ROME – Screenwriter Suso Cecchi D'Amico, who emerged from the male-dominated post-war Italian cinema to become a celebrated artist and contribute to such milestones as "Bicycle Thieves" and "The Leopard," died Saturday at age 96.
Cecchi D'Amico died in her hometown, Rome, the ANSA news agency said, citing her family. No cause of death was given.
Cecchi D'Amico worked with some of the most renowned Italian directors, including Franco Zeffirelli, Michelangelo Antonioni and Mario Monicelli, whose movie "Casanova 70" earned her an Oscar nomination.
She was equally successful at writing scripts for neo-realistic movies, art-house films and comedies such as "Big Deal on Madonna Street." Her work helped make the Italian post-war movie scene a vibrant and innovative one.
"It was an extraordinary generation, not just for cinema," said longtime friend Monicelli, himself in his 90s.
"That generation grew out of dramatic events such as Fascism and war," he said, but "those minds put Italy back on its feet, finding a new way to do things, to produce."
A long partnership with Luchino Visconti became a defining element in Cecchi D'Amico's career, spanning more than two decades and several movies. Among other titles, she contributed to "The Leopard," the sumptuous depiction of the decline of a Sicilian aristocratic family based on the book by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and starring Burt Lancaster and Alain Delon.
President Giorgio Napolitano said Cecchi D'Amico was a "great protagonist of one of the best seasons of Italian cinema."
Claudia Cardinale, who starred in "The Leopard," praised her deep culture and generosity. Zeffirelli called her "an extraordinary screenwriter" but also a good-hearted woman who was "a mom and a sister to all of us."
Born Giovanna Cecchi in 1914 to a family of writers and intellectuals, she began working in cinema soon after the war. She quickly landed a high-profile job helping write the script for Vittorio De Sica's "Bicycle Thieves," which was released in 1948 and became a manifesto for neo-realism.
She went on to a long career during which she often adapted literary works, including "The Stranger," "The Taming of the Shrew" and books by Dostoevsky and Pirandello.
Cecchi D'Amico won several Italian awards and in 1994 the Venice Film Festival gave her a Golden Lion for lifetime achievement.
ANSA said she is survived by her three children. A funeral is scheduled for Monday in Rome.
(By ALESSANDRA RIZZO, Associated Press Writer Alessandra Rizzo, Associated Press Writer )
italian text:
E' morta a Roma Suso Cecchi D'amico: aveva 96 anni.
Nata nella capitale nel 1914 dallo scrittore Emilio Cecchi e dalla pittrice Leonetta Pieraccini, fu collaboratrice prediletta di Luchino Visconti. Oltre a 'Bellissima' (del 1951), lavora con il grande regista per 'Senso', 'Gattopardo', 'Vaghe stelle dell'Orsa', 'Lo straniero', 'Ludwig', 'Gruppo di famiglia in un interno' e 'L'innocente'.
Raffinata sceneggiatrice e autrice tra le più feconde e di successo del cinema italiano, fa il suo esordio con il film di Renato Castellani 'Mio figlio professore' nel 1946.
Durante la sua stagione neorealista collabora con maestri come Luigi Zampa, Ennio Flaiano, Cesare Zavattini. Lavora con Antonioni, Rosi, Blasetti. E ancora con Eduardo de Filippo, Franco Zeffirelli (per 'Fratello sole e sorella luna' e 'Gesu' di Nazareth'), Lugi Comencini, Festa Campanile, Michelangelo Antonioni e Vittorio De Sica.
Nel 1994 la mostra di Venezia le ha conferito il Leone d'Oro alla carriera.
I funerali si svolgeranno lunedì alle 11 nella chiesa di Santa Maria del Popolo a Roma.
''Appresa con sincera commozione la triste notizia della scomparsa di Suso Cecchi D'Amico, grande protagonista delle stagioni più alte della storia del cinema italiano, nel ricordo delle numerose occasioni d'incontro che gli hanno permesso di apprezzare la sua cultura e finezza umana'', il presidente della Repubblica Giorgio Napolitano ha espresso in un messaggio ''i suoi sentimenti di profonda partecipazione al grande dolore della famiglia''.
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