Villi

Olga (professional name of Olga Villani, 1922-1989). Theater actress. She won fame as a fashion model, on the eve of the Second World War. She was a peasant born in the countryside around Mantua, and then moved to Milan for work, becoming a “piscinina,” or go-fer, doing all lines of work, from stitching to deliveries, in a dressmaker’s studio. She was tall, beautiful, remarkable in appearance and very determined in learning posture and gait, just as she was later to learn, with the same determination, diction and recitation. She was noticed by Biki who tested her as a mannequin. Olga enjoyed immediate success and soon was working alternately on runway presentations and in roles as a soubrette with Macario and Nino Taranto. In 1945, Luchino Visconti signed her up for a small part in Hemingway’s The Fifth Column. She remained a theatrical actress for the rest of her career.