Sharjah24 – AFP: Monica Vitti, one of Italy's most beloved actresses, celebrated for both her wit and beauty and famed as the muse of Michelangelo Antonioni, has died aged 90.
"Goodbye Monica Vitti, goodbye queen of Italian cinema. Today is a truly sad day, we have lost a great artist and a great Italian," Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said Wednesday.
Vitti shot to international fame with the 1960 drama "L'Avventura" ("The Adventure") in which she plays a tormented woman who dallies with the lover of her missing friend.
Born in Rome on November 3, 1931, Vitti -- real name Maria Luisa Ceciarelli -- discovered her passion for the theatre during World War Two, when she entertained her family with puppets to relieve boredom.
"As the bombs fell, when we had to take refuge in the shelters, my little brother and I would improvise little plays to entertain those around us," she later recounted.
After graduating from Rome's National Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1953, she began her career in the theatre, revealing a natural comic talent.
Vitti -- who stood out from her Italian contemporaries such as Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida for her raspy voice, freckles and mane of blond hair -- was eventually spotted by Antonioni, with whom she quickly developed an artistic and sentimental relationship.
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