Actress Pierre Angeli: the history of ups and downs

This Italian actress was as beautiful, talented and popular as Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida and Anna Magnani. According to the recollections of directors and actors, her main difference from other cinematographers of that time was an incredible actor's talent, combined with the simplicity of an ordinary girl. The famous American actor Paul Newman called Pierre Angeli the most beautiful Italian actress. Talent its directors could not fully appreciate.

Childhood and youth

The real name of the actress is Anna Maria Pierangeli. To the light she appeared in the city of Cagliari on June 19, 1932, along with her twin sister Maria Louise (an actress known under the pseudonym Marisa Pavan). When the girls were three years old, their father, Luigi Pierangeli, an architect by education, got a decent job in Rome, where the whole family moved after him. The mother of the girls, Enrica Romati, once dreaming about the scene, decided to realize her dreams in children. Therefore, Anna and her sister, in addition to studying at school, took painting lessons, vocals and piano lessons, studied French and practiced choreography. Even after the birth of the third daughter, who was called Patricia, Henry's interest did not shift to the baby. She continued to study daily with older girls, anticipating their success.

Acquaintance with the cinema

At the age of 16, when Anna was studying at the Roman Academy of Arts, she was noticed by the director Lionid Mogaya, who was looking for a new face for the main role in his future film. Mogaya suggested that the girl go through screen tests. Admired by the play of young talent, he approved Anna for the role of Mirella in the film "Tomorrow Will Be Too Late" (1949). Her work in this film was so impressive to critics and the public that she was awarded the Italian Silver Ribbon Award for Best Actress. However, the illness and death of the beloved father did not allow the girl to fully enjoy the first success.

Hollywood and rising star Pierre Angeli

Biography of the young actress after the success of the movie "Tomorrow Will Be Too Late" began to include one success after another. Hollywood screenwriter Stuart Stern drew attention to the talented beauty. Anna was offered the main role in the film "Theresa". After his release on the screens in 1951, the girl woke up famous. And received from her producer the pseudonym Pierre Angeli. In 1952 she received the Golden Globe Award in the nomination "The Most Promising Actress". Studio MGM has concluded a long-term contract with her. Angeli moved with her mother and sisters in the United States. Enrique's dream came true. She became the manager of her famous daughter. The second later also became an actress.

Popularity

Elegant Italian won the love of the American public. For the manner of the game, she was compared to the great Greta Garbo, and the proposals of the famous directors literally fell upon Pierre Angeli. The films "Easy Touch", "Flame and Flesh", "Sombrero" and "The Devil's Trio" were shot between 1952 and 1953. At the same time, the film "Three Love Stories" was released, where the actress is paired with Kirk Douglas. The dramatic role of young widow Nina, who lost her husband in a concentration camp, became one of the most memorable works of the actress. Her heroine was going to settle scores with life, but the unexpected meeting with the former acrobat changed everything. She needs a stimulus for life, and he - a partner for the number, to restore the former glory. They work together and fall in love. So it happened in life. Actors met the year, Douglas made Pierre offer hands and hearts, but the wedding did not take place. The opinion of the mother, who believed that an early marriage would interfere with her daughter's career, was affected. Do not do anything stupid, according to Henry, the distance should help. The suggestion of director Yves Allegre to take part in the filming of the musical comedy "Mademoiselle Nitouche", which will be held in France, was very welcome.

Paris

In December 1953, Pierre went to the shooting. For the role of Denise in the musical comedy, it was very useful for her many years of music, vocals and dances, as well as impeccable French. The main character in the performance of Angeli turned out to be the one conceived by the author of the operetta Florimon Hervé. Pierre's partners on the set were two famous French comedians - Fernandel and Louis de Funes. Not surprisingly, the premiere of the film "Mademoiselle Nituş" in 1954 was a great success and received praiseworthy reviews of critics.

Love of all life

Calculation of Henry turned out to be correct: the relationship between Angeli and Douglas did not pass the test by distance, and in 1954 the pair finally broke up. In the same year, Pierre accepted the proposal to participate in the film "The Silver Bowl". Her partner on the set was Paul Newman. One day, a friend of Paul, a novice actor James Dean, glanced at the shooting. Newman introduced him to Angela. It was love at first sight. After a short time, the young people became inseparable. They began talking about the wedding, which was not at all satisfactory to Pierre Angeli's mother. The novice actor chasing a motorcycle was not a pair of her famous daughter.

And Enrica did her best to break the relationship between Angela and Dean. The lovers quarreled, James Dean went to New York. Taking advantage of this, Enrica arranged for her daughter an engagement with a profitable bridegroom - the then famous singer Vic Damon. A grand wedding took place on November 24, 1954, and in 1955 Angeli gave birth to Perry's son. But ... Her marriage from the first day was unhappy. The actress more and more often thought about what mistake she made. After the birth of Pierre proposed to star in the movie "Someone up there loves me." Her partner on the set was to be James Dean, but fate decreed otherwise. The actor died in a car crash. As the actress recalled, from the moment of the death of a loved one, something broke in her.

Sunset career in Hollywood

Angeli continued to act. In 1956, the film "Port Africa" was released, where the actress flashed a beautiful vocal, and the picture "Someone up there loves me." Together with Angeli, she starred in Paul Newman. The career of the actress went up the hill, and the marriage collapsed. Damon did not let Angeli act. He was terribly jealous and rolled her scandals on the slightest occasion. He himself endlessly betrayed his wife. To calm nerves, Pierre Angeli took a lot of antidepressants. Such a life affected the work. The actress stopped offering good roles. And after the termination of the contract with studio MGM in 1957 she refused to prolong it, than has incurred the wrath of all Hollywood bosses.

Divorce and return to Europe

In 1958, the actress filed for divorce. Then there were endless lawsuits about custody of the son. Despite the victory of Pierre, litigation finally exhausted her. Since the road to Hollywood was now closed to her, Angeli went with her son to London, where she starred in the film "Angry Silence", which won three awards at the Berlin Film Festival. Then I returned to Italy. At home, she continued to withdraw. From 1962 to 1965, films were screened: Sadom and Gomorrah, The Sea Musketeers, The Battle of the Ardennes, The Bank in Bangkok, The Spy in Your Eye.

Accident or suicide?

In 1962, Angeli remarried the famous composer Armando Travioli. In this marriage, the actress gave birth to her son Andrew. Like the previous one, the second union also did not make Pierre happy. In 1969, the actress divorced her husband. She started material problems. Experiences led to a deep depression. Angeli again took a lot of sedative drugs and in 1970 she was hospitalized with a diagnosis of "clinical depression." Derived from this state of her friend Debbie Reynolds, who invited Pierre to stay with her in Los Angeles.

With the hope of returning to Hollywood, Pierre moved to the US with her sons. On September 9 she called her doctor and asked to bring sedatives, because she was very nervous before any important meeting. And on the morning of September 10, 1971, in the house on Beverly Hills, a friend found the lifeless body of Pierre Angeli. The cause of death was established - an overdose of sedatives. The yellow press trumpeted that Angeli committed suicide because she was afraid of old age. Native and close actresses never believed in it.