Actress. Born Virna Lisa Pieralisi, she is best known to American film audiences for her motion picture work in the 1965 comedy “How to Murder Your Wife” co-starring Jack Lemmon, and the 1966 motion picture “Assault on a Queen" with Frank Sinatra. She made her film debut in 1953 as a young teen in the Italian motion picture “The Line of Steel.” Her major film credits include: “The Doll That Took the Town” (1957), “Don’t Tempt the Devil” (1963), “Casanova 70” (1965), “Made in Italy” (1965), “Not With My Wife, You Don’t” (1966), “The Birds, the Bees and the Italians” (1966), “Arabella” (1967), “The 25th Hour” (1967), “If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium” (1969), “The Secret of Santa Vittoria” (1969), “Bluebeard” (1972), “Footloose” (1979), “I Love N.Y.” (1987), “Merry Christmas…Happy New Year” (1989) and “The Best Day of My Life” in 2002. She was originally cast in the lead role of the 1968 sci-fi fantasy film “Barbarella” before turning down the role to return to her native Italy. She was the recipient of the Best Actress Award for her role in “La Reine Margot” (Queen Margot) at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival, an honorary Golden Globe Award for her work in Italian Cinema in 2004, and six Silver Awards. She spent her final years appearing mostly on television, in Italian made for TV movies and mini-series. During her career, she appeared in over 100 films and TV shows. Her last film credit was for the motion picture “Latin Lover” scheduled for release in 2015. She died in the Roman Capital from cancer at the age of 78.
Actress. Born Virna Lisa Pieralisi, she is best known to American film audiences for her motion picture work in the 1965 comedy “How to Murder Your Wife” co-starring Jack Lemmon, and the 1966 motion picture “Assault on a Queen" with Frank Sinatra. She made her film debut in 1953 as a young teen in the Italian motion picture “The Line of Steel.” Her major film credits include: “The Doll That Took the Town” (1957), “Don’t Tempt the Devil” (1963), “Casanova 70” (1965), “Made in Italy” (1965), “Not With My Wife, You Don’t” (1966), “The Birds, the Bees and the Italians” (1966), “Arabella” (1967), “The 25th Hour” (1967), “If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium” (1969), “The Secret of Santa Vittoria” (1969), “Bluebeard” (1972), “Footloose” (1979), “I Love N.Y.” (1987), “Merry Christmas…Happy New Year” (1989) and “The Best Day of My Life” in 2002. She was originally cast in the lead role of the 1968 sci-fi fantasy film “Barbarella” before turning down the role to return to her native Italy. She was the recipient of the Best Actress Award for her role in “La Reine Margot” (Queen Margot) at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival, an honorary Golden Globe Award for her work in Italian Cinema in 2004, and six Silver Awards. She spent her final years appearing mostly on television, in Italian made for TV movies and mini-series. During her career, she appeared in over 100 films and TV shows. Her last film credit was for the motion picture “Latin Lover” scheduled for release in 2015. She died in the Roman Capital from cancer at the age of 78.
Bio by: Nils M. Solsvik Jr.
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