Background
Rocca was born and raised in Acireale, a small town near Catania.
Rocca was born and raised in Acireale, a small town near Catania.
She became Mission Catania in 1953, and was discovered by talent scouts after competing in a Mission Italy competition. She made her film debut in French director Maurice Cloche"s Marchands de Filles (1957) and also appeared in the Riccardo Freda film Caltiki - il mostro immortale (1959), and Esther and the King (1960). More film roles followed, but Rocca did not find fame until Divorzio all"Italiana (1961).
Rocca became a star after playing the part of the smothering wife Marcello Mastroianni is desperate to escape in Pietro Germi"s international box-office hit.
Rocca fell in love with Germi during filming and attempted suicide when he rejected her. After that, she was considered unstable and was not offered significant roles.
A nervous breakdown led to a stay in a mental hospital. After playing minor roles in movies and television, her show business career ended in 1967.
She ended her days in a retirement home in Milo, near Catania.
There she wrote four books: Agente segreto con licenza di vivere. Avvocato offresi; Il condannato a morte. And Psicoanalisi, sogni, fantasie nascosti nella mente.
And a collection of poems, Ara.