Early career

Born in Ancona, Italy, Lisi began her film career in her teens. Discovered in Rome by two Neapolitan producers, Antonio Ferrigno and Ettore Pesce, she debuted in La corda d'acciaio (The Steel Rope, 1953). Initially, she appeared in musical films, like E Napoli canta (Naples Sings, 1953) and Questa è la vita (Of Life and Love, 1954, with Totò). Nonetheless, her beauty was more valued than her talent, as seen in the films Le diciottenni (Eighteen Year Olds) and Lo scapolo (The Bachelor), both released in 1955. Despite this, she filled some demanding roles, particularly in La donna del giorno (1956), Eva (1962), and the spectacle Romolo e Remo (1961).

In the late 1950s, Lisi performed on stage at Piccolo Teatro di Milano in I giacobini by Federico Zardi under the direction of Giorgio Strehler. During the 1960s, Lisi appeared in comedies and participated in television dramas that were widely viewed in Italy. Lisi also promoted a toothpaste brand on television with a slogan that would become a catchphrase among Italians: "con quella bocca può dire ciò che vuole" (with such a mouth, she can say whatever she wants).^[2]

Hollywood career

Though she turned down the Tatiana Romanova role in From Russia with Love (1963),^[3] Hollywood producers sought a new Marilyn Monroe and so, Lisi debuted in Hollywood comedy as a green-eyed blonde temptress with Jack Lemmon in How to Murder Your Wife (1965) and appeared with Tony Curtis in Not with My Wife, You Don't! (1966). Lisi then starred with Frank Sinatra, in Assault on a Queen (1966), in The Girl and the General, co-starring with Rod Steiger, and in two films with Anthony Quinn, The Secret of Santa Vittoria, directed by Stanley Kramer, and the war drama The 25th Hour. She garnered attention for a photo of her 'shaving' her face that appeared on the March 1965 cover of Esquire magazine.

Later career in Europe

In The Birds, the Bees and the Italians (1966)

To overcome her typecasting playing seductresses, Lisi sought new types of roles, of evil women or of a lover in relationships of disparate age for example. In those years, she participated in Italian productions, in Casanova 70 and Le bambole (1965), Arabella (1967), and Le dolci signore (1968). She also turned down the part played by Jane Fonda in Roger Vadim’s Barbarella (1968).^[4] Lisi also starred in The Birds, the Bees and the Italians (1966) which shared the Grand Prix (then equivalent to the Palme d'Or, which was not awarded at the time) with A Man and a Woman at the Cannes Film Festival that year.^[5]

She told The New York Sunday Times that after marrying Franco Pesci, an Italian builder and architect, she briefly retired from acting in the early 1970s to spend more time with her husband and their son, Corrado.^[4] Nonetheless, Lisi's career underwent a renaissance with a number of projects, including Al di là del bene e del male (1977), Ernesto (1979), and La cicala (1980). For the film La Reine Margot (1994), Lisi's portrayal of Catherine de' Medici won her both the César and Cannes Film Festival awards,^[6] along with a Silver Ribbon for Best Supporting Actress. In 2002, Lisi starred in Il più bel giorno della mia vita.

Virna Lisi then participated in many sitcoms and TV series. Her last movie was in the Italian comedy drama Latin Lover in 2014, shortly before her death.