Alessandra Martines (born 19 September 1963) is an Italian French dancer and actress mainly working in the English-, French-, and Italian-speaking worlds. 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.

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.

She was awarded numerous prizes including the Best Actress Telegatto for The Cave of the Golden Rose (1991), the Grolla d'oro for (2005), 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) or the 2009 European Golden Globe in Rome. In 2008, she was made Knight of the Ordre national du Mérite awarded by the President of the French Republic. She received the lifetime achievement Kineo Award at the 71st Venice International Film Festival in 2014.

Early life Second cousin of Carla Bruni and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, 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.

Career Martines debuted at a young age as a dancer at the Zurich Opera House in 1972. 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. 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.

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.

Personal life 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.

Stage

Dancer Year Company Director1972Ballett ZürichPatricia Neary 1975New York City BalletGeorge Balanchine –Chicago BalletMaria Tallchief & Paul Mejia –Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (Fedra (Mayr) & Carmen)Maïa Plissetskaïa –Opéra de MarseilleRoland PetitTeatro Lirico Giuseppe VerdiRoland Petit

Theatre Year Play Playwright Director1987–1988 Adriana LecouvreurAn 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 Bolognini1988–1989The ApartmentBilly WilderFranca Valeri2016Lady Windermere's FanOscar Wilde – Mrs. Erlynne – / France national tour: 3 September – 31 December 2016.

Filmography

Cinema Year Film Role Director1988 Miss Arizona Marta Pál Sándor1989 Sinbad of the Seven Seas Alina Enzo G. Castellari, Luigi Cozzi Jole Gianfrancesco Lazotti Elisa Sergio Sollima1993 Tout ça... pour ça! Allessandra Barrucq Claude Lelouch1995 Les Misérables Elise Ziman Claude Lelouch1996 Men, Women: A User's Manual Doctor Nitez Claude Lelouch1998 Chance or Coincidence Miriam Lini Claude Lelouch1999 One 4 All Maxime Claude Lelouch2001 Day Off Francesca Socoa Pascal Thomas J'ai faim !!! Anaïs Pommard Florence Quentin2002 Amnèsia Virginie Gabriele Salvatores And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen Françoise Claude Lelouch2004 Le genre humain – 1ère partie: Les Parisiens Herself Claude Lelouch2005 Le courage d'aimer Alessandra Claude Lelouch2007 L'Heure Zéro Marie-Adeline Pascal Thomas2008 Love Me No More Marion Dange Jean Becker2011 Louise Soubirous Jean Sagols2017 Sonia Stern Franck Florino

Television Year Film Role Director1988 1991 Fantaghirò Fantaghirò Lamberto Bava1992 Processo di famiglia Giovanni Fabbri Fantaghirò 2 Fantaghirò Lamberto Bava1993 Fantaghirò 3 Fantaghirò Lamberto Bava Colpo di coda Paola José María Sánchez1994 Fantaghirò 4 Fantaghirò Lamberto Bava1996 Fantaghirò 5 Fantaghirò Lamberto Bava2003 Quelques jours entre nous Juliette 2004 Saint John Bosco: Mission to Love Marchesa Barolo 2005–2010 Caterina e le sue figlie Adele Parisi Several2005 Giulia Stefano Reali Edda Ciano Giorgio Capitani2006 L'onore e il rispetto Francesca De Santis Alessio Inturri, Luigi Parisi, Salvatore Samperi2008 Ortensia Damiani Luciano Odorisio, Luigi Parisi, Salvatore Samperi2009 La reine et le cardinal Anne of Austria Marc Rivière L'onore e il rispetto Francesca De Santis Luigi Parisi, Salvatore Samperi Clémentine 2011 Inspector Rex Malice Bonomi Marco Serafini 2012 Le Romancier Martin 2014 Luciana Belgrano Alessio Inturri2016Françoise Leroux

Presenter or Jury member Year Film Role Director2011Danse avec les stars (French version of Strictly Come Dancing)Jury member for season 1 & season 2.TF1 – several.2013–2014Jury member for season 1 & season 2.TF1 – several.

References

External links