Carla Gravina (born 5 August 1941) is an Italian actress and politician. She received a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for her role in La Terrazza (1980). Her other notable roles were in Love and Chatter (1957), Esterina (1959), and The Long Silence (1993). Gravina used to be a member of the Chamber of Deputies.

Life and career

Born in Gemona del Friuli, Gravina made her film debut at fifteen years old in Alberto Lattuada's Guendalina. Very active in films and television series, both in comedic and dramatic roles, from the late 1970s, she gradually focused her activities on stage and in political activism, being a PCI deputy between 1980 and 1983. Gravina was involved in a long-term relationship with fellow Italian actor Gian Maria Volontè, with whom she had a child.

Awards

During her career, Gravina won a number of international awards, including the Best Actress Award for her performance in Alessandro Blasetti's Love and Chatter at the 1958 Locarno Film Festival, the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Ettore Scola's La Terrazza at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival, and the award for Best Actress for Margarethe von Trotta's The Long Silence at the 1993 Montreal World Film Festival.

Selected filmography