Ride of Making Rebel Without a Cause. Simon and Schuster. pp. 180. ISBN 0-743-29118-2.

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