We regret to inform you that the headscarf-loving Italian actress Valentina Cortese has passed away at 96 years of age. She first came to international fame playing Fantine & Cosette in an Italian take on the oft-adapted Les Misérables (1948). After that picture European directors came calling and so did Hollywood (including the Academy)...
Cortese as "Herodias" in Jesus of Nazareth (1977)Her Hollywood or British film work included The House on Telegraph Hill (1951) The Barefoot Contessa (1954), The Legend of Lylah Clare (1968), the TV miniseries Jesus of Nazareth (1977), and Queen Ariadne in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988).
Her key international films include Juliet of the Spirits (1965) and Brother Sun Sister Moon (1972) from Italy. But she's surely best remembered today for the role of Séverine in François Truffaut's French classic Day For Night (1973). In fact she held an Oscar record for a few decades because of it.
Get this, Trivia lovers. Until Marina de Tavira's surprise nomination for Roma (2018) just last season, Cortese was the only actor, male or female, ever nominated for a supporting role in a foreign-language film.
Cortese as Severine in "Day for Night"
This Oscar record requires a bit of context, lest we be corrected in the comments. There have been a few handfuls of non-English language performances nominated but all of them have either been roles within english language films (think Adriana Barrazza in Babel or Robert De Niro in The Godfather II ... that type or thing) or they've been leading roles in international films where usually the actor's headlining starpower has helped secure them the kind of press that leads to a nomination -- think of the Lorens, Deneuves, and Cotillards of the world. Until Roma, Cortese was the only supporting actor ever cherry-picked for honors by the Academy for a foreign film.
Rest in peace, Valentina.