Earthy, sensual, passionately forceful star of Italian and international films. Born in Rome, Italy, the illegitimate child of an Italian mother and an Egyptian father, she was brought up in poverty by her maternal grandmother in a slum district of Rome. After some education at a convent school, she enrolled at Rome's Academy of Dramatic Art and while still there earned her living as a singer of bawdy ballads in seedy nightclubs. She moved on from there to variety shows and in 1926 began performing in dramatic plays in stock. The following year, after returning from an Argentinian tour, she made her screen debut, playing a bit in a silent version of SCAMPOLO. She did not return to the screen until 1934, meanwhile acquiring added experience and reputation as a stage actress and singer. In 1935 she married director Goffredo Alessandrini, who considered her unsuitable as a screen actress but nonetheless gave her a supporting role in his film CAVALLERIA (1936). Their marriage was unsuccessful and after a long separation it was annulled in 1950. Magnani's film career remained minor until 1941, when she played the second feminine lead in Vittorio De Sica's DOCTOR BEWARE / TERESA VENERDI. In 1942 she gave birth to a son out of wedlock by actor Massimo Serato. The child would later become a victim of polio and the center of Magnani's devoted attention and care. After the liberation of Rome, Magnani enjoyed popularity among American servicemen, for whom she sang her bawdy songs in racy revues. Also in 1945, her enormous dramatic talent finally burst forth in OPEN CITY (1945) / ROMA, CITTÀ APERTA, Roberto Rossellini's monumental neorealistic salute to displays of human courage in the final days of the Occupation. The film gained her sudden recognition in the US, where in 1946 she was named by the National Board of Review as the best foreign actress of the year. In Italy (and gradually elsewhere) she soon became established as a star, although she lacked the conventional beauty and glamour usually associated with the term. Slightly plump and rather short in stature with a face framed by unkempt raven hair and eyes encircled by deep, dark shadows, she attracted through her seething earthiness and volcanic temperament. Director William Dieterle spoke of her as "the last of the great shameless emotionalists." De Sica called her "Italy's finest actress and one of the most interesting actresses in the world," and Jean Renoir once declared: "Anna Magnani is probably the greatest actress I have ever worked with. She is the complete animal -- an animal created for the stage and screen." In 1955, Magnani climaxed her career with a magnificent performance in Hollywood's screen adaptation of Tennessee Williams' THE ROSE TATTOO, for which she won the best actress Academy Award as well as the New York Critics award. After that her career slowly declined, although she continued performing admirably in a dozen or so film productions. In her final years she acted mainly on the stage and on Italian TV. She died at 65 after a long bout with a tumor of the pancreas. A huge crowd gathered for her funeral in a final salute that Romans usually reserve for Popes. She was laid to rest in the family mausoleum of Roberto Rossellini, her favorite director and longtime friend.  Actress 1955: THE ROSE TATTOO  Nominated for Actress 1957: WILD IS THE WIND 2 nominations, 1 Award