Gianna Maria Canale (12 September 1927 – 13 February 2009) was an Italian film actress.

Gianna Maria Canale
Canale in 1959
Born(1927-09-12)12 September 1927
Reggio Calabria, Kingdom of Italy
Died4 January 2009(2009-01-04) (aged 81)
Sutri, Viterbo, Italy
OccupationActress
Years active1946–1964
SpouseRiccardo Freda

Biography

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Canale was born in 1927 in Reggio Calabria. In 1947, she competed in the Miss Italia beauty contest, where she was runner-up to Lucia Bosè. Following this, she appeared in many Italian magazines, with her looks being compared to those of Ava Gardner.

 
Canale in I vampiri (1956)

Canale was offered a role in a movie by Riccardo Freda, with whom she eventually fell in love. They moved to Brazil where they were married and worked together in two movies. As Canale did not enjoy living in South America, the couple returned to Italy where, often directed by her husband, she starred in many Sword-and-sandal movies, as well as horror and adventure ones. I vampiri was her last film with Freda.

Canale retired from acting in 1964 at the age of 37. She died in Sutri, Viterbo in January 2009.

Filmography

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Year Title Role Director Cast Notes
1946 Black Eagle Riccardo Freda Rossano Brazzi, Irasema Dilián, Gino Cervi
1946 Rigoletto Maddalena Carmine Gallone Tito Gobbi, Marcella Govoni, Lina Pagliughi
1948 Il cavaliere misterioso Countess Lehmann Riccardo Freda Vittorio Gassman, María Mercader, Yvonne Sanson
1948 Guarany Jacqueline Riccardo Freda António Vilar, Mariella Lotti
1949 Totò Le Mokò Viviane de Valance Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia Totò
1949 O caçula do Barulho Riccardo Freda Oscarito, Grande Otelo
1949 The Iron Swordsman Emilia Riccardo Freda Carlo Ninchi
1949 Il bacio di una morta [it] Nora O'Kira Guido Brignone Virginia Belmont
1950 Son of d'Artagnan Linda Riccardo Freda Carlo Ninchi
1951 Double Cross Luisetta Riccardo Freda Amedeo Nazzari, Vittorio Gassman
1951 Go for Broke! Rosina Robert Pirosh Van Johnson
1951 Revenge of Black Eagle Tatiana Cernicevskij Riccardo Freda Rossano Brazzi
1951 See Naples and Die Marisa Meris Riccardo Freda
1952 The Eternal Chain Maria Raneri Anton Giulio Majano Marcello Mastroianni
1952 The Legend of the Piave Contessa Giovanna Dolfin Riccardo Freda
1953 Sins of Rome Sabina Crassus Riccardo Freda Massimo Girotti, Ludmilla Tchérina
1953 The Man from Cairo Lorraine Belogne Ray Enright George Raft
1953 Alarm in Morocco Nathalie Provence Jean Devaivre Jean-Claude Pascal, Erich von Stroheim
1954 Theodora, Slave Empress Theodora Riccardo Freda Georges Marchal
1954 Madame du Barry Duchesse de Grammont Christian-Jaque Martine Carol
1954 The Shadow Elena Giorgio Bianchi Märta Torén, Pierre Cressoy
1954 Madame Butterfly Singer: Suzuki Carmine Gallone Kaoru Yachigusa, Nicola Filacuridi, Michiko Tanaka
1955 Napoleón Pauline Bonaparte Sacha Guitry Daniel Gélin, Raymond Pellegrin, Orson Welles, Erich von Stroheim, Michèle Morgan, Danielle Darrieux, Yves Montand, Jean Gabin, Jean Marais
1955 Il coraggio Susy Esposito Domenico Paolella Totò, Gino Cervi
1956 A Woman Alone Mara Vittorio Sala Eleonora Rossi Drago
1956 The Lebanese Mission Countess Athelstane Orloff Richard Pottier Jean-Claude Pascal, Omar Sharif, Jean Servais, Juliette Gréco
1956 Le schiave di Cartagine Julia Martia Guido Brignone Jorge Mistral
1957 I Vampiri Giselle du Grand Riccardo Freda Film completed by Mario Bava
1958 Pirate of the Half Moon Infanta Caterina Giuseppe Maria Scotese John Derek
1958 Hercules Antea Pietro Francisci Steve Reeves, Sylva Koscina
1958 The Silent Enemy Conchita William Fairchild Laurence Harvey, Dawn Addams, Michael Craig
1958 The Mighty Crusaders Armida Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia Francisco Rabal, Sylva Koscina, Rik Battaglia
1958 The Whole Truth Gina Bertini John Guillermin Stewart Granger, Donna Reed, George Sanders
1958 The Warrior and the Slave Girl Amira Vittorio Cottafavi Georges Marchal
1959 Devil's Cavaliers Baroness Elaine of Faldone Siro Marcellini Frank Latimore
1960 Seven in the Sun Libertà Sergio Bergonzelli Frank Latimore
1960 The Night They Killed Rasputin Czarina Alexandra Pierre Chenal Edmund Purdom, John Drew Barrymore
1960 Queen of the Pirates Sandra Mario Costa
1960 Colossus and the Amazon Queen Amazon Queen Vittorio Sala Rod Taylor, Ed Fury, Dorian Gray
1960 The Conqueror of the Orient Dinazar / Zobeida Tanio Boccia Rik Battaglia
1961 The Treasure of Monte Cristo Lucetta Di Marca Monty Berman, Robert S. Baker Rory Calhoun
1961 Maciste contro il vampiro Astra Sergio Corbucci, Giacomo Gentilomo Gordon Scott, Jacques Sernas
1961 The Centurion Artemide Mario Costa Jacques Sernas, John Drew Barrymore, Geneviève Grad, Gordon Mitchell
1962 The Slave Claudia Sergio Corbucci Steve Reeves, Jacques Sernas
1962 Le Chevalier de Pardaillan [fr] Princess Fausta Borgia Bernard Borderie Gérard Barray
1962 Tiger of the Seven Seas Consuelo Luigi Capuano Anthony Steel
1963 The Adventures of Scaramouche [fr] Suzanne Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi Gérard Barray, Michèle Girardon
1963 Il Boom Silvia Alberti Vittorio De Sica Alberto Sordi
1963 The Lion of St. Mark Rossana Luigi Capuano Gordon Scott, Rik Battaglia
1964 Il treno del sabato Luisa Mancini Vittorio Sala
1964 The Avenger of Venice Imperia Carlo Campogalliani, Piero Pierotti Brett Halsey (final film role)
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