Franca Maria Norsa (31 July 1920 – 9 August 2020), known professionally as Franca Valeri, was an Italian actress.

Life and career

Born in Milan as Alma Franca Maria Norsa, she was able to survive the Holocaust in Milan with her non-Jewish mother due to a fake I.D. which purported that she was the illegitimate daughter of a gentleman from Pavia. Her father and brother were able to flee to Switzerland.

Norsa adopted the surname Valeri in the 1950s as an homage to French critic and poet Paul Valéry.

Valeri started her career on the radio, where she created the characters of Signorina Cesira and Signora Cecioni.[2] She co-starred in such films as The Sign of Venus and Il vedovo, although in the majority of her films, she appeared in supporting roles.

In the 1960s Valeri also frequently worked for Italian TV. Directed by Antonello Falqui, she starred in Studio Uno, Le divine and Sabato Sera.

In the 1980s and early 1990s she starred in a series of commercials for Pandoro Melegatti, which were well received and stretched over a number of years (pandoro being a seasonal product tied to the Christmas holidays).

During the 2005–2006 theatrical season, she performed her own monologue, La Vedova di Socrate ("Socrate's Widow"), and Les Bonnes, by Jean Genet. In January 2008, she played the role of Solange in Les Bonnes at Milan's Piccolo Teatro.

On 8 May 2020, Valeri received an Honorary David di Donatello Award.

Valeri turned 100 on July 31, 2020, and died few days later, on August 9, 2020.

Filmography

• Luci del varietà (1951) – Mitzy, Hungarian designer
• The Two Sergeants (1951)
• Toto in Color (1952) – Giulia Sofia
• Solo per te Lucia (1952)
• Villa Borghese (1953) – Elvira (segment Concorso di bellezza)
• Questi fantasmi (1954)
• Le signorine dello 04 (1955) – Carla, shift manager
• The Sign of Venus (1955) – Cesira
• Piccola posta (1955) – Lady Eva
• Il bigamo (1956) – Isolina Fornaciari
• Un eroe dei nostri tempi (1957) – De Ritis' widow
• Mariti in città (1957) – Olivetti
• La ragazza del palio (1958) – countess Bernardi
• Non perdiamo la testa (1959) – Beatrice
• Il moralista (1959) – Virginia
• Arrangiatevi! (1959) – Marisa 'Siberia'
• Il vedovo (1959) - Elvira Almiraghi
• Rocco and His Brothers (1960) – widow (uncredited)
• Mariti in pericolo (1960) – Gina
• Crimen (1960) – Giovanna Filonzi
• Leoni al sole (1961) – Giulia
• I motorizzati (1962) – Velia
• Parigi o cara (1962) – Delia Nesti
• Le motorizzate (1963)
• The Shortest Day (1963)
• Gli onorevoli (1963) – Bianca Sereni
• I cuori infranti (1963) – Fatma Angioj (segment La manina di Fatma)
• I maniaci (1964) – wife (segment Il pezzo antico)
• Io, io, io... e gli altri (1966) – journalist
• La ragazza del bersagliere (1967) – Bice Marinetti
• Scusi, facciamo l'amore? (1968) – Diraghi
• Basta guardarla (1970) – Pola Prima
• Nel giorno del Signore (1970) – Anticoli's widow
• Ettore lo fusto (1972) – Cassandra
• Ultimo tango a Zagarolo (1974) – (playing the role of a) film director
• La signora gioca bene a scopa? (1974) – Giulia Nascimbeni
• L'Italia s'è rotta (1976)
• Come ti rapisco il pupo (1976) – Dada
• La Bidonata (1977) – Giovanna Bronchi
• Grazie tante – Arrivederci (1977) – lady on the bus
• Tanto va la gatta al lardo... (1978) – Maria
• It's Not Me, It's Him (1980) – Carla Weiss
• Un amore in prima classe (1980) – Mrs. Della Rosa
• Non ti riconosco più amore (1980) – Maritza
• Paulo Roberto Cotechiño centravanti di sfondamento (1983) – countess
• Tosca e le altre due (2003) – Emilia
• Alberto il grande (2013) – herself