Delia Scala

With the news of her passing, Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi called her a "model of vivaciousness and rigorous professionalism" and said she ranked among "the most beloved and popular artists in the history of Italian entertainment.". She is of no relation to actress Jean Stapleton. After several years battling her cancer, Delia Scala died in 2004 in Livorno, Tuscany. Her more recent appearances include Cocoon and Cocoon: The Return (1985 and 1988). Although Scala achieved great fame, life was not easy and she was diagnosed with breast cancer, undergoing a radical mastectomy. She was nominated again for Airport and Interiors (1978), and won for Reds (1981). She ultimately married Piero Giannotti, but he was killed in a bicycle mishap. Her film career also brought her immediate success, with her debut in Lonelyhearts (1958) earning her a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

However, he died in 1957 when his Ferrari crashed while attempting a speed record at the Modena racetrack. She won a second Tony Award for Neil Simon's The Gingerbread Lady in 1971. During the mid 1950s she gained much publicity for her relationship with Formula One racecar driver Eugenio Castellotti. She played in other Williams' productions Twenty-Seven Wagons Full of Cotton and Orpheus Descending, as well as Lillian Hellman's Toys in the Attic. She starred in several variety shows during the 50s and 60s, and became one of her country's most beloved TV showgirls. Stepping in as a replacement for Anna Magnani, Stapleton won a Tony Award for her role in Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo in 1951. In 1956, she began a career in television, an industry that at the time in Italy was still in its infancy. She has said that it was her infatuation with the actor Joel McCrea that led her into acting, and she made her Broadway debut in Burgess Meredith's production of The Playboy of the Western World in 1946.

She performed in numerous ballets until World War II, after which she began appearing in motion pictures using the stage name, Delia Scala. Stapleton began acting in theater after finishing high school, and rapidly gained respect as both a dramatic and comedic actress. Born Odette Bedogni in Bracciano, Lazio, Italy, as a young girl the family moved to Milan where she studied ballet at La Scala Ballet School for seven years. Lois Maureen Stapleton (born June 21, 1925 in Troy, New York) in an American theater and film actress. Delia Scala, born September 25, 1929 - died January 15, 2004, was an Italian ballerina and actress.