Silvana Pampanini facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Silvana Pampanini
Pampanini in 1952
Born	(1925-09-25)25 September 1925 Rome, Italy
Died	6 January 2016(2016-01-06) (aged 90) Rome, Italy
Occupation	Actress director
Years active	1946–2002

Silvana Pampanini (born September 25, 1925 – died January 6, 2016) was a famous Italian film actress, director, and singer. She was also related to Rosetta Pampanini, a well-known opera singer from a long time ago. Silvana became very popular after joining the Miss Italia contest in 1946. The next year, she started her career in movies.

Silvana Pampanini came from a wealthy family. She had a good education and studied opera and ballet when she was a child. She had a strong singing voice. However, she often said she preferred acting in movies. She felt it needed less training and was not as hard as being an opera singer.

Becoming a Beauty Queen

Silvana's singing teacher suggested she enter the 1946 Miss Italy contest. This contest had been stopped during the war. Silvana was tall, pretty, and confident. The audience loved her, but the judges chose another girl. The judges even had to hide and call the police because the audience was so upset!

A few days later, Silvana and the other contestant were on Italian radio. But the show ended quickly when they started arguing. Later, people sometimes wrongly called her "Miss Rome of 1947." A newspaper in 1952 said, "She is considered Italy's all-time beauty." After the war, many young film actresses in Italy were chosen from beauty contests. Because of her looks, Silvana was compared to famous actresses like Deanna Durbin and Jane Russell.

Her Amazing Film Career

Silvana had green eyes and long legs. She quickly became one of Italy's most popular movie stars. Early in their careers, both Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren appeared as extras in some of Silvana's films. Silvana usually had someone else speak her lines in movies. But she used her own voice when she sang. She could also speak French and Spanish well. She could sing, dance, and play the piano. She even recorded several songs. Some of her movies were shown in English-speaking countries with subtitles.

In 1952, Silvana made a public statement. She said that older Hollywood actors like Clark Gable were too old to play romantic roles. That same year, she was chosen to welcome Gregory Peck and Charlie Chaplin when they visited Rome. In 1953, she also met Humphrey Bogart and Claudette Colbert. They were filming in Italy at the time.

Two years later, Silvana traveled to New York City, Denver, and Los Angeles. She appeared on television but turned down offers from Hollywood. She was told she would need to study English for a long time. In California, she visited Universal and Paramount studios. There, she met famous people like Cecil B. De Mille, Yul Brynner, and Joan Crawford.

Silvana often acted as a glamorous ambassador for Italian movies and fashion. She traveled all over the world. This included places like Germany, Belgium, Russia, Japan, and South Africa. She often appeared on local TV shows. She also took part in many film festivals as a special guest. Wherever Silvana went, important people welcomed her. This included kings, presidents, and other leaders. She even met Popes Pius XII and John XXIII.

Silvana was very popular in France, where they called her Ninì Pampan. She was also popular in Spain and Latin America, especially in Mexico. In Mexico, she starred in three movies, including Sed de Amor with Pedro Armendáriz. Silvana was a strong-willed person. She sometimes had arguments with movie producers. This caused problems for her career. However, she still worked with many great actors and directors. These included Vittorio Gassman, Marcello Mastroianni, and Totò. She even turned down a role in a film by Federico Fellini. He had asked her to gain weight, and she didn't want to.

Her Life Outside Movies

Silvana had many admirers but never married or had children. In 1947, she dated Tyrone Power when he was filming in Rome. In 1951, she said no to a marriage proposal from Totò. He was a very popular actor in Italy. She mainly said no because he was older than her father. The news often reported that Silvana had a new boyfriend. They would say he was going to marry her, but it never happened.

In her book, Outrageously Respectable, published in 1996, she compared herself to Ava Gardner. This was because they looked alike. She also compared herself to Greta Garbo. This was because neither of them won major awards for their acting. In late 2015, a few weeks after her 90th birthday, Silvana had health issues and needed an operation. She sadly passed away on January 6, 2016.

According to her wishes, she was buried in a white coffin. Her gravestone had "SILVANA FOREVER" written on it. Many of Silvana's personal items were sold at an auction in Rome. These included furniture, paintings, jewelry, and fancy clothes. In April 2021, her passport was sold online for 700 euros.

Filmography

Pampanini at the 1957 Venice Film Festival

Actress

Film director

• Melodie a Sant'Agata (1958)

See also

In Spanish: Silvana Pampanini para niños