Rossano Brazzi

Italian actor internationally known from 1949. A handsome romantic lead, he was a star in Italy from the '40s, often cast in aristocratic roles. His American films include his debut in "Little Women,"1949, It was his role in "The Barefoot Contessa," 1954, that made him a star specializing in roles as a Latin lover or well-heeled playboy. He played in over 200 films, most of them made in the U.S. in the '50s and '60s, films that included "Summertime," 1955 and "South Pacific," 1958.

He was left an orphan when Mussolini's Fascists killed his parents. Brazzi studied law before turning to the stage and made a film debut in 1939. His success in the Italian cinema was immediate.

He made headlines of a different kind in 1984 when he was among 37 people indicted after an investigation of an international arms and drug smuggling ring operating in Italy, West Germany, Spain, Bulgaria, Turkey and other parts of the Mediterranean. The case against him was later dropped when it was not proven that he was implicated in the ring.

Brazzi was married twice. His first wife, Lydia Bertolini, died in 1981.

Brazzi died of a virus that affected his nervous system on 24 December 1994, Rome.