Alida Maria Laura, Freiin Altenburger von Marckenstein-Frauenberg (May 31, 1921 – April 22, 2006), best known as Alida Valli, was an Italian actress who starred in over 100 films throughout a 70-year career spanning the 1930s to the early 2000s.
She was one of the biggest stars of Fascist-era Italian cinema, being dubbed “the most beautiful lady in the world” by Benito Mussolini, but she found continuous worldwide success after WWII. Valli, according to Frédéric Mitterrand, was Europe’s only actress who could compete with Marlene Dietrich or Greta Garbo.
Valli collaborated with many notable directors, including Alfred Hitchcock (The Paradine Case; 1947), Carol Reed (The Third Man; 1949), Luchino Visconti (Senso; 1954), Michelangelo Antonioni (Il Grido; 1957), Georges Franju (Eyes Without a Face; 1960), Pier Paolo Pasolini (Oedipus Rex; 1967), Mario Bava (Lisa and the Devil; 1972), Bernardo Bertolucci, Dario Argento (Suspiria; 1977). Valli was made a Knight of the Italian Republic during her lifetime and earned the Lifetime Achievement Golden Lion at the 1997 Venice Film Festival for her services to cinema.