Silvana Mangano

Silvana Mangano died of lung cancer in Madrid, Spain, at 59 years of age. Mary Miles Minter has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to Motion Pictures, at 1724 Vine St. Married to Bitter Rice producer Dino De Laurentiis, Mangano had four children, one of whom, daughter Raffaela, coproduced with his father the Mangano's next-to-last film Dune (David Lynch, 1984). She died from heart failure in Santa Monica, California. Though she never scaled the heights of her contemporaries Sophia Loren and Lollobrigida, Mangano remained a favorite star between the 1950s and 1970s, appearing in Anna (Alberto Lattuada, 1951), The Gold of Naples (L' Oro di Napoli, Vittorio De Sica, 1954), Mambo (Robert Rossen, 1955), Theorem (Teorema, Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1968), and Death in Venice (Morte a Venezia, Luchino Visconti, 1971). She commented that she had never been happy with her Hollywood career and was content to live without it. This led her to a movie contract, though it would take sometime for Mangano to ascend to international stardom with her stunning performance in Bitter Rice (Riso Amaro, Giuseppe De Santis, 1949). She left Hollywood and lived the rest of her life in obscurity.

Mangano's earliest connection with filmmaking occurred through her romantic relationship with actor Marcello Mastroianni. The studio terminated her contract as soon as it became clear that her reputation had been destroyed. One year later she was one of the girls in the Miss Italia contest. Potential actress Lucia Bose became "The Queen", among Mangano and some other future stars of Italian cinema like as Gina Lollobrigida, Eleonora Rossi Drago and Gianna Maria Canale. She made two more films after this, but her public had rejected her. In 1946, at 16, Mangano won the Miss Rome beauty pageant. Minter was at the height of her success, having starred in more than 50 films and the revelation of her association with Taylor caused a sensation. She was born in Rome, Italy. Trained as a dancer, she was supporting herself as a model. The ensuing scandal was the subject of widespread media speculation, and as allegations about Taylor's questionable past began to circulate, it was revealed that several intimate letters written by Minter had been found in his house after his death.

Silvana Mangano (April 21, 1930 - December 16, 1989) was the most sexy actress of Italy's neo-realistic period. In 1922 Taylor was murdered in his home. A close relationship developed between them and Minter began to distance herself from her mother. Her first film for director William Desmond Taylor was Anne of Green Gables in 1919, and Taylor actively promoted Minter as a star of great potential. Minter specialised in playing demure and innocent young girls, and with her gentle features and curly hair, both emulated and rivalled Mary Pickford.

Changing her name to Mary Miles Minter, she made her first film in 1915 and over the next few years steadily built her career. Until the age of 15, she was rarely unemployed and was greatly admired for both her talent and her beauty. Her mother pushed her towards a stage career, and by the age of 5 she had appeared in her first play. Born Juliet Reilly in Shreveport, Louisiana, she was the daughter of an ambitious but unsuccessful actress named Charlotte Shelby.

Mary Miles Minter (April 1, 1902 - August 4, 1984) was a US film actress in silent films.