The actress Paola Gassman died in Rome at the age of 78. She is the daughter of Vittorio Gassman and Nora Ricci and half-sister of Vittoria, Alessandro and Jacopo, she has been a protagonist of the Italian theater scene for decades, often together with her lifelong partner, the great actor Ugo Pagliai. Known above all for her numerous theater roles, alternating with sporadic but significant television appearances in comedies and dramas, Paola Gassman was born in Milan in 1945.
At the beginning of her career we remember the three years spent in the Teatro Libero company directed by Luca Ronconi, who with the show Orlando furioso saw her present in many European countries and in the United States, culminating in an important television broadcast in episodes. Also in that period she took part in the shows The revenger’s tragedy directed by Ronconi and Cucina directed by Lina Wertmuller. She then entered the Brignone-Pagliai company with the plays Spectri di Ibsen and Processo di famiglia by Fabbri. She was also directed by her father Vittorio in shows such as Caesar or Nobody, The Theater Hurts and Sincere Lies.
With the Pagliai-Gassman theater company he staged many shows in both the dramatic and comical and brilliant genres. We remember the long period dedicated to Pirandello: Liolà; The pleasure of honesty; Man, Beast and Virtue; But it’s not a serious thing, and then again Goldoni’s The Liar; Feydeau’s Cat in the Pocket; Svevo’s wedding scenes; The Merchant of Venice and Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In 2007 he published his autobiography Una grande famiglia behind his shoulders with Marsilio Editore.