Magnani's parentage and birthplace are uncertain. Some sources suggest she was born in Rome, others suggest Egypt. Her mother was Marina Magnani. Film director Franco Zeffirelli, who claimed to know Magnani well, … See more

Magnani became a major star in post-War Italian cinema, coming to international prominence in the films of Roberto Rossellini and … See more

Magnani continued to work in Italian movies. ...And the Wild Wild Women (Nella Città L'Inferno, 1958) paired her as an unrepentant streetwalker with Giulietta Masina See more

During Benito Mussolini's rule, Magnani was known to make jokes about the Italian Fascist Party.
She married Goffredo Alessandrini, her first film director, in … See more

In 1933, Magnani was acting in experimental plays in Rome when she was discovered by Italian filmmaker Goffredo Alessandrini. The couple married the same year. See more

The Rose Tattoo (1955)
She played the widowed mother of a teenaged daughter in Daniel Mann's 1955 film, The Rose Tattoo, based on the play by Tennessee Williams. It co-starred Burt Lancaster, and was Magnani's first English-speaking … See more

According to film critic Robin Wood, Magnani's "persona as a great actress is built, not on transformation, but on emotional … See more