Lyda Roberti

Roberti died from a heart attack while bending to tie her shoelace. 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 began to work less frequently although two days before her death she performed a radio show with Al Jolson. After several years battling her cancer, Delia Scala died in 2004 in Livorno, Tuscany. Roberti replaced Thelma Todd in a couple of films after the death of Todd, but her health was failing due to heart disease. Although Scala achieved great fame, life was not easy and she was diagnosed with breast cancer, undergoing a radical mastectomy. In Roberta (1935), Ginger Rogers played the role that Roberti had originated on Broadway, with reviewers commenting that Rogers' performance was a completely accurate imitation of Roberti's idiosyncratic speech and mannerisms. She ultimately married Piero Giannotti, but he was killed in a bicycle mishap.

She found success as a comedienne and was also popular as a singer on radio. However, he died in 1957 when his Ferrari crashed while attempting a speed record at the Modena racetrack. Her sexy but playful characterisations, along the unusual accent she had acquired during her years in Europe and Asia, made her popular with audiences. During the mid 1950s she gained much publicity for her relationship with Formula One racecar driver Eugenio Castellotti. She moved to Hollywood and during the 1930s played in a string of films. She starred in several variety shows during the 50s and 60s, and became one of her country's most beloved TV showgirls. She made her Broadway debut in You Said It in 1931, and with its success became an overnight sensation. In 1956, she began a career in television, an industry that at the time in Italy was still in its infancy.

They moved to the United States in the late 1920s where Roberti began singing in nightclubs. She performed in numerous ballets until World War II, after which she began appearing in motion pictures using the stage name, Delia Scala. As the family toured Europe and Asia, Roberti's mother left her husband, settling in Shanghai, China where the younger Roberti earned money singing. 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. Born in Warsaw, Poland, Roberti was the daughter of a clown and as a child performed in the circus as a trapeze artist, and as a singer on vaudeville. Delia Scala, born September 25, 1929 - died January 15, 2004, was an Italian ballerina and actress. Lyda Roberti (May 20, 1906 - March 12, 1938) was a film actress.