Isa Miranda (born Ines Isabella Sampietro; 5 July 1905 – 8 July 1982) was an Italian actress with an international film career.
Biography Miranda was born Ines Isabella Sampietro in Milan, the daughter of a street car conductor. When she was 10 years old, she began working as an errand girl for a dressmaker. She later had jobs in a box factory and a handbag factory. When she was 15, she became a model, a job that provided enough income for her to learn bookkeeping and typing in night school. She worked as a typist while attending the Accademia dei Filodrammatici in Milan and trained as a stage actress. She went on to play bit parts in Italian films in Rome. She changed her name to Isa Miranda and success came with Max Ophüls' film La Signora di tutti (Everybody's Woman; 1934) in which she played Gaby Doriot, a famous film star and adventuress with whom men cannot help falling in love. This performance brought in its wake several film offers and a Hollywood contract with Paramount Pictures. There, billed as the "Italian Marlene Dietrich", she played femme fatale roles in films such as Hotel Imperial (1939) and Adventure in Diamonds (1940).
She returned to Italy soon after the outbreak of World War II and continued to act on stage and to make films. In 1949, she starred in René Clément's The Walls of Malapaga, which won an Academy Award for the most outstanding foreign language film of 1950, and for Miranda, the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Another success of that period was La Ronde (1950), also directed by Ophüls.
Her career took her to France, Germany and Britain, where she frequently appeared in TV films, including The Avengers. Other notable film appearances included Siamo donne (1953), a portmanteau film, in which Miranda shared the screen with Anna Magnani, Alida Valli and Ingrid Bergman; Summertime (1955), starring Katharine Hepburn; Gli Sbandati (1955); The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964); The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968); and Liliana Cavani's The Night Porter (1974).
Miranda was married to the Italian director and producer Alfredo Guarini until his death in 1981. She died in Rome on 8 July 1982.
Selected filmography Features YearTitleRoleNotes1933 The Haller Case Badwoman 1934 Cardinal Lambertini Anna Everybody's Woman Gabriella Murge, alias Gaby Doriot Tenebre Vera Creatures of the Night Una gigolette 1935 Red Passport Maria Brunetti Like the Leaves Irene "Nennele" Rosani 1936 The Love of the Maharaja Mira Salviati A Woman Between Two Worlds Mina Salviati Thou Art My Joy Mary Hofer & Bianca Monti1937 The Man from Nowhere Louise Paléari The Former Mattia Pascal Luisa Paleari Scipio Africanus: The Defeat of Hannibal Velia, a Roman woman The Lie of Nina Petrovna Nina Petrovna1938 Like the Leaves Nennele1939 Hotel Imperial Anna Warschawska1940 Adventure in Diamonds Felice Falcon Senza cielo Regina1941 A Woman Has Fallen Dina1942 Document Z-3 Sandra Morini Malombra Marina di Malombra1944 Zazà Zazà1945 La carne e l'anima Katrin detta "Stella" My Widow and I Maria, sua moglie1948 L'aventure commence demain Clarence Holbane1949 The Walls of Malapaga Marta Manfredini1950 I'm in the Revue Isa Pact with the Devil Marta Larocca La Ronde Charlotte, the Actress1951 Cameriera bella presenza offresi... Angela Leonardi1952 The Seven Deadly Sins Mme Alvaro Segment "Avarice and Anger" Gli uomini non guardano il cielo The countess 1953 We, the Women Isa Segment "Isa Miranda" 1954 Before the Deluge Madame Françoise Boussard The Secret of Helene Marimon Hélène MarimonRasputin La tsarine Alexandra1955 Summertime Signora Fiorini The Abandoned Contessa Luisa Rommel's Treasure Mrs. Fischer1956 I pinguini ci guardano 1957 I colpevoli Lucia Rossello Arrivano i dollari! Caterina MarchettiA Kiss for a Killer Betty Farnwell1959 Le secret du Chevalier d'Éon La tzarine Elisabeth Petrovna1963 Corruption Signora Mattoli The Empty Canvas Cecilia's Mother1964 Hardi Pardaillan! Catherine de Medicis Dog Eat Dog Madame Benoit Do You Know This Voice? Mrs. Marotta The Yellow Rolls-Royce Duchesse d'Angoulême Una storia di notte Peppino's wife1966 Un monde nouveau Une sage-femme 1967 Hell Is Empty Isa Grant 1968 Darling Caroline La duchesse de Bussez The Shoes of the Fisherman The Marchesa 1969 L'assoluto naturale Mother La donna a una dimensione Elena 1970 The Syndicate: A Death in the Family Tenutaria bordello Dorian Gray Mrs. Ruxton Roy Colt and Winchester Jack Mammola / Violet Un estate con sentimento Sue's Mother 1971 Marta Elena A Bay of Blood Countess Federica Donati 1972 Lo chiameremo Andrea Teacher 1974 The Night Porter Countess Stein I'll Take Her Like a Father Lorè 1977 La lunga strada senza polvere The wife 1982 Apocalisse di un terremoto Madre di Ciro Final film role
References Monica Cardarilli (2004) MIRANDA, Isa. Enciclopedia del Cinema
External links
Photographs and literature