Biography
Daughter of a congressman and a granddaughter of a priest on her mother's side, Florinda lived in Fortaleza, the capital of Ceará state, and in Rio de Janeiro until she became a world citizen. A former flight inspector for Brazilian international carrier Varig, she came in contact with several languages and became fluent in English, Italian and French.
Florinda moved to Italy in 1968, after being "discovered" by director Luchino Visconti. She changed her name and became known as Florinda Bolkan mainly because she thought her new name made it more comfortable for international audiences.
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In her first international movie, Candy, she acted alongside worldwide famous beatle Ringo Starr. Later on, she worked in more than 40 movies, mainly in Italy. In Una breve vacanza she was directed by Vittorio de Sica. Under Elio Petri's direction, she made one of the most acclaimed films of her career, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion. Enrico Maria Salerno directed her in Anonimo Venziano . She worked besides Jean-Louis Trintignant, John Cassavetes amd Annie Girardot.
Much like Sophia Loren, Claudia Cardinale and Monica Vitti, she also won three times the David di Donatello award, the Italian equivalent to the Academy Award. De Sica, when he hired Florinda for Una breve vacanza - the same film that would launch her in the north american market - said: "I chose you because your eyes have known hunger". She replied: "Those born in Ceará bring within themselves a strong and hard share of the real thing.".
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.