Greta Scacchi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Greta Scacchi

Greta Scacchi, January 2008
Born Greta Gracco
18 February 1960 (1960-02-18) (age 52)
Milan, Italy
Occupation Actor
Spouse Carlo Mantegazza

Greta Scacchi (born 18 February 1960) is an Italian-Australian actor.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Scacchi was born Greta Gracco in Milan, Italy, on 18 February 1960, the daughter of Luca Scacchi Gracco, an Italian art dealer and painter, and Pamela Carsaniga, an English dancer and antiques dealer.[1][2] Scacchi's parents divorced when she was four, and her mother returned to her native England with Greta and her two older brothers, first to London, then to Haywards Heath, West Sussex.[3] In 1975 after her mother's remarriage to Giovanni Carsaniga,[4] the family settled in Perth, Australia, where she attended Hollywood Senior High School and the University of Western Australia (UWA).[5] She made her theatrical debut at UWA's New Dolphin Theatre in Edward Bond's play Early Morning.[6]

[edit] Career

Greta Scacchi at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival.

In 1977 Scacchi left UWA to return to England to pursue an acting career, studying at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, with Miranda Richardson and Amanda Redman. In 1982 she made her film debut in the German movie, Das Zweite Gesicht (The Second Face), and gave versatile performances in films, such as Heat and Dust (1983), The Ebony Tower (1984), The Coca Cola Kid (1985), White Mischief (1987), Presumed Innocent (1990), The Player (1992) and Country Life (1994). She turned down the role of Catherine Trammell in Basic Instinct (1992).[7]

In 1996 she won an Emmy Award for her work as Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna of Russia in the television film, Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny, and was nominated for a Golden Globe and numerous other awards. In 2007 she received an Emmy Award nomination for Supporting Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie for Broken Trail.

Scacchi is fluent in English, French, German and Italian, which has made her a popular choice for European casting directors and has been an asset when working for European directors and producers.

In May 2011 she appeared alongside Anita Dobson in the play Bette and Joan at London's Arts Theatre, directed by Bill Alexander, about the personal and professional relationship between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.[8]

[edit] Personal life

A marriage to American actor Vincent D'Onofrio[9] (1989–1993) produced a daughter, Leila (born March 1992). Scacchi also has a son, Matteo Mantegazza (born September 1997), by her Italian first cousin, Carlo Mantegazza.[10]

Scacchi applied for British citizenship after turning 18, but was turned down because her father was not a British citizen. After appealing unsuccessfully, she decided not to apply for it again, and retained her Italian citizenship.[11] In January 1995, she became an Australian citizen and has since had dual nationality.

She lived for many years in Hurstpierpoint until moving in early 2011 to a rented property in East Grinstead because of a dispute with her neighbour.[12]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] References

  1. ^ Greta Scacchi Biography (1960–)
  2. ^ "Greta Scacchi". The Guardian (London). http://film.guardian.co.uk/Player/Player_Page/0,,45425,00.html. Retrieved 4 May 2010. 
  3. ^ Law, Cally; Greta Scacchi (17 August 2008). "Slight mischief". The Sunday Times: p. 2. 
  4. ^ Greta Scacchi Biography – Yahoo! Movies
  5. ^ Bosworth, Michael (2000). "Hollywood Senior High School – A History" (PDF). http://shenton.wa.edu.au/dreamgirl/filesend/225/Hollywood%20History.pdf. Retrieved 6 January 2011. 
  6. ^ "The Octagon Takes a Bow". Uniview 29 (1): 16–19. Summer, 2010. http://uniview.publishing.uwa.edu.au/?f=273786. Retrieved 6 January 2011. 
  7. ^ Bryce Hallett, Her world's a stage, Sydney Morning Herald, Metropolitan, 10 February 2001, p.3
  8. ^ "BETTE & JOAN" at londontheatre.co.uk
  9. ^ Macdonald, Marianne (2008-09-28). "Greta Scacchi: glad to be back". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3561370/Greta-Scacchi-glad-to-be-back.html. Retrieved 2011-05-14. 
  10. ^ Maher, Kevin (2008-04-26). "Greta Scacchi takes on Miss Austen Regrets". The Times. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article3807296.ece. Retrieved 2011-05-14. 
  11. ^ Urban, Andrew L.. "Scacchi, Greta – Looking for Alibrandi". http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=3540. Retrieved 2011-05-14. 
  12. ^ Walker, Emily (2011-02-05). "Greta Scacchi's "driven out" of Sussex dream home". The Argus. http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/8833906.Greta_Scacchi_s__driven_out__of_Sussex_dream_home/. Retrieved 2011-05-14. 

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Greta Scacchi
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Greta_Scacchi&oldid=478386685"
Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export
Languages