03.07
Who was born on this date:
Actress Anna Magnani was born on March 7, 1908 in Rome. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Rose Tatoo (1955). She was referred to as “La Lupa,” the “perennial toast of Rome” and a “living she-wolf symbol” of the cinema. Her film career had spread over almost 20 years before she gained international renown as Pina in Roberto Rossellini’s Roma (1945). She fell in love with Rossellini and as artists they complemented each other well while working on neorealist films. Eventually he promised to direct her in a film he was preparing which he told her would be “the crowning vehicle of her career”. However, when the screenplay was completed, he instead gave the role for Stromboli to Ingrid Bergman, which resulted in Magnani’s permanent breakup with Rossellini. Magnani died on September 23, 1973 from pancreatic cancer and is buried at Cimitero Comunale in Lazio, Italy.
