Franca Bettoia, the Italian actress best known for her role alongside Vincent Price in the 1964 sci-fi classic The Last Man on Earth, has passed away at the age of 88. Her family confirmed her death to the Italian news agency Adnkronos. Bettoia died in Rome.
Born in Rome on May 14, 1936, Bettoia made her acting debut in 1955 and rose to prominence with her role in Pietro Germi’s Man of Straw (1958), which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Her career spanned several decades and included notable performances in films such as Duel of Champions (1961), where she starred alongside Alan Ladd, and Day by Day, Desperately (1961), directed by Alfredo Giannetti.
Bettoia’s most famous role came in The Last Man on Earth, an adaptation of Richard Matheson’s novel I Am Legend. Directed by Ubaldo Ragona and Sidney Salkow, the film was a cult classic in which Bettoia portrayed Ruth, a woman trying to survive in a world where a plague has turned humans into vampiric creatures. The film was shot in Rome and distributed by American International Pictures.
In 1972, Bettoia married Ugo Tognazzi, the famed Italian actor best known for his role in La Cage aux Folles (1978). The couple remained married until Tognazzi’s death in 1990 from a cerebral hemorrhage.
Bettoia’s last film appearance was in Teste rasate (1993), where she played the mother of her real-life son, Gianmarco Tognazzi. She is also survived by her daughter, Maria Sole Tognazzi, a director.
Throughout her career, Bettoia left a lasting mark on Italian cinema with her diverse range of roles across genres. We at mxdwn extend our condolences to the family.
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