Massari, who also starred in Louis Malle’s Le souffle au coeur, passed away in her home in Rome’s upscale Parioli district, where she had been assisted for some time after a fall at home, the Roman daily said.
On Tuesday, it said, her funeral was held in a strictly private form, in the cathedral of Sutri, near Viterbo.
She was buried in the municipal cemetery, where the family owns a chapel.
In Italy, Massari worked with the greatest directors including Sergio Leone (in his debut film, The Colossus of Rhodes), Dino Risi (A Difficult Life), Nanni Loy, Giuseppe Bertolucci and the Taviani brothers (Allonsanfàn).
Above all, she was the icon of Antonioni’s masterpiece L’avventura.
But it was France that fully recognised her talent; out of fifty-five directors who directed her, only twenty-nine were Italian.
In the theatre, she was the first Rosetta in Garinei and Giovannini’s classic Rugantino.
On television, her unforgettable interpretations included the Nun of Monza, from Alessandro Manzon’s classic historic al novel The Betrothed (1967) and Anna Karenina (1974), directed by Sandro Bolchi.
She had been retired to private life for over thirty years, choosing at just 57 to stay away from the spotlight.
ANSA
