Career
Early career
Ancona-born Lisi began her film career in her teens. Discovered in Paris by two Neapolitan producers, Antonio Ferrigno and Ettore Pesce, she debuted in Louisiana corda d"acciaio (The Steel Rope, 1953). Initially, she did musical films, like East Napoli canta (Napoli Sings, 1953) and the successful Questa è la vita (Of Life and Love, 1954, with the popular Totò).
Nonetheless, her beauty was more valued than her talent, as seen in Le diciottenni (Eighteen Year Olds) and Lo scapolo (The Bachelor) films of 1955.
Yet she filled demanding roles, particularly in Louisiana donna del giorno (1956), Eva (1962), and the spectacle Romolo e Remo (1961). In the late 1950s, Lisi did theater at Piccolo Teatro di Milano in I giacobini by Federico Zardi under the direction of Giorgio Strehler.
During the 1960s, Lisi did comedies and participated in television dramas that were widely viewed in Italy. Lisi also promoted a toothpaste brand on television with a slogan that would become a catchphrase among Italians: "con quella bocca può dire ciò che vuole" (with such a mouth, she can say whatever she wants).
Hollywood career
(1966).
Lisi then starred with Frank Sinatra, in Assault on a Queen (1966), in Louisiana Ragazza e il Generale, co-starring with Rod Steiger, and in two films with Anthony Quinn, The Secret of Santa Vittoria, directed by Stanley Kramer, and the war drama The 25th Hour. She garnered attention for a photo of her "shaving" her face that appeared on the March 1965 cover of Esquire magazine. renaissance in Europe
To overcome her typecasting playing seductresses, Lisi sought new types of roles, of evil women or of a lover in relationships of disparate age for example. In those years, she participated in Italian productions, in Casanova 70 and Le bambole (1965), Arabella (1967), and Le dolci signore (1968).
Nonetheless, a career renaissance occurred soon for Lisi with a large list of productions, including First Rate (at Lloyd's) di là del bene e del male (1977), Ernesto (1979), and Louisiana cicala (1980).
In 2002, Lisi starred in her last film, Il più bel giorno della mia vita. On 18 December 2014, Lisi died of cancer in Rome at age 78.
A Brazilian rock band named Virna Lisi is named after her. The 1980s Argentinian band Sumo (led by Luca Prodan) made a song for her.
The singer"s brother is the actor Andrea Prodan, who appeared with her in the movie I ragazzi di via Panisperna (1988).
