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Isabella Rossellini

Isabella RosselliniAKA Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini

Born: 18-Jun-1952
Birthplace: Rome, Italy

Gender: Female
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Actor, Model

Nationality: Italy
Executive summary: Blue Velvet, Big Night

Isabella Rossellini was a child of cinema royalty. Her mother, actress Ingrid Bergman, starred in Casablanca, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and Hitchcock's Spellbound. Her father, Roberto Rossellini, was an Italian screenwriter, director, and producer, whose most beloved films include Germania anno zero (Germany Year Zero) and Roma, città aperta (Open City). Born thirty minutes before her fraternal twin sister, Isabella grew to resemble her famous mother. She injured her back at the age of 13, and was completely bedridden for almost a year. She has also suffered from scoliosis (progressive curvature of the spine).

She began her career as a journalist for RAI Television in Italy, but was assigned purely fluff features and soon grew bored. She then appeared as a regular on an Italian sketch comedy show, where she met a photographer who convinced her she was more a model than a comedienne. But despite great success as a model, she eventually returned to acting.

Her first film was her mother's A Matter of Time, and she was first noticed by American audiences in White Nights with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines. In her most famous role, she was beaten by Dennis Hopper and rescued by Kyle MacLachlan in David Lynch's masterpiece of small-town sadomasochism, Blue Velvet. She lived with Lynch for five years.

From 1982-96, she was the celebrity face of Lancôme cosmetics, but the company ended the arrangement, fearing that Rossellini was too old to be seen as attractive. She has continued making films, including Wild at Heart with Nicolas Cage, Wyatt Earp with Kevin Costner, and Roger Dodger with Campbell Scott. She has also played the fierce aunt Katya on TV's Alias with Jennifer Garner.

Father: Roberto Rossellini (film director, b. 1906, d. 1977 heart attack)
Mother: Ingrid Bergman (actress)
Sister: Pia Lindstrom (drama critic, half-sister)
Sister: Isotta Rosselini (twin, professor of Italian literature, Columbia University)
Brother: Renzo Rossellini (film producer)
Father: Lars Schmidt (stepfather, married Bergman in 1958, theatrical producer)
Husband: Martin Scorsese (film director, m. 1979, div. 1982)
Husband: Jonathan Wiedemann (model, m. 1983, div. 1986, one child)
Daughter: Elettra Rossellini (b. 1983, with Wiedemann, model)
Boyfriend: Mikhail Baryshnikov (dancer, dated mid-1980s)
Boyfriend: David Lynch (filmmaker, cohabited 1986-91)
Son: Roberto Rossellini (b. 1993, adopted)
Boyfriend: Gary Oldman (engaged Jul-1994, sep. 1996)

    University: New School University

    Risk Factors: Smoking

    TELEVISION
    Alias Katya Derevko (2004-05)

    FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
    Incredibles 2 (5-Jun-2018) [VOICE]
    Joy (24-Dec-2015)
    Enemy (8-Sep-2013)
    Keyhole (9-Sep-2011)
    Chicken with Plums (3-Sep-2011)
    Late Bloomers (18-Feb-2011) · Mary
    The Solitude of Prime Numbers (9-Sep-2010)
    My Dog Tulip (May-2009) [VOICE]
    Two Lovers (19-May-2008) · Ruth Kraditor
    The Accidental Husband (13-Feb-2008) · Mrs. Bollenbecker
    Brand Upon the Brain! (8-Sep-2006) · Narrator [VOICE]
    Infamous (31-Aug-2006)
    The Architect (2006)
    A Life in Suitcases (6-Oct-2005)
    Heights (24-Jan-2005) · Liz
    Earthsea (13-Dec-2004)
    The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 2: Vaux to the Sea (Feb-2004)
    King of the Corner (2004) · Rachel Spivak
    The Saddest Music in the World (31-Aug-2003) · Lady Port-Huntley
    The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story (24-May-2003)
    Monte Walsh (17-Jan-2003)
    Napoléon (17-Sep-2002)
    Roger Dodger (9-May-2002) · Joyce
    Empire (Jan-2002) · La Colombiana
    The Sky Is Falling (26-May-2000)
    Don Quixote (9-Apr-2000)
    The Impostors (18-May-1998)
    Merlin (26-Apr-1998)
    Left Luggage (12-Feb-1998)
    The Odyssey (18-May-1997)
    Crime of the Century (14-Sep-1996)
    The Funeral (8-Sep-1996) · Clara
    Big Night (24-Jan-1996) · Gabriella
    Immortal Beloved (16-Dec-1994)
    Wyatt Earp (24-Jun-1994)
    Fearless (15-Oct-1993)
    The Innocent (16-Sep-1993) · Maria
    Death Becomes Her (31-Jul-1992) · Lisle Von Rhuman
    Ivory Hunters (20-Aug-1990)
    Wild at Heart (17-Aug-1990) · Perdita
    Red Riding Hood (15-Mar-1989)
    Cousins (10-Feb-1989) · Maria
    Zelly and Me (15-Apr-1988)
    Siesta (11-Nov-1987)
    Tough Guys Don't Dance (12-Sep-1987)
    Blue Velvet (19-Sep-1986) · Dorothy Vallens
    White Nights (22-Nov-1985)
    The Meadow (6-Sep-1979)
    A Matter of Time (31-Oct-1976)

Author of books:
Some of Me (1997)
Isabella Rossellini: Looking at Me: On Pictures and Photographs (2002)


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