Lydia Simoneschi

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Lydia Simoneschi
File:Lydia Simoneschi.jpg
Simoneschi in 1950
Born(1908-04-04)4 April 1908
Died5 September 1981(1981-09-05) (aged 73)
Rome, Italy
Other namesLidia Simoneschi
Occupations
  • Actress
  • voice actress
  • dubbing director
Years active1932–1976
Spouse
Franz Lehmann
(died 1942)
Children2
FatherCarlo Simoneschi

Lydia Simoneschi (4 April 1908 – 5 September 1981) was an Italian actress and voice actress.[1] During her career, she gave her voice to actresses mainly during the Golden Ages.[2]

Biography

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Born in Rome and the daughter of silent film actor and director Carlo Simoneschi, she began her acting career when she was very young in Camillo Pilotto's stage company; in the early 1930s she made her film debut, but her inconspicuous physical appearance did not help her in front of the camera. However, her persuasive, passionate and sophisticated voice paved the way for her to become a voice actress.[3]

From the early 1940s until the first half of the 1960s, Simoneschi became one of the most prominent Italian voice actresses, lending her voice to almost all the greatest Hollywood and European divas which include Barbara Stanwyck, Susan Hayward, Ingrid Bergman, Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford, Olivia de Havilland, Vivien Leigh and Maureen O'Hara. In Simoneschi's animated roles, she provided the Italian voices of the Blue Fairy in Pinocchio, Flora in Sleeping Beauty, Madam Mim in The Sword in the Stone and the Fairy Godmother in the 1967 redub of Cinderella.

One of Simoneschi's main skills was that of being able to adapt very well to the different acting styles of the numerous actresses to whom she lent her voice. From 1964 she has also been a dubbing director and kept working in this environment until her retirement in 1976: in forty years of career as a voice actress, Simoneschi is estimated to have given her voice to over five thousand films.[4]

Personal life

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Simoneschi was married to Regia Marina member Franz Lehmann until his death in 1942. They had one son, Giorgio. She later had a second son, Gianni, with Franz Lehmann's brother Luigi on 9 May 1949.[5] In the spring of 1980 the then President of Italy Sandro Pertini named her Knight of the Republic for her artistic merits.

Death

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Simoneschi died in Rome on 5 September 1981, at the age of 73.

Filmography

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Cinema

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Year Title Role Notes
1932 The Old Lady
Pergolesi Nicoletta
1933 Non c'è bisogno di denaro (it)
1936 Bayonet Marina
1958 Gli zitelloni (it) Moglie del presidente del tribunale
1959 The Moralist Vera's mother

Voice work

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Year Title Role Notes
1965 West and Soda Esmeralda Animated film
1968 VIP my Brother Superman Happy Betty Animated film
1975 King Dick Esibizionista Cicciona Animated film

Dubbing

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Films (Animation, Italian dub)

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Year Title Role(s) Ref
1947 Pinocchio The Blue Fairy [6]
1948 Bambi Bambi's mother [7]
1959 Sleeping Beauty Flora [8]
1960 Goliath II Goliath II's mother
1961 One Hundred and One Dalmatians Nanny [9]
1963 The Sword in the Stone Madam Mim [10]
1967 The Jungle Book Winifred [11]
Cinderella Fairy Godmother (1967 redub) [12]
1973 Robin Hood Lady Kluck [13]

Notable dubbed actresses

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References

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  3. ^ Cronologia fondamentale dell'epoca d'oro del doppiaggio italiano Dagli albori agli anni 1970 (in Italian)
  4. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  5. ^ I vincitori del Premio Letterario Nazionale "EquiLibri" 2019: "Lydia Simoneschi. La voce del cinema italiano" di Gerardo Di Cola (in Italian)
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Error creating thumbnail: File missing Media related to Lua error in Module:Commons_link at line 62: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). at Wikimedia Commons

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