Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini, (1906-77)., Italian film director. Born in Rome, the son of an architect, Rossellini began his career as a director of documentary shorts. His first feature was The White Ship (1940), a film about an Italian hospital ship. Rossellini became internationally famous with the release of Rome, Open City (1945), a highly realistic story shot on location in the last weeks of World War II. As the first classic of Italian neorealism, the film had a profound impact on film-making in Europe and the US. The director completed his trilogy about the end of the war with Paisci (1946) and Ger-many Year Zero (1947). In 1949 Rossellini made the first of five films starring Ingrid Bergman (1915-82), who bore him a son the following year. Although the couple later married, their adulterous relationship caused a huge scandal and damaged both their careers. Their daughter is the actress and model Isabella Rossellini (1952- ). In the 1960s and 1970s Rossellini concentrated on making documentaries and biographical films. His later features include General della Rovere (1959) and It Was Night in Rome (1960).
