Laura Betti
Date of birth: 1927-05-01
Place of birth: Casalecchio di Reno, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Known for: Acting
Also known as: ラウラ・ベッティ, Laura Trombetti
Biography
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.
Movie Credits
Fat Girl
2001-03-07
Anaïs is twelve and bears the weight of the world on her shoulders. She watches her older sister, El
1900
1976-08-28
The epic tale of a class struggle in twentieth century Italy, as seen through the eyes of two childh
Happiness Costs Nothing
2003-01-31
A man in his forties has had enough. He leaves his loveless family, uninspiring job and fake friends
Theorem
1968-09-07
A wealthy Italian household is turned upside down when a handsome stranger arrives, seduces every fa
A Bay of Blood
1971-09-08
An elderly heiress is killed by her husband who wants control of her fortunes. What ensues is an all
The Canterbury Tales
1972-09-02
Glimpses of Chaucer penning his famous work are sprinkled through this re-enactment of several of hi
Raul - Right to Kill
2005-04-15
In a fascist Rome anxiously awaiting Hitler's visit, Raul is a young man not aligned with the regim
Hatchet for the Honeymoon
1970-06-02
A madman haunted by the ghost of his ex-wife carves a corpse-laden trail.
The Night of Varennes
1982-05-15
During the French Revolution, a surprising company shares a coach, trying to catch up something - th
Far from Manhattan
1982-01-27
Christian, an art critic, must write a study on the painter René Dimanche in order to understand why
Mother Ebe
1985-04-08
Based on the story of the woman recently brought to trial on charges of moral plagiarism and witchcr
Private Vices, Public Virtues
1976-05-06
The setting is a Central European kingdom, near the turn of the century. Bored by his very proper wi
At Night All Cats Are Crazy
1977-11-23
Playwright Charles Watson entertains his niece Lily by telling her about the adventures of Philibert
Allonsanfan
1974-09-06
After the 1815 Restoration, an aging revolutionary finds himself reluctantly involved in an attempte
Paulina Is Leaving
1969-09-01
Paulina leaves the apartment where she lives with her two brothers, Nicolas and Olivier. Her departu
The Great Pumpkin
1993-02-10
An epileptic 12-year-old girl, Pippi, is hospitalized in the psychiatric ward instead of the neurolo
Butterfly on the Shoulder
1978-05-03
On a stopover in Barcelona, Fériaud Roland discovers a corpse in the hotel room next door. He wakes
Blame it on Paradise
1985-12-19
A former convict discovers that his son has been adopted by a couple living on the mountains and tri
Mario, Maria and Mario
1993-12-05
Mario and Maria Boschi, a 30-year-old couple with small children, are hit by a crisis: husband and w
Escape by Night
1960-07-31
In Nazi-occupied Rome, a beautiful bootlegger, to the chagrin of her lover, gives sanctuary to three
Lovers and Liars
1979-01-05
An American actress on vacation in Italy falls for her friend's married Italian lover.
Marianna Ucrìa
1997-08-13
In 18th-century Sicily, deaf-mute highborn Marianna Ucrìa is forced to marry at age 13, bearing thre
The Woman with Red Boots
1974-12-11
An elderly millionaire manipulates an avant-garde writer and a happily married man.
The Gang
1977-01-19
In 1945, as World War Two comes to a close, five small time crooks unite to form a gang. After sever
La ribelle
1993-08-20
Enza is a beautiful and lively Sicilian teenager who is starting out in life, but due to her naivety
Orgy
1968-11-27
The tragic and self-destructive sexual battle between a man and his wife. A drama for the desperate
Fratella e Sorello
2005-06-01
The story of an unlikely friendship between two men: Giocondo, a wealthy upper middle class man pass
We Free Kings
1996-12-20
Three tumblers wander throughout Italy with their show. A priest asks them to perform the Three King
Widow's Walk
1987-12-02
Molinat is assigned to the case of a man found with a bullet in his ear on the shore of a little Atl
The Witches
1967-02-22
Five short stories loosely dealing with the roles of women in society. A superstar actress travels t
Suffocating Heat
1991-08-26
On June 30, 1990, in Rome, Marie Christine is getting ready to take her son Pietro and Paolo to thei
I cammelli
1988-09-19
Ferruccio, who knows everything about camels, and Camillo, who acts as his manager, go to Milan to t
Oedipus Rex
1967-09-07
In pre-war Italy, a young couple have a baby boy. The father, however, is jealous of his son - and t
Caprice Italian Style
1968-04-13
The film consists of six short stories created by different directors, but all the stories share one
Pier Paolo Pasolini : vivre et encore plus
1976-02-03
Portrait of the most rebellious of directors, Pier Paolo Pasolini. The artist marked his time by cre
The Seagull
1977-07-02
A young writer is trapped between his awful actress mother and the knowledge that he has only a medi
Marx Can Wait
2021-07-15
"Marx can wait" was something Camillo Bellocchio said to his twin Marco the last time they met befor
Whoever Says the Truth Shall Die
1981-02-28
Philo Bregstein tells us this film looks at Pasolini's life and art to explain why he died. The film
Le rose blu
1990-02-01
Class Relations
1984-02-21
A young man, recently arrived in New York from Europe, becomes swept up in a series of events that a
Renzo e Lucia
2004-01-13
Loose adaptation of Italy's national epic, Alessandro Manzoni's “The Betrothed”. In war-torn 17th ce
Un eroe borghese
1995-03-03
An intriguing look at a sinister web of power,linking politics and the mafia in modern day Italy.
The Protagonists
1999-09-10
An Italian movie crew goes to London to make a documentary about a murder case that took place a few
Stop the World... I Want to Get Off!
1970-10-08
Young protesters live together in a commune in Milano. One has a ventriloquist ability and is signed
Jane B. by Agnès V.
1988-03-02
The interests, obsessions, and fantasies of two singular artists converge in this inspired collabora
The Defective Detective
1984-10-31
Lewis plays a Las Vegas policeman visiting his ex-wife in France, only to be caught up in the shenan
Red Lips
1960-05-14
A lawyer heads out on the road in an attempt to find his daughter who has been missing for quite som
Gallant Ladies
1990-11-14
Despite being busy with his profession of soldiery, Brantome manages to find much more time for amor
The Carpathian Mushroom
1990-03-07
A miraculous mushroom is discovered by a film director's daughter.It would be used to cure an actres
The Return
1973-09-30
A man receives a telegram that his father is dying, and travels with his wife to his hometown. They
Laura's Passion
2011-10-29
A portrait of Laura Betti with archival footage and stories of friends: Bernardo Bertolucci remember
The Beaches of Agnès
2008-12-17
Filmmaking icon Agnès Varda, the award-winning director regarded by many as the grandmother of the F
Gli astronomi
2003-01-01
Art of Love
1983-12-07
Young student Claudine has a dream in which the Roman student Cornelius, fascinated by the beautiful
Pasolini and the Secret Humiliation of Chaucer
2006-06-30
Documentary about the making of Pier Paolo Pasolini's The Canterbury Tales (1972), and particularly
With Closed Eyes
1994-11-22
In the Tuscan countryside at the end of the 19th century, Pietro, the shy son of a tyrannical landow
Sweets from a Stranger
1987-04-24
A serial killer is terrifying the prostitutes in a big Italian city. After few barbaric murdering fo
In the Name of the Father
1971-10-12
In 1958 Angelo, a rich and spoiled boy, enters a religious school, where students are tired of its v
The Murri Affair
1974-09-28
Based on a true incident, this tells the story of a troubled young man who kills his sister's reacti
My Name Is Anna Magnani
1980-09-30
Traces the life of Anna Magnani, her creations, her successes, her triumphs, her boycotted career, h
Slap the Monster on Page One
1972-10-19
Days before the general election, after a girl from a rich family is murdered in an attempted rape,
Einzelzimmer
1979-05-13
The Earth As Seen from the Moon
1967-02-22
Ciancicato Miao and his son, after the death of his wife and mother by mushroom poisoning, are dedic
Ro.Go.Pa.G.
1963-02-19
Four short films by four different directors dealing with the principles of modern life.
What Are the Clouds?
1968-04-12
Some puppets come to life in a theater with no windows. This time the puppets interpret William Shak
Ecco
1963-11-15
A documentary highlighting some of the oddest, strangest and more grotesque examples of human behavi
Pasolini, el poeta en la playa
2000-11-30
The Cousin
1974-07-26
Italian coming of age story about two cousins, Enzo and Agata, told in three stages.
A Man Called Sledge
1970-11-14
James Garner is Luther Sledge, the leader of a pack of rebels who are planning to steal a stash of g
The Little Archimedes
1980-03-07
The action takes place in Florence in the 1930s. Alfred, an Englishman who moved to that city in ord
Household Accounts
2003-03-07
Period mystery about a young cook who's accused of killing her wealthy husband.
La Dolce Vita
1960-02-05
Episodic journey of journalist Marcello who struggles to find his place in the world, torn between t
Woman Buried Alive
1973-01-01
Duke Philippe marries Cristina, the daughter of a fisherman. But his brothers, seeing that they wou
Sonny and Jed
1972-08-11
As thoroughly unlikeable a robber as ever walked the West, Joe nonetheless robs from the rich and gi
RARA
1969-05-30
In all of his work, Bussotti makes frequent reference to the body, to sexuality. This to remind musi
Il diario di Matilde Manzoni
2002-09-27
Abicinema
1975-08-09
Maresco / Pasolini
2021-05-05
Franco Maresco celebrates the heritage of Pier Paolo Pasolini on the 99th anniversary of his birth t
Jenatsch
1987-06-01
A journalist is assigned to interview an eccentric anthropologist who has exhumed the skeleton of Jö
Noi siamo le colonne
1956-12-29
The adventures of three university students who live in the same boarding house. Ugo, the most serio
Venise en hiver
1982-10-22
Based on Emmanuel Roblès' book of the same name
The Last Day of School Before Christmas
1975-03-20
On the Apennines of Emilia in 1944 three fascists stop and seize a battered bus carrying several wom