
Valentina Cortese (January 1, 1923 - July 10, 2019) was an Italian film actress.
The Milan-born actress starred in The House on Telegraph Hill (1951) directed by Robert Wise, and costarring Richard Basehart and William Lundigan. Cortese, aged 28, married Basehart in 1951, and had one son with him before they divorced in 1960.
She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1975 for her performance in François Truffaut's Day for Night.
Cortese appeared in Jules Dassin's Thieves' Highway (1949), Joseph L. Mankiewicz's The Barefoot Contessa (1954), Michelangelo Antonioni's Le Amiche (1955), Gérard Brach's The Boat on the Grass, Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), and in the Franco Zeffirelli projects such as the 1972 film Brother Sun, Sister Moon, his 1977 miniseries, Jesus of Nazareth and the 1993 film Sparrow.

Appassionata
1974 · as Elisa Rutelli

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
1988 · as Queen Ariadne / Violet

Malaya
1949 · as Luana

Day for Night
1973 · as Séverine

Barabbas
1961 · as Julia

Black Magic
1949 · as Zoraida

The Barefoot Contessa
1954 · as Eleanora Torlato-Favrini

The Visit
1964 · as Mathilda Miller

First Love
1970 · as Mutter

La Classe américaine
1993 · as The Helicopter Man's Wife (archive footage) (uncredited)

The Rocket from Calabuch
1956 · as Eloísa, la maestra de escuela

When Time Ran Out...
1980 · as Rose Valdez

Juliet of the Spirits
1965 · as Valentina

The Love Mates
1970 · as Eva

Give Her the Moon
1970 · as Madeleine de Lépine

Thieves' Highway
1949 · as Rica

Widows' Nest
1977 · as Dolores

The Legend of Lylah Clare
1968 · as Countess Bozo Bedoni