Acting · Casalecchio di Reno, Emilia-Romagna, Italy · Born May 1, 1927
Laura Betti (née Trombetti; 1 May 1927 – 31 July 2004) was an Italian actress known particularly for her work with directors Federico Fellini, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Bernardo Bertolucci. She had a long friendship with Pasolini and made a documentary about him in 2001. Betti became famous for portraying bizarre, grotesque, eccentric, unstable or maniacal roles, like Regina in Bernardo Bertolucci's 1900, Anna the medium in Twitch of the Death Nerve, Giovanna la pazza in Woman Buried Alive, hysterical Rita Zigai in Sbatti il mostro in prima pagina, Therese in Private Vices, Public Virtues, Emilia the servant in Pier Paolo Pasolini's Teorema for which she won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, and Mildred the protagonist's wife in Mario Bava's Hatchet for the Honeymoon. Born Laura Trombetti in Casalecchio di Reno, near Bologna, she grew up to be interested in singing. She first worked professionally in the arts as a jazz singer and moved to Rome. Betti made her film debut in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960). In 1963, she became a close friend of the poet and movie director Pier Paolo Pasolini. Under his direction, she proved a wonderful talent and played in seven of his films, including La ricotta (1963), Teorema (Theorem, 1968), his 1972 version of The Canterbury Tales, in which she played the Wife of Bath; and his controversial Salo (1975) ("120 Days of Sodom"). In 1976, Betti portrayed Regina, a cruel and eroto-maniacal fascist in Bernardo Bertolucci's Novecento (1900). She also played Miss Blandish in his Last Tango in Paris (1972), though her single scene was deleted. In 1973 she dubbed the voice of the Devil for the Italian version of William Friedkin's The Exorcist. From the 1960s, Betti dedicated much of her time to literature and politics. She became the muse for a number of leading political and literary figures in Italy and came to personify the revolutionary and Marxist era of 1970s Italy. In 2001, she made a documentary about Pasolini, Pier Paolo Pasolini e la ragione di un sogno. She also donated her papers related to their long friendship along with more than 1000 volumes and many documents connected to Pasolini to the archives of the Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna, thus creating the Centro Studi Archivio Pier Paolo Pasolini. This Centro, strongly wanted by Betti, owns also thousands of photograph and all the works of Pasolini: poetry, literature, cinema and journalism. After her death in 2004 her brother Sergio Trombetti has donated all the personal documents of her career to the Centro that has absorbed them under the name Fondo Laura Betti. Source: Article "Laura Betti" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
MovieMarx Can Wait
2021
as Irina (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieMaresco / Pasolini
2021
as Self
MovieLaura's Passion
2011
as Self (archive footage)
MovieThe Beaches of Agnès
2008
as Self (archive footage)
MoviePasolini and the Secret Humiliation of Chaucer
2006
as Interviewee
MovieFratella e Sorello
2005
as Presidente Del Tribunale
MovieRaul - Right to Kill
2005
as Usuraia
MovieRenzo e Lucia
2004
as Madre Superiora
TVRenzo e Lucia
2004
as Madre Superiora
MovieHousehold Accounts
2003
as Contessa Celi Sanguineti
MovieHappiness Costs Nothing
2003
as Suora guardiana
MovieGli astronomi
2003
as Pavoncella
Il diario di Matilde Manzoni
2002
as Teresa Manzoni Borri
MovieFat Girl
2001
as Fernando's Mother
Pasolini, el poeta en la playa
2000
as Herself
MovieThe Protagonists
1999
as Judge
MovieMarianna Ucrìa
1997
as Giuseppa
MovieWe Free Kings
1996
as Una delle ragazze del coro
MovieUn eroe borghese
1995
as dott.ssa Trebbi
MovieWith Closed Eyes
1994
as Beatrice
MovieMario, Maria and Mario
1993
as Laura
MovieLa ribelle
1993
as Sister Valida
MovieThe Great Pumpkin
1993
as Aida
MovieSuffocating Heat
1991
as Laura
MovieGallant Ladies
1990
as Catherine de Medicis
MovieThe Carpathian Mushroom
1990
as Olympia
MovieLe rose blu
1990
as La donna con la rosa blu
MovieI cammelli
1988
as Milena
MovieJane B. by Agnès V.
1988
as Lardy
MovieWidow's Walk
1987
as Keli
MovieJenatsch
1987
as Mademoiselle von Planta
MovieSweets from a Stranger
1987
as Jolanda
MovieBlame it on Paradise
1985
as direttrice
MovieMother Ebe
1985
as Lidia Corradi
TVCinecittà Cinecittà
1985
as Caterina Elisabetta Magrevich
MovieClass Relations
1984
as Brunelda
MovieThe Defective Detective
1984
as Carlotta Batticelli
MovieArt of Love
1983
as Clio
MovieVenise en hiver
1982
as Mme Poli
TVThe Charterhouse of Parma
1982
as The Vivandière
MovieThat Night of Varennes
1982
as Virginia Capacelli
MovieFar from Manhattan
1982
as Madame Hanska
TVThe Wings of the Dove
1981
as Zia Maud
MovieWhoever Says the Truth Shall Die
1981
as Self
MovieMy Name Is Anna Magnani
1980
as Self
MovieThe Little Archimedes
1980
as La signora Bondi
Einzelzimmer
1979
as Calogera
MovieLovers and Liars
1979
as Laura
TVThe Word
1978
as Maria
MovieButterfly on the Shoulder
1978
as Mme Carrabo
MovieAt Night All Cats Are Crazy
1977
as Jacqueline
MovieThe Seagull
1977
as Irina
MovieThe Gang
1977
as Felicia
Movie1900
1976
as Regina
MoviePrivate Vices, Public Virtues
1976
as Teresa
MoviePier Paolo Pasolini : vivre et encore plus
1976
as Elle-même
MovieAbicinema
1975
as Self
MovieThe Last Day of School Before Christmas
1975
as Passenger coach
MovieThe Woman with Red Boots
1974
as Léonore
MovieThe Murri Affair
1974
as Tisa Borghi
MovieAllonsanfan
1974
as Esther Imbriani
MovieThe Cousin
1974
as Rosalia Scuderi
MovieThe Return
1973
as Clara
MovieWoman Buried Alive
1973
as Giovanna la Pazza
MovieSlap the Monster on Page One
1972
as Rita Zigai
MovieThe Canterbury Tales
1972
as The Wife from Bath
MovieSonny and Jed
1972
as Betty
MovieIn the Name of the Father
1971
as Franco's Mother
MovieA Bay of Blood
1971
as Anna Fossati
MovieA Man Called Sledge
1970
as Sister
MovieStop the World... I Want to Get Off!
1970
MovieHatchet for the Honeymoon
1970
as Mildred Harrington
MoviePaulina Is Leaving
1969
as Hortense
MovieRARA
1969
MovieOrgy
1968
as Donna
MovieTheorem
1968
as Emilia, the Servant
MovieCaprice Italian Style
1968
as Desdemona
MovieWhat Are the Clouds?
1968
as Desdemona
MovieOedipus Rex
1967
as Jocasta's Maid (uncredited)
MovieThe Witches
1967
as Male Tourist (segment "La Terra vista dalla Luna")
MovieThe Earth As Seen from the Moon
1967
as un turista
MovieEcco
1963
as Self
MovieLa ricotta
1963
MovieRo.Go.Pa.G.
1963
as Sonia, the 'Diva' (segment "La ricotta")
MovieEscape by Night
1960
as Teresa
MovieRed Lips
1960
as The Painter
MovieLa Dolce Vita
1960
as Laura
TVDiscorama
1959
as Self
MovieNoi siamo le colonne
1956
as La cantante annoiata (no acreditado)
