The unforgettable and multifaceted Mariangela Melato, who died in Rome in January 2013 at the age of 71 after a long illness, would have turned 80 today. A true icon, one of the most unconventional and versatile actresses of theater, cinema and even the small screen, capable of tackling comic or dramatic roles, of transforming herself into characters very distant from each other but always united by a great and "single" intensity.
Thus she left in the memory of the vast Italian audience that has always loved and appreciated her, unforgettable characters, from those on the big screen such as Fiore, Milanese lover of Mimì Metallurgico directed by Lina Wertmuller, to those on the stage of the theater as in the Orestea by Aeschylus directed by Luca Ronconi. Up to Filumena Marturano alongside Massimo Ranieri.
"A woman of great value, modesty, refinement, culture, irony, intelligence and above all with a grace and nobility of soul out of the ordinary" recalled Renzo Arbore with whom she was romantically linked for many years and until her death on the occasion of the creation in 2017 of a documentary with which Rai celebrated it. "She was - he added - the greatest Italian actress, not me but Giancarlo Giannini. She came from a humble family but she always studied a lot to improve herself. She never spoke ill of anyone and no one spoke ill of her. She never felt envy. and he also knew how to appreciate the talent of humble artists as long as they were real ".