Italian actress who became a leading lady in 1950, whose films include “The Indian Fighter,” 1955, “Hatari,” 1962, “The Tenth Victim,” 1965 and “Candy,” 1968.
Elsa’s publicity story was that she was discovered for movies when Kirk Douglas spotted her on a 1954 magazine cover. Actually, she had been playing bit parts in Italian films since 1950, and had been a professional model since her early teens. Douglas signed her to his Bryna Productions where her first and only appearance while under contract was “The Indian Fighter” in 1955.
Martinelli took parts that exploited her physical attributes but allowed her acting skills to atrophy. Finally, Douglas told Martinelli that she’d have to pay him to work for Bryna again. With such notable exceptions as Orson Welles’ “The Trial,” Martinelli never had a part as good as her Native American heroine in “Indian Fighter.”
Her roles included “Donatella,”1956, “Stowaway Girl,” 1957; “Prisoner of the Volga,” 1958; “Wild Cats on the Beach,” 1959; “Blood and Roses,” and “Captain Blood,” 1960; “The Pigeon That Took Rome,” 1962; “The Oldest Profession in the World,”1967; “Candy,” 1968; “Perversion Story,”1969; “Every Man Is My Enemy,” 1970; “Pygmalion 88,”1988; and “Le Baron,” a 1996 TV series.
Martinelli retired from filmmaking in the late 1980s, making a return appearance in the inconsequential comedy “Once Upon a Crime.” She is the mother of actress Cristiana Mancinelli.
Link to Wikipedia biography