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Alessandra Martines
Italian-French dancer and actress From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Alessandra Martines (born 19 September 1963) is an Italian French dancer and actress mainly working in the English-, French-, and Italian-speaking worlds.[1][2][3][4] She started young in ballet on opera stages in Switzerland, France, the United States and then Italy before becoming a lead on television for RAI captured ballets and entertainment shows (the Italian national public broadcasting) in the eighties.[5]
She is primarily known for portraying the main role in the cult Fantaghirò series, consisting of five films (1991–1996) still regularly re-run across Europe as of 2020, and for her work in auteur productions such as nine films by Claude Lelouch to whom she was married until 2009.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]
She was awarded numerous prizes including the Best Actress Telegatto for The Cave of the Golden Rose (1991),[17] the Grolla d'oro for Edda (2005),[18][19] the Silver Hugo for Best Actress at the Chicago International Film Festival (1998) for Chance or Coincidence, the Diamanti al Cinema Award in Cannes (2007)[20] or the 2009 European Golden Globe in Rome.[21] In 2008, she was made Knight of the Ordre national du Mérite awarded by the President of the French Republic.[22] She received the lifetime achievement Kineo Award at the 71st Venice International Film Festival in 2014.[23]
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Early life
Second cousin of Carla Bruni and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi,[24][25][26] she moved to France with her family at the age of five. As a teenager, she enrolled at the Conservatoire de Paris where she studied solfeggio, history and theory of dance and classical music and dance.[27]
Career
Martines debuted at a young age as a dancer at the Zurich Opera House in 1972.[28] After some time working in the United States, including the Chicago City Ballet, she moved to Rome where she worked at the Teatro dell'Opera.[28] In 1985 she began her collaboration with RAI, with the lunchtime chat / quiz show Pronto, chi gioca?; she later gained great popularity with the Saturday Night shows Fantastico and Europa Europa, and then for her portrayal of Princess Fantaghirò in the Fantaghirò series.[28]
In cinema, she is best known for her interpretations under the direction of her ex-husband, the French director Claude Lelouch, in several film including Les Misérables and And now... Ladies and Gentlemen. She also starred on stage, most notably in L'appartamento by Franca Valeri.[28]
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Personal life
Martines has a daughter with Claude Lelouch to whom she was married between 1995 and 2009. In 2012, at the age of 49, she had a son with her partner Cyril Descours.[29]
Stage
Dancer
Theatre
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Filmography
Cinema
Television
Presenter or Jury member
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References
External links
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