Eleonora Giorgi

Eleonora Giorgi (21 October 1953 – 3 March 2025) was an Italian actress and film director.

Biography

Giorgi was born in Rome, Italy. Her father was of Italian and English origin. Her mother was of Italian and Hungarian origin.

She made her film debut in a minor role in Paolo Cavara's horror film Black Belly of the Tarantula (1970) and subsequently appeared in nearly fifty films, mostly in prominent roles. She first starred in Domenico Paolella's Story of a Cloistered Nun (1973), an important nunsploitation, at age eighteen. She then took part in The Kiss, a fantasy drama directed by Mario Lanfranchi, and in erotic comedies such as Salvatore Samperi's La sbandata (1974), in which she plays near Domenico Modugno and Luciana Paluzzi, Luciano Salce's Alla mia cara mamma nel giorno del suo compleanno (1974), Pasquale Festa Campanile's The Sex Machine (U.S. title: Love and Energy) (1975) and Gianluigi Calderone's Appassionata, that definitively gained her the public acclaim.

Roles in movies like Franco Brusati's To Forget Venice (1979), Dario Argento's Inferno (1980), Nino Manfredi's Portrait of a Woman, Nude (1981), and Liliana Cavani's Beyond the Door (1982) are some of her most known and remarkable dramatic performances but in the beginning of the eighties, Giorgi decides to rejoin comedy. She's near Adriano Celentano in Velvet Hands and Grand Hotel Excelsior; for her performance in Carlo Verdone's Talcum Powder (1982), she won the Nastro d'Argento award and David di Donatello award for Best Actress.

In 2003, Giorgi wrote and directed her first film Uomini & donne, amori & bugie (U.S. title: Love, Lies, Kids... & Dogs), with Ornella Muti.

After suffering of pancreatic cancer since late 2023, Giorgi died on March 3, 2025, aged 71.

Filmography

• Story of a Cloistered Nun, directed by Domenico Paolella (1973)
• Appassionata, directed by Gianluigi Calderone (1974)
• The Kiss, directed by Mario Lanfranchi (1974)
• Alla mia cara mamma nel giorno del suo compleanno, directed by Luciano Salce (1974)
• La sbandata, directed by Alfredo Malfatti (supervised by Salvatore Samperi) (1974)
• The Sex Machine, directed by Pasquale Festa Campanile (1975)
• Dog's Heart, directed by Alberto Lattuada (1975)
• Young, Violent, Dangerous, directed by Romolo Guerrieri (1976)
• And Agnes Chose to Die, directed by Giuliano Montaldo (1976)
• Born Winner, directed by Aldo Lado (1976)
• Ready for Anything, directed by Giorgio Stegani (1977)
• A Spiral of Mist, directed by Eriprando Visconti (1977)
• Ca fait tilt, directed by Andrè Hunebelle (1977)
• Suggestionata, directed by Alfredo Rizzo (1978)
• Safari Rally, directed by Bitto Albertini (1978)
• To Forget Venice, directed by Franco Brusati (1979)
• A Man on His Knees, directed by Damiano Damiani (1979)
• Velvet Hands, directed by Castellano & Pipolo (1980)
• Inferno, directed by Dario Argento (1980)
• Mia moglie è una strega, directed by Castellano & Pipolo (1980)
• Portrait of a Woman, Nude, directed by Nino Manfredi (1981)
• Talcum Powder, directed by Carlo Verdone (1982)
• Beyond the Door, directed by Liliana Cavani (1982)
• Grand Hotel Excelsior, directed by Castellano & Pipolo (1983)
• Mani di fata, directed by Steno (1983)
• Sapore di mare 2 – Un anno dopo, directed by Bruno Cortini (1983)
• Vediamoci chiaro, directed by Luciano Salce (1984)
• Giovanni Senzapensieri, Marco Colli (1986)
• Compagni di scuola, Carlo Verdone (1988)
• Il volpone, directed by Maurizio Ponzi (1988)
• SoloMetro, directed by Marco Cucurnia (2007)
• My Father Jack (2016)
• Attesa e Cambiamenti (2016)

Discography

• "Quale appuntamento/Messaggio Personale" – Dischi Ricordi (1981)