Luciana Paluzzi

Last updated

Luciana Paluzzi
Paluzzi La mala ordina 1.png
Paluzzi in the movie The Italian Connection (1972)
Born (1937-06-10) 10 June 1937 (age 87)
Rome, Kingdom of Italy
OccupationActress
Years active1953–1978
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1960;div. 1962)​
​
​
(m. 1979)​
Partner(s) Tony Anthony
(1960s–1970s)
Children1

Luciana Paluzzi (born 10 June 1937) is an Italian actress. She is perhaps best known for playing SPECTRE assassin Fiona Volpe in the fourth James Bond film, Thunderball , but she had important roles in notable films of the 1960s and 1970s in both the Italian film industry and Hollywood, including Chuka , The Green Slime , 99 Women , Black Gunn , The Klansman and The Sensuous Nurse .

Contents

Career

Film

Paluzzi was born in Rome and was brought up there. She went to Milan and studied naval engineering for two years at the Scientific Academy of Milan, being the only woman in her class. [1] [2]

One of her first roles was an uncredited walk-on part in Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), which she got by chance through a friend of her father's who was invited for dinner and happened to be looking for a young actress doing a very short two-line role for director Jean Negulesco, thinking Paluzzi might be a fit. Negulesco had not been satisfied with the other actresses so far, but when Paluzzi, who did not plan to become an actress, recited the English line the next day (it was the only English she spoke at that time) she got the role. [2]

Paluzzi went on to appear in many movies, most of which were made in her native Italy. In her early films, she is credited as Luciana Paoluzzi.

In 1957, she came to England to appear in the British war film No Time To Die (also known as Tank Force) alongside Victor Mature where she was directed by Terence Young. [3] She was then cast in the British action drama Sea Fury as the Spanish-born Josita, who is fought over by Stanley Baker and Victor McLaglen's characters. [4] [5]

In 1959, Paluzzi went to Hollywood under contract with Twentieth Century Fox Television to star as a regular in the 20th Century Fox Television series Five Fingers , which was cancelled after three months. [6] [7] Paluzzi then played Rafaella, the wife of Brett Halsey's character Ted Carter, in 1961's Return to Peyton Place .

From 1963 to 1965, Paluzzi almost exclusively appeared in Italian productions. [6]

In 1965, Paluzzi was cast as SPECTRE villainess, Fiona Volpe, "volpe" is "fox" in Italian, in Terence Young's Thunderball (1965), for which she is best known. She had auditioned for the part of the lead Bond girl, Dominetta "Domino" Petacchi, but producers instead cast Claudine Auger, changing the character's name from an Italian to a Frenchwoman, renaming her Dominique Derval. Initially crestfallen when informed she did not get the part, Paluzzi rejoiced when told her consolatory prize was the part of Fiona Volpe, originally planned to be Fiona Kelly, which she said was "more fun" to play. [8] Paluzzi later claimed being a Bond girl was a double-edged sword. In the documentary Bond Girls Are Forever , Paluzzi expressed amazement at the level of fame, publicity, and recognition she received from Thunderball; but as a result of being in such an outlandish film, she felt she was taken less seriously as an actress when returning to the Italian film industry.

Paluzzi appeared in such films as Muscle Beach Party (1964) and Chuka (1967). [9] She co-starred in the 1969 women in prison film 99 Women , [10] and as a Southern belle in the 1974 Hollywood drama The Klansman (with her voice dubbed by American actress Joanna Moore), again for Terence Young.

Television

In 1959–60, Paluzzi appeared with David Hedison in the short-lived espionage television series, Five Fingers . She appeared with Tab Hunter in an episode of The Tab Hunter Show in 1960. In 1962 she played a murderous wife in an episode of Thriller titled "Flowers of Evil". In 1964 she played the villainess in an episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. , as the seductive THRUSH agent Angela in the first-season episode "The Four Steps Affair" and in the movie version of the show's pilot episode, To Trap a Spy . [11] In 1966 she played Baroness Carla Montaglia in Season 3, Episode 3 "Face of a Shadow" in Twelve O'Clock High . [12] Also in 1966, she played Greek bar owner Tuesday Hajadakis in the premiere episode of The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. . [13] In 1967 she played the seductive foreign agent Marla Valemska in "Matchless," the premiere episode of Mr. Terrific . In 1971 Paluzzi appeared as a special guest star in "Powderkeg," the pilot movie for the CBS TV series, Bearcats! . In 1978 she portrayed journalist Liana Labella in the Hawaii Five-O episode "My Friend, the Enemy". Also starred in Bonanza, 'The Dowry', in 1962.

Personal life

Paluzzi with husband Michael Jay Solomon (2016) Luciana Paluzzi with husband Michael Jay Solomon.jpeg
Paluzzi with husband Michael Jay Solomon (2016)

In 1960, Paluzzi married actor Brett Halsey, who had just left his marriage with Renate Hoy, an actress and Miss Germany of 1954. The two co-starred as a newlywed couple in the film, Return to Peyton Place . The couple had one son, Christian, and after they divorced in 1962 Halsey married Heidi Brühl. [14]

During the 1960s and 1970s, Paluzzi had a long-term relationship with Tony Anthony, with whom she appeared in the films Wounds of Hunger and Come Together . Her work in Japan on The Green Slime inspired Anthony to write and produce the hybrid Spaghetti Western-jidaigeki film The Silent Stranger . [15]

In 1979, Paluzzi married her current husband, American media mogul Michael Jay Solomon, who had founded Michael Jay Solomon Film International in 1977, co-founded Telepictures Corporation in 1978 and in 1985 became president of Warner Bros. International Television, and she moved to New York to live with her husband. [16] [17] [18] [19] The marriage caused her to end her film career. [17] In 1980, she became sales representative of Canale 5 and it:Reteitalia in the United States, which she characterized as a very quiet job, and followed her husband on his international travels. [17] [20]

Paluzzi and her husband also resided at an exclusive clifftop estate on the Pacific Ocean in Jalisco, Mexico, known as "Casa Dos Estrellas". [21] [22] The couple sold that estate in about 2005 to live in New York and Rome, to be close to family.

Selected filmography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bond girl</span> Female love interest and/or sidekick of James Bond

A Bond girl is a character who is a love interest, female companion or (occasionally) an adversary of James Bond in a novel, film, or video game. Bond girls occasionally have names that are double entendres or sexual puns, such as Plenty O'Toole, Holly Goodhead, or Xenia Onatopp. The female leads in the films, such as Ursula Andress, Honor Blackman, or Eva Green, can also be referred to as "Bond girls". The term Bond girl may also be considered as an anachronism, with some female cast members in the films preferring the designation Bond woman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lois Maxwell</span> Canadian actress (1927–2007)

Lois Ruth Maxwell was a Canadian actress. She was best known for portraying Miss Moneypenny in the first 14 Eon-produced James Bond films (1962–85), from Dr. No in 1962 to A View to a Kill in 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terence Young (director)</span> British film director and screenwriter (1915–1994)

Stewart Terence Herbert Young was a British film director and screenwriter who worked in the United Kingdom, Europe and Hollywood. He is best known for directing three James Bond films: the first two films in the series, Dr. No (1962) and From Russia with Love (1963), and Thunderball (1965). His other films include the Audrey Hepburn thrillers Wait Until Dark (1967) and Bloodline (1979), the historical drama Mayerling (1968), the infamous Korean War epic Inchon (1981), and the Charles Bronson films Cold Sweat (1970), Red Sun (1971), and The Valachi Papers (1972).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claudine Auger</span> French actress (1941–2019)

Claudine Auger was a French actress best known for her role as a Bond girl, Dominique "Domino" Derval, in the James Bond film Thunderball (1965). She earned the title of Miss France Monde 1958 and went on to finish as the first runner-up in the 1958 Miss World contest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joanna Pettet</span> English and Canadian actress (born 1942)

Joanna Pettet is a British-born Canadian former actress.

<i>The Klansman</i> 1974 film by Terence Young

The Klansman is a 1974 American drama film based on the 1967 book of the same name by William Bradford Huie. It was directed by Terence Young and starred Lee Marvin, Richard Burton, Cameron Mitchell, Lola Falana, Luciana Paluzzi, David Huddleston, Linda Evans and O. J. Simpson in his film debut.

Michael Reed, BSC was a British cinematographer who worked on films and TV shows from the 1950s to 1980s, including Dracula: Prince of Darkness and Shout at the Devil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martine Beswick</span> English actress and model (born 1941)

Martine Beswick is a Jamaican-born British actress and model perhaps best known for her roles in two James Bond films, From Russia with Love (1963) and Thunderball (1965), who went on to appear in several other notable films in the 1960s. In 2019, she was inducted into the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards' Monster Kid Hall of Fame.

<i>The Green Slime</i> 1968 film by Kinji Fukasaku

The Green Slime is a 1968 tokusatsu science fiction film directed by Kinji Fukasaku and produced by Walter Manley and Ivan Reiner. It was written by William Finger, Tom Rowe and Charles Sinclair from a story by Reiner. The film was shot in Japan with a Japanese director and film crew, but with the non-Japanese cast of Robert Horton, Richard Jaeckel and Luciana Paluzzi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brett Halsey</span> American actor

Brett Halsey is an American film actor, sometimes credited as Montgomery Ford. He appeared in B pictures and in European-made feature films. He originated the role of John Abbott on the soap opera The Young and the Restless.

<i>Thunderball</i> (film) 1965 James Bond spy film by Terence Young

Thunderball is a 1965 spy film and the fourth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is an adaptation of the 1961 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original screenplay by Jack Whittingham devised from a story conceived by Kevin McClory, Whittingham, and Fleming. It was the third and final Bond film to be directed by Terence Young, with its screenplay by Richard Maibaum and John Hopkins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheree Winton</span> English actress (1935–1976)

Shirley June "Sheree" Winton was an English actress, and the mother of television presenter Dale Winton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Grazia Buccella</span> Italian actress (born 1940)

Maria Grazia Buccella is an Italian actress, glamour model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Italia 1959 and represented her country at Miss Universe 1959.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gloria Paul</span> Retired British film actress (b. 1940)

Gloria Paul is a British retired film actress and dancer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurospy film</span> Genre of spy films

Eurospy film, or Spaghetti spy film, is a genre of spy films produced in Europe, especially in Italy, France, and Spain, that either sincerely imitated or else parodied the British James Bond spy series feature films. The first wave of Eurospy films was released in 1964, two years after the first James Bond film, Dr. No, and in the same year as the premiere of what many consider to be the apotheosis of the Bond series, Goldfinger. For the most part, the Eurospy craze lasted until around 1967 or 1968. In Italy, where most of these films were produced, this trend replaced the declining sword-and-sandal genre.

<i>The Italian Connection</i> 1972 poliziottesco film directed by Fernando Di Leo

The Italian Connection is a 1972 noir-thriller film directed and co-written by Fernando Di Leo; starring Mario Adorf, Henry Silva, Woody Strode, Adolfo Celi, Luciana Paluzzi, Francesca Romana Coluzzi, Sylva Koscina, and Cyril Cusack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BSA Lightning</span> Type of motorcycle

The BSA Lightning is a British BSA 650 cc-class motorcycle made in Birmingham between 1965 and 1972.

<i>To Trap a Spy</i> 1964 film by Don Medford

To Trap a Spy is the feature-length film version of the 70-minute television pilot of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. starring Robert Vaughn. It also features Patricia Crowley, William Marshall, Fritz Weaver, and David McCallum. The film was directed by Don Medford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiona Volpe</span> Fictional character

Fiona Volpe is a character in the James Bond film Thunderball, played by actress Luciana Paluzzi. Paluzzi originally auditioned for the role of Domino Vitali in the film, but was given the role of Volpe. The character does not appear in the novel, and was originally an Irish woman, but was changed to match Paluzzi's Italian ethnicity: "Volpe" is Italian for "fox".

References

  1. ↑ Aaker, Everett (2006). Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters: All Regular Cast Members in American Crime and Mystery Series, 1948–1959. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 435. ISBN   978-0-7864-2476-4 . Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  2. 1 2 Luciana Paluzzi and Martha Guptill (2016). LUCIANA PALUZZI – Bond Girl Extraordinaire (video stream). 2016 Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention in Hunt Valley, MD: Bill Guptill. Event occurs at 01:14. Retrieved 5 March 2019.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  3. ↑ Lloyd, Ann; Fuller, Graham; Desser, Arnold (1983). The Illustrated Who's Who of the Cinema. Orbis Publishing. p. 338. ISBN   978-0-85613-521-7 . Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  4. ↑ Mayer, Geoff (2003). Guide to British Cinema. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 122. ISBN   978-0-313-30307-4 . Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  5. ↑ Noble, Peter (1976). Screen International Film and TV Year Book. Screen International, King Publications Limited. p. 124. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  6. 1 2 Stathos, Enrico (3 March 1965). "Viaggia su una moto lanciarazzi la nuova nemica dell' <<agente 007>>". Stampa Sera: 5. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  7. ↑ Hyatt, Wesley (2015). Short-Lived Television Series, 1948–1978: Thirty Years of More Than 1,000 Flops. McFarland. p. 101. ISBN   978-1-4766-0515-9 . Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  8. ↑ Video on YouTube
  9. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (9 December 2024). "Beach Party Movies Part 2: The Boom". Filmink. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  10. ↑ Toledo Blade, 6 June 1969
  11. ↑ "IMDb profile of Luciana Paluzzi". IMDb. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  12. ↑ ""12 O'Clock High" Face of a Shadow (TV Episode 1966)". IMDb .
  13. ↑ "The Dog-Gone Affair". IMDB. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  14. ↑ "Luciana Paluzzi". Flickr. 4 June 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  15. ↑ Bayless, Jason (17 February 2010). "The Tony Anthony Interview – Re-broadcast". Zombie Popcorn Radio. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  16. ↑ United States Information Agency (1990). "michael+jay+solomon" Points of Light. pp. 68–69. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  17. 1 2 3 (Anonymous) (23 June 1982). "Luciana Paluzzi diventa manager. Non reciterà più". Stampa Sera (in Italian): 28. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  18. ↑ Unknown (October 1981). "Unknown". Broadcasting. Broadcasting Publications. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  19. ↑ Serafini, Dom. "Michael J. Solomon: A Master Salesman For Hollywood and a Marketing Genius". VideoAge International. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  20. ↑ Television/radio Age. Television Editorial Corporation. 1981. p. 59. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  21. ↑ "The Mexican villa of actress Luciana Paluzzi". mi6-hq.com. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  22. ↑ Casa Dos Estrellas – Costa Careyes Luxury Mansion Archived 23 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine (per 3 November 2013)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.