Simona Marchini

The eminently likeable redhead Simona Marchini has had a successful career as a comic actress, but has always tried to do more than simply entertain. The daughter of entrepreneur Alvaro Marchini, Simona was initially thrust into the spotlight because of her connection with Italian soccer: her father was president of the AS Roma football club during the 1970s, and Simona was married to the team's beloved captain at that time, Franco Cordova. It was only when her 10-year marriage to Cordova ended in 1980 that Simona began actively pursuing a career as an actress, getting her first screen credit at the age of 39 on the small-screen musical comedy show "A Tutto Gag." (Marchini has admitted that one of her great regrets is that she started acting so late in life.) Though she appeared in a number of Italian comedy films, including the 1987 portmaneau film "Bride and Groom" and two films for director Francesco Massaro, she found greater prominence with her work on TV, specifically the variety show "Quelli Della Notte" and the talk show "Pronto, è la Rai?." Recently, she impressed as Elvira in Maurizio Nichetti's 2008 TV movie comedy "Dr. Clown." In amongst her performing, however, Marchini has been active organizing and promoting theatrical shows, running a modern art gallery, taking the role of artistic consultant for the Politeama Pratese theater and, most significantly, working tirelessly as a Goodwill Ambassador of the Italian Committee for UNICEF, a position she has held since 1987.