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| 1927-2023 |
First off, I have to give a shout-out to Mistress Maddie because that's the blog I clicked on at 3:15 in the morning and found out of the passing of Italian actor (I was told the other night that the term "actress" is now passé) Gina Lollobrigida. Gina was a photographer as well as an actre--actor. She talks about her second career in this clip from the 1980s:
Gina mentioned Yul Brynner so let's show a film the two of them made together, 1959's Solomon and Sheba. A toupee-wearing Yul plays the former, and Gina the latter:
As Bob Dylan sang, everybody must get stoned.
Her death was reported on this evening's tv commercial news, a day or more after she died. I only learnt about her death earlier in UK edition of The Guardian and I wondered why it was not being reported here. Our government owned media only reported her demise this evening when it had been reported yesterday afternoon.
ReplyDeleteYep, I have dropped actress and waitress. It just seems right. Many professions don't identify the sex of people but it always becomes clear.
Andrew, it's a little difficult for me to use "actor" when describing an old school sex symbol like Gina Lollobrigida, but its time. The best argument I've heard in favor of doing away with "actress' is that we no longer refer to a female author as "authoress".
DeleteYum, Yul Brynner. Yes, everybody must get stoned.
ReplyDeleteNo one's called me on it, Mitchell, but I originally used "let's" in place of "must" If you're reading this Mr. Dylan, my humble apologies. I've since changed it.
DeleteI prefer Brynner bald. He was playing Solomon, not Samson!
And the world's sex appeal dropped just a tad yesterday.
ReplyDeleteShe was quite the beauty. And a multi talent. Your too kind for the mention Kirk.💋
Maddie, yours is the only blog (A Day with the Mistress Borghese) in my sidebar that mentioned it. Nor was it in "trending", which is the very first thing I see once I sign into my computer. NOW it's trending, but Miss Lollobrigida shouldn't have to wait!
DeleteWell, they'll stone you when you're trying to be so good
ReplyDeleteThey'll stone you just like they said they would
They'll stone you when you're trying to go home
And they'll stone you when you're there all alone
But I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned
Hi, Kirk!
Yep, the dang Reaper is at it again, good buddy. First, I would like you to expand on your opening statement informing us, as Mistress Maddie informed you, that the word "actress" is becoming an obsolete term. Come to think of it, I have recently read interviews with female celebrities in which they refer to themselves as actors. I'd like to know what's driving this phenomena.
I honestly don't know very much about Italian actor Gina Lollobrigida, other than the fact that I heard her name mentioned quite often in my youth. Her name typically came up in interviews and monologues when male comedians drew comparisons between Gina L and their frumpy wives. Along with Italian actor Sophia Loren, who will be 89 this September, and French actor/model Brigitte Bardot, who will turn 89 just 6 days later, Gina Lollobrigida was one of the Euro "it girls" of the 1960s. (Shirley, "it girl" is another outdated term, as are tittynope, hornswoggle and cockalorum.) In the 1970s and 80s, Italian actor and model Isabella Rossellini (see Blue Velvet) made a similar splash.
In that interview, Gina Lollobrigida came across as sensitive and sincere, a really nice person, not arrogant and smug like Hungarian actor and socialite Zsa Zsa Gabor, an "it girl" of the 1940s and 50s. Please forgive my beef-witted boreism. That's all I got.
Enjoy the rest of your week, good buddy Kirk!
Shady, Maddie informed me of Gina Lollobrigida's passing, and not whether you should use "actor" or "actress" when describing a female thespian. That came about in a conversation I had this past Friday night. As I told Andrew, it's the same reason we no longer use "authoress" to describe Joyce Carol Oates or Alice Walker. I don't really have a problem with the phenomenon other than that usual progress-impeding bugaboo, Socialization. My fingers keep wanting to type "actress".
DeleteI used to watch a lot of old movies, so I've seen quite a bit of Gina Lollobrigida, and have always liked her. Unlike Zsa Zsa (but like Eva) Gabor, Gina could actually act. Sheba isn't necessarily her greatest role, but I wanted something that tied it in with the Yul Brynner mention in the first video. Beat the Devil (with Humphrey Bogart), Trapeze (with Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis), and Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell (with everybody), are some of her more notable roles.
Isabella Rossellini is half-Italian and half-Swede. Her mother was Ingrid Bergman
Thanks for the explanation, good buddy. Follow-up question: Is the word fellatrice still correct usage? If not, it will come as a blow.
DeleteI saw Trapeze as a boy and enjoyed the film immensely. I still remember the cute usherette at the theater. Damn, there I go again!
Shady, I think you need a cold shower.
DeleteInteresting video about how she disguised herself to take her photos taken without being recognized!
ReplyDeleteDebra, when she talked of stuffing her cheeks to change the shape of her face, I thought of Marlon Brando in The Godfather!
DeleteI hadn't heard about Gina yet.
ReplyDeleteMike, consider yourself notified.
DeleteHello Kirk, Everything I have heard about Gina Lollobrigida indicates a class act. She had a famous collection of emeralds but sold them and gave the money to charity. There was an early 20th century singer named Lina Cavalieri who was called the world's most beautiful woman. When they made a movie about her life, Cavalieri was played by Lollobrigida.
ReplyDelete--Jim
p.s. I know that I have been absent a long time. Sorry to miss so many of your posts!
Good to hear from you again, Jim. One of the charities you mentioned that benefited from the sale of Lollobrigida's jewelry is stem-cell research.
DeleteAs for the posts of mine you've missed, probably 75% of them have been obituaries like this one. I seem to be locked into a symbiotic relationship with the Grim Reaper.
Gina was an exceptional woman although I am not sure she always made the right decisions in her personal life. And extraordinarily beautiful. I also approve of her decision to sell her jewellery and donate the proceeds to stem cell research and I believe she kept fighting till the end. .
ReplyDeleteJenny, while I don't particularly feel sorry for them, famous people live such odd lives that I think it takes a toll on the personal part of their live, assuming there even IS a personal part of their lives.
ReplyDeleteI should come here from now on to get "the rest of the story"...whenever we hear of someone's passing. You always seem to give a great historical background.
ReplyDeleteThank you, JM. It's pop culture history.
Delete