| Alessandra Martines | |
|---|---|
|   | |
| Born | 19 September 1963  Rome, Italy | 
| Education | Conservatoire de Paris | 
| Occupations | 
 | 
| Spouse | |
| Partner | Cyril Descours (2008–2018) | 
| Website | https://www.alessandramartines.com/ | 
Alessandra Martines (born 19 September 1963) is an Italian French dancer and actress mainly working in the English-, French-, and Italian-speaking worlds. [1] [2] [3] [4] 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. [5]
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. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]
She was awarded numerous prizes including the Best Actress Telegatto for The Cave of the Golden Rose (1991), [17] the Grolla d'oro for Edda (2005), [18] [19] 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) [20] or the 2009 European Golden Globe in Rome. [21] In 2008, she was made Knight of the Ordre national du Mérite awarded by the President of the French Republic. [22] She received the lifetime achievement Kineo Award at the 71st Venice International Film Festival in 2014. [23]
Second cousin of Carla Bruni and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, [24] [25] [26] 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. [27]
Martines debuted at a young age as a dancer at the Zurich Opera House in 1972. [28] 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. [28] 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 . [28]
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. [28]
Martines has a daughter with Claude Lelouch to whom she was married between 1995 and 2009. In 2012, at the age of 49, she had a son with her partner Cyril Descours. [29]
| Year | Company | Director | 
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Ballett Zürich | Patricia Neary | 
| 1975 | New York City Ballet | George Balanchine | 
| – | Chicago Ballet | Maria Tallchief & Paul Mejia | 
| – | Teatro dell'Opera di Roma ( Fedra (Mayr) & Carmen ) | Maïa Plissetskaïa | 
| – | Opéra de Marseille | Roland Petit | 
| Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi | Roland Petit | |
| Year | Play | Playwright | Director | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987–1988 | Adriana Lecouvreur | An opera in four acts by Francesco Cilea to an Italian libretto by Arturo Colautti, based on the 1849 play Adrienne Lecouvreur by Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé. | Mauro Bolognini | 
| 1988–1989 | The Apartment | Billy Wilder | Franca Valeri | 
| 2016 | Lady Windermere's Fan | Oscar Wilde – Mrs. Erlynne | Jean-Luc Revol – Théâtre Tête d'or / France national tour: 3 September – 31 December 2016. | 
| Year | Film | Role | Director | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Miss Arizona | Marta | Pál Sándor | 
| 1989 | Sinbad of the Seven Seas | Alina | Enzo G. Castellari, Luigi Cozzi | 
| Saremo felici | Jole | Gianfrancesco Lazotti | |
| Passi d'amore | Elisa | Sergio Sollima | |
| 1993 | Tout ça... pour ça! | Allessandra Barrucq | Claude Lelouch | 
| 1995 | Les Misérables | Elise Ziman | Claude Lelouch | 
| 1996 | Men, Women: A User's Manual | Doctor Nitez | Claude Lelouch | 
| 1998 | Chance or Coincidence | Miriam Lini | Claude Lelouch | 
| 1999 | One 4 All | Maxime | Claude Lelouch | 
| 2001 | Day Off | Francesca Socoa | Pascal Thomas | 
| J'ai faim !!! | Anaïs Pommard | Florence Quentin | |
| 2002 | Amnèsia | Virginie | Gabriele Salvatores | 
| And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen | Françoise | Claude Lelouch | |
| 2004 | Le genre humain – 1ère partie: Les Parisiens | Herself | Claude Lelouch | 
| 2005 | Le courage d'aimer | Alessandra | Claude Lelouch | 
| 2007 | L'Heure Zéro | Marie-Adeline | Pascal Thomas | 
| 2008 | Love Me No More | Marion Dange | Jean Becker | 
| 2011 | Je m'appelle Bernadette | Louise Soubirous | Jean Sagols | 
| 2017 | L'Araignée Rouge | Sonia Stern | Franck Florino | 
| Year | Film | Role | Director | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Danse avec les stars (French version of Strictly Come Dancing ) | Jury member for season 1 & season 2. | TF1 – several. | 
| 2013–2014 | The Best : Le Meilleur Artiste | Jury member for season 1 & season 2. | TF1 – several. |