About

Known credits:
22
Birthday:
1936-05-14
Place of birth:
Rome, Latium, Italy
Website:
N/A

Franca Bettoia

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Franca Bettoia (or Bettoja; born 14 May 1936) is an Italian actress.

Born in Rome, she made her first film appearance in Un palco all'opera (1955, by Siro Marcellini). The following year she appeared in Los amantes del desierto ("Desert Warrior", a Spanish-Italian desert epic starring Ricardo Montalban, Carmen Sevilla and Gino Cervi. She next appeared opposite Pietro Germi in L'uomo di paglia (1958), and opposite Macha Méril and Jacques Charrier in the French production La main chaude (1960, by Gérard Oury). She appeared as a nun in Apocalisse sul Fiume Giallo (The Dam on the Yellow River, 1960), an anti-Communist propaganda film which portrays the victory of Mao Zedong's People's Liberation Army as seen through the eyes of an American journalist (Georges Marchal) reporting from the side of the nationalists. In 1961, she starred opposite Alan Ladd in Orazi e Curiazi (Duel of the Champions), a sword and sandals adventure set in ancient Rome.

In 1964, Bettoia co-starred with Vincent Price in the horror/science fiction film The Last Man on Earth (1964, by Ubaldo Ragone and Sidney Salkow), the first screen adaptation of Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend. She then played a princess in the adventure films Sandokan alla riscossa (1964) and Sandokan contro il leopardo di Sarawak (1964). In 1967 she appeared as Ugo Tognazzi’s lover in the comedy Il fischio al naso (The Seventh Floor, 1967). Bettoia and Tognazzi married in 1972. They had a had a daughter, film director Maria Sole Tognazzi.

Bettoia acted in only three more films after Il fischio al naso. In the comedy Riusciranno i nostri eroi a ritrovare l'amico misteriosamente scomparso in Africa? (1968, by Ettore Scola) she starred alongside Alberto Sordi and Bernard Blier. In Touche pas à la femme blanche (Don’t Touch the White Woman, directed by Marco Ferreri in 1974) she starred alongside Catherine Deneuve, Marcello Mastroianni and Michel Piccoli. Her last film, Teste rasate (1993) is a drama about skinheads, in which her son, Gianmarco Tognazzi, plays the lead role.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Franca Bettoia, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.​

Known for

Acting
1997 The Man with the Cigar in His Mouth Actor Self N/A
N/A
1993 Skinheads Actor Roberta 58
Average
1977 Kolossal - The Magnificent Macisti Actor Samoa (archive footage) N/A
N/A
1974 Don't Touch the White Woman! Actor Rayon de Lune (as Franca Bettoja) 58
Average
1968 Will Our Heroes Be Able to Find Their Friend Who Has Mysteriously Disappeared in Africa? Actor Rita Di Salvio 60
Fair
1967 Il fischio al naso Actor Giovanna 58
Average
1964 Return of Sandokan Actor Samoa 59
Average
1964 Sandokan Fights Back Actor Samoa 58
Average
1964 The Last Man on Earth Actor Ruth Collins 61
Fair
1963 The Lion of St. Mark Actor Isabella Fieschi 58
Average
1962 Attack of the Normans Actor Queen Patricia 59
Average
1962 Ultimatum alla vita Actor Mara Berri N/A
N/A
1961 Day by Day, Desperately Actor Marcella 59
Average
1961 Duel of Champions Actor Marcia 58
Average
1960 The Dialogue of the Carmelites Actor 58
Average
1960 The Dam on the Yellow River Actor Schwester Celeste N/A
N/A
1960 The Itchy Palm Actor Christiane 59
Average
1960 Cavalcata selvaggia Actor Paola N/A
N/A
1959 Nights of the Teddy Boys Actor Orietta Fantoni 59
Average
1958 So Much Love Lost Actor Annie N/A
N/A
1958 Man of Straw Actor Rita 59
Average
1957 Desert Warrior Actor Suleika 59
Average