Marina Berti as Areta in THE ODYSSEY (1968) mini-series (Odissea)
Marina was in QUO VADIS (1951) and she was one of the main charaters in it and then had a supporting role in THE QUEEN OF SHEBA and that was pretty much it. She appeared briefly in BEN-HUR, a role without any lines, which was disappointing. And 17 years after QUO VADIS she starred in THE ODYSSEY mini-series looking stunning and all, as if she hasn't aged a day since QV. What an odd career. Why she never became a big star is a mystery.
The mini-series, which is playing right now on PEPLUM TV, is filled with many actors from the PEPLUM genre, many of them not credited, including Bella Cortez.
Marina Berti appeared in almost one hundred movies, mostly in fairly minor roles. She died of cancer in 2002 at a relatively young age.
ReplyDeleteMarina spoke fluent English. Accordingly, it is indeed surprising that she never became a major star.
It seems she lived in Rome and had a large family, but maybe all those minor roles kept her busy. She was a very attractive presence in QUO VADIS and that moment in BEN HUR ... but the Italian film industry had so many beautiful women - particularly in the peplum genre, it was only a few, like that Sofia Lazzaro, who were able to become big stars.
ReplyDeleteHaving a producer like Carlo Ponti (for Lazzaro - who changed her name to Sophia Loren) or Dino De Laurentiis who was married to his star, Silvana Mangano, certainly helped.