Lucia Modugno, 1932 – 2026

Italian actress Lucia Modugno, 94, died on Nov. 3. Modugno worked with such directors as Roberto Rossellini (The General of the Oak), Lucio Fulci (The Cheaters), Dino Risi (The Monsters), Mario Bava (Danger: Diabolik), Sandro Bolchi (Anna Karenina), and Pupi Avati (The Friends of the Bar Margherita). She also appeared in Jayne Mansfield’s worst movie, the unwatchable Primitive Love. Among her other films to reach the US were Navajo Joe, Barabbas, The Twelve-Handed Men of Mars (I think I dated one of those once), and For a Few Dollars Less. Beginning in the 1980s, she expanded her career to work as a stage actress, director, and writer. Italian Undersecretary of Culture Lucia Borgonzoni wrote, “Lucia Modugno was an artist who made a significant contribution to the culture of our country, able to naturally move from the big screen to the theater, to arrive in the following years also to directing and writing. With her we lose a refined professional, who worked with the greatest Italian directors, from Rossellini to Risi to Scola.”