Mariangela Melato, the striking Italian actress best known in the U.S. for her roles in a handful of provocative 1970s arthouse films by Italian filmmaker Lina Wertmüller–along with her memorably campy appearance as a leather-clad intergalactic villainess in 1980’s Flash Gordon–died on Friday, January 11, at the age of 71.
The cause of death was reportedly pancreatic cancer.
Although she was already a successful actress prior to appearing a film written and directed by Ms. Wertmüller (she had previously worked with such noted Italian filmmakers Pupi Avati, Nino Manfredi and Vittorio De Sica), it was Ms. Melato’s star turn opposite Giancarlo Giannini (L’Innocente) in Wertmüller’s saucy 1972 comedy The Seduction of Mimi that introduced her to an international audience. She went on to star in three more Wertmüller films which, like Mimi, challenged Italy’s social, political and sexual mores: Love and Anarchy (1973), Swept Away (1974) and Summer Night, with Greek Profile, Almond Eyes and Scent of Basil (1986). In the former two films, she re-teamed with Wertmüller regular Giannini.
Giancarlo Giannini and Mariangela Melato star in The Seduction of Mimi.
Though she never established a successful career in Hollywood (not that a Hollywood career was ever her goal), Mariangela Melato turned in a deliciously over-the-top performance as the flame-shooting General Kala in Flash Gordon (1980), a role which garnered her an unexpected following of American fanboys. She also appeared opposite Ryan O’Neal in the forgettable 1981 comedy So Fine.
Her short Hollywood resume unspectacular and seemingly uninspired, Ms. Melato primarily worked in the Italian movie and television industry from the mid-Eighties onward. Though never regained the international recognition or acclaim that she garnered in the Seventies, the talented performer always stayed busy.
Melato’s Wertmüller films warrant attention, of course, but for now, check out this compilation of Ms. Melato juiciest moment as General Kala in Flash Gordon:
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