Alessandra Martines

Birthday: 1963-09-19
Birthplace: Rome, Lazio, Italy
Gender: Female
Owned By: Unowned

Alessandra Martines (born 19 September 1963) is an Italian French dancer and actress mainly working in the English-, French-, and Italian-speaking worlds. She started young in ballet on opera stages in Switzerland, France, the United States and then Italy before becoming a lead on television for RAI captured ballets and entertainment shows (the Italian national public broadcasting) in the eighties.

She is primarily known for portraying the main role in the cult Fantaghirò series, consisting of five films (1991–1996) still regularly re-run across Europe as of 2020, and for her work in auteur productions such as nine films by Claude Lelouch to whom she was married until 2009.

She was awarded numerous prizes including the Best Actress Telegatto for The Cave of the Golden Rose (1991), the Grolla d'oro for Edda [it] (2005), the Silver Hugo for Best Actress at the Chicago International Film Festival (1998) for Chance or Coincidence, the Diamanti al Cinema Award in Cannes (2007) or the 2009 European Golden Globe in Rome. In 2008, she was made Knight of the Ordre national du Mérite awarded by the President of the French Republic. She received the lifetime achievement Kineo Award at the 71st Venice International Film Festival in 2014.

Second cousin of Carla Bruni and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, she moved to France with her family at the age of five. As a teenager, she enrolled at the Conservatoire de Paris where she studied solfeggio, history and theory of dance and classical music and dance.

Martines debuted at a young age as a dancer at the Zurich Opera House in 1972. After some time working in the United States, including the Chicago City Ballet, she moved to Rome where she worked at the Teatro dell'Opera. In 1985 she began her collaboration with RAI, with the lunchtime chat / quiz show Pronto, chi gioca?; she later gained great popularity with the Saturday Night shows Fantastico and Europa Europa, and then for her portrayal of Princess Fantaghirò in the Fantaghirò series.

In cinema, she is best known for her interpretations under the direction of her ex-husband, the French director Claude Lelouch, in several film including Les Misérables and And now... Ladies and Gentlemen. She also starred on stage, most notably in L'appartamento by Franca Valeri.

Credits

Year Title Character
2016-01-01 L'araignée rouge Sonia Stern
2011-11-30 My Name Is Bernadette Louise Soubirous
2009-09-17 Panique! Clémentine
2008-09-02 Il sangue e la rosa Ortensia Damiani
2008-04-30 Love Me No More Marion
2007-10-31 Towards Zero Marie-Adeline
2005-06-29 The Courage to Love Alessandra
2005-06-29 Edda
2005-05-16 I colori della vita
2004-09-22 Saint John Bosco Mission to Love Marchesa Barolo
2004-09-15 Le genre humain - 1ère partie: Les Parisiens Alessandra Martines
2003-10-18 Quelques jours entre nous Juliette
2002-05-29 And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen... Françoise
2002-03-15 Amnèsia Virginie
2001-11-07 J'ai faim !!! Anaïs Pommard
2001-03-28 Day Off Madame Socoa
1999-12-29 One 4 All Maxime
1998-11-18 Chance or Coincidence Myriam Lini
1996-12-20 The Cave of the Golden Rose 5 Fantaghirò
1996-08-28 Men, Women: A User's Manual Docteur Nitez
1995-03-22 Les Miserables Elise Ziman
1994-12-19 The Cave of the Golden Rose 4 Fantaghirò
1993-12-20 The Cave of the Golden Rose 3 Fantaghirò
1993-06-09 All That... for This?! Allessandra Barrucq
1992-12-20 The Cave of the Golden Rose 2 Fantaghirò
1991-12-22 The Cave of the Golden Rose Fantaghirò
1990-01-14 Love Steps Elisa
1989-09-07 Saremo felici Jole
1989-04-01 Sinbad of the Seven Seas Alina