Alessandra Martines
Alessandra Martines (born 19 September 1963) is an Italian French dancer and actress mainly working in the English-, French-, and Italian-speaking worlds. 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. 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. She was awarded numerous prizes including the Best Actress Telegatto for The Cave of the Golden Rose (1991), the Grolla d'oro for Edda [it] (2005), 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) or the 2009 European Golden Globe in Rome. In 2008, she was made Knight of the Ordre national du Mérite awarded by the President of the French Republic. She received the lifetime achievement Kineo Award at the 71st Venice International Film Festival in 2014. Second cousin of Carla Bruni and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, 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. Martines debuted at a young age as a dancer at the Zurich Opera House in 1972. 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. 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. 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.
Known For
Credits
- 2018 · Bava Puzzle as Herself
- 2017 · Il bello delle donne... alcuni anni dopo as Françoise Leroux
- 2016 · L'araignée rouge as Sonia Stern
- 2014 · Furore il vento della speranza as Luciana Belgrano
- 2011 · My Name Is Bernadette as Louise Soubirous
- 2011 · Danse avec les stars as Self - Judge
- 2009 · Panique! as Clémentine
- 2009 · The Queen and the Cardinal as Anne of Austria
- 2008 · Il sangue e la rosa as Contessa Ortensia Damiani
- 2008 · Il sangue e la rosa as Ortensia Damiani
- 2008 · Love Me No More as Marion
- 2007 · Towards Zero as Marie-Adeline
- 2006 · L'onore e il rispetto as Giudice Francesca De Santis
- 2005 · Caterina e le sue figlie as Adele Parisi
- 2005 · The Courage to Love as Alessandra
- 2005 · Edda as
- 2005 · I colori della vita as
- 2004 · Saint John Bosco Mission to Love as Marchesa Barolo
- 2004 · Le genre humain - 1ère partie: Les Parisiens as Alessandra Martines
- 2003 · Quelques jours entre nous as Juliette
- 2002 · And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen... as Françoise
- 2002 · Amnèsia as Virginie
- 2001 · J'ai faim !!! as Anaïs Pommard
- 2001 · Day Off as Madame Socoa
- 1999 · One 4 All as Maxime
- 1998 · Chance or Coincidence as Myriam Lini
- 1998 · Vivement dimanche as Self
- 1998 · Tout le monde en parle as Self
- 1996 · The Cave of the Golden Rose 5 as Fantaghirò
- 1996 · Men, Women: A User's Manual as Docteur Nitez
- 1995 · Les Miserables as Elise Ziman
- 1994 · The Cave of the Golden Rose 4 as Fantaghirò
- 1993 · The Cave of the Golden Rose 3 as Fantaghirò
- 1993 · All That... for This?! as Allessandra Barrucq
- 1993 · Colpo di coda as Paola
- 1992 · The Cave of the Golden Rose 2 as Fantaghirò
- 1991 · The Cave of the Golden Rose as Fantaghirò
- 1991 · The Cave of the Golden Rose as Fantaghirò
- 1990 · Love Steps as Elisa
- 1989 · Saremo felici as Jole
- 1989 · Sinbad of the Seven Seas as Alina