Franca Valeri, timeless icon of Italian cinema, radio, TV and theater turns 100. A woman witnessing an extremely prolific era from the point of view of innovation that the new media have been able to bring in the decades following the war and who in 2020 was awarded the David di Donatello for her career, in celebration of her centenary.
Franca Valeri has created a classic repertoire of theatrical, then radio, film and television characters, who represent the “masks” inextricably linked to her name, from the "signorina snob" up to "sora Cecioni". But her characters are born from a professional story that saw her start very young, when despite the opposition of her father, who disapproved of the profession of actress (reason for the artistic surname Valeri in spite of Norsa), she grew up attending the theater of prose and also passionate about musical opera theater.
Theater is a prelude to her arrival in the cinema which takes place in the fifties with her first commitment in Federico Fellini’s Luci del varietà which will be followed by a series of films with Alberto Sordi and Totò. In the sixties, in addition to the various comedies directed by her first husband Vittorio Caprioli, Franca Valeri becomes a real pillar of some of the most-known Rai variety directed by Antonello Falqui (from Studio Uno to Sabato Sera). In the following decades takes part in several scripted for TV, from Le avventure della villeggiatura, passing through Norma e Felice with Gino Bramieri, to the TV series Caro Maestro with Marco Columbro, up to Come quando fuori piove directed by Mario Monicelli and Linda e il Brigadiere with her friend and colleague Nino Manfredi.
On Valeri's 100th anniversary (31 July 2020), journalist and long-time television author Aldo Dalla Vecchia, dedicates an intensive and passionate tribute to her. In the book "Viva la Franca - Il secolo lieve della Signorina Snob" Dalla Vecchia, through a pleasant and captivating writing, retraces the main stages of this timeless icon.
In addition, Italian TV channel owned by Mediaset Cine34 will dedicate the entire today's evening programming to her. It starts at 20:55 with a special edited by TG5 journalist Anna Praderio and continues with two cult films: Parigi o caro and Il bigamo.