Elena Varzi

Elena Varzi (21 December 1926 – 1 September 2014) was an Italian film actress.

Born in Rome, in spite of a non-professional acting background, Varzi made her film debut in a leading role, as the Sicilian Maria Antonia in Renato Castellani's neorealist post-war comedy-drama It's Forever Springtime. Her second role, as the mistress of a Sicilian bandit in Pietro Germi's Path of Hope, received critical acclaim. It was during filming The Forbidden Christ that Varzi met and later married Raf Vallone. She eventually left her film career, devoting herself to the family. She was the mother of Arabella, Saverio, and Eleonora Vallone. Her husband died in 2002.

Varzi died of cardiac arrest at her holiday cottage in Sperlonga, Latina, on 1 September 2014. She was 87.