Catherine Spaak passed away at 77
She passed away on Easter day, the day that for Christians marks the victory of life over death. She left at the age of 77 leaving a sense of unfinished understanding. Because this is the first feeling felt at the news of the disappearance of Catherine Spaak. The regret of not having understood, or not having fully understood the importance of the person and, consequently, the character. Not only in the artistic field, which is there for all to see, but also in the cultural and Italian tradition. That little girl of just fifteen, born in France from a family of Belgian origins, who arrives in Italy, without knowing our language and begins her adventure, human and artistic, has represented something absolutely revolutionary.
Catherine Spaak, born free
Freedom, independence, autonomy were unknown concepts, even unthinkable, for her Italian peers during those years. It was 1960 when Alberto Lattuada he wanted it for his film Sweet deceptions, film hit by the ax of censorship because it spoke of the first sexual experience of a young girl. At sixteen Catherine Spaak she was what elsewhere was called a lolita, while in Italy the term used was that of "nymphet". Apart from the definitions, which always leave the time they find, that very young French girl was able to make the greatest Italian actors lose their heads, some of whom behaved with her in a manner reprehensible, only to then try to apologize a few years later.
Protagonist of the Italian Comedy
Hugh Tognazzi in The mad desire, Vittorio Gassman ne Overtaking and it The Brancaleone army, Nino Manfredi ne Italian adultery and it The parmigiana, are just some of the great names of Italian cinema with whom Catherine Spaak she got to work, becoming one of the most iconic actresses of the so-called and famous Italian comedy. Behind that young face, with the blonde bangs and that French accent that has always delighted the Italian male, there was an intelligent, cultured woman with very clear ideas. About her He wanted to do all of her experiences of hers and when she made a mistake, she paid the price. She has been married four times and her most famous husband has been Johnny Dorelli, with whom she was married for seven years, from 1972 to 1979 and with whom she had a son, Gabriele.
Journalism and television
Catherine Spaak she was an actress and singer, until the moment she decided to change direction. That world of cinema was a universe built by men for men only, where women were often present only in minimal and insignificant percentages. You then started writing and collaborating with important newspapers such as The Corriere della Sera, Marie Claire, Amica e TV Smiles and Songs until, in the mid-80s, the call from television arrives. Leads three seasons of Forum and then the transition to Rai where success comes thanks to the conduct of "his" talk show, entitled Harem. In her "tent", furnished just like a harem and on that damask sofa, with her guests, always strictly women only, she told the stories of the other half of the sky.
What women don't say… she said it
Catherine Spaak he always did it in his own way, with the strong sweetness of a charm that combined sensitivity, culture and intelligence in a mix that caused, at the time, many annoyances among his male colleagues. Women who tell about women, even touching deeply intimate and private issues, had never been seen on television and she has done so for almost twenty years. Catherine Spaak it was many things, always before the others. A mother whose daughter was taken away because she was an actress, a woman therefore of dubious morality according to the Italian justice of the time. But she was also an actress who reported being harassed on set when many of her famous colleagues said it had never happened to them. This was several decades before #MeToo.
Those enunciated are just some of the reasons that accompanied that sense of incomplete understanding following the sad news of the disappearance of Catherine Spaak. A great woman, first of all.
