Maria Rosaria Omaggio

Acting

Maria Rosaria Omaggio

Born 1954-01-11 · Roma, Lazio, Italy

Maria Rosaria Omaggio (Rome, 1954 – 2024) was one of the most versatile figures in Italian entertainment, successfully spanning cinema, television, theatre, and writing. Of Neapolitan descent, she rose to fame at a very young age participating in Canzonissima (1973-74), a springboard that turned her into a household name and a beauty icon (appearing on famous covers such as Playboy and Playmen). She made her big-screen debut in 1976 in the "poliziotteschi" (Italian crime-thriller) films Rome Armed to the Teeth and The Cop in Blue Jeans. Her filmography is rich and varied, featuring international collaborations and roles for directors such as Woody Allen (To Rome with Love). The pinnacle of her artistic maturity coincided with her portrayal of Oriana Fallaci in Andrzej Wajda's film Walesa: Man of Hope (2013). For this role, she received the Pasinetti Award at the Venice Film Festival and the Oriana Fallaci Prize, earned for her extraordinary resemblance to and intense portrayal of the journalist. On television, she starred in numerous successful dramas and series, from Edera and Caro maestro to international productions like the Spanish series La sonata del silencio. The theatre was a place of experimentation and celebration for her. She portrayed great female figures such as Eleonora Duse and Dido, bringing to the stage texts by prestigious authors including Goldoni, Seneca, García Márquez, and Italo Calvino. She also distinguished herself as a director and translator (notably for Golda's Balcony). Beyond her artistic career, Omaggio was deeply dedicated to humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF Italy, creating initiatives such as "Theatre for UNICEF." Gifted with a profound spirituality and an interest in Eastern disciplines, she was also an expert instructor of Taijiquan. Passing away in Rome in June 2024, she was bid a fond farewell by the world of culture. According to her wishes, her ashes were scattered in the sea off Ostia, sealing an unbreakable bond with her land and her freedom.

Acting credits

To Rome with Love poster
5.8

Four tales unfold in the Eternal City: While vacationing in Rome, architect John encounters a young man whose romantic woes remind him of a painful incident from his own youth; retired opera director Jerry discovers a mortician with an amazing voice, and he seizes the opportunity to rejuvenate his own flagging career; a young couple have separate romantic interludes; a spotlight shines on an ordinary man.

To Rome with Love

2012

My Father's Private Secretary poster
5.2

Ponziani Armando, the owner of a thriving chemical industry, lives in a beautiful villa on Lake Como with his wife and his son Franco Ersilia.

My Father's Private Secretary

1976

Nightmare City poster
5.7

A reporter and his doctor wife try to escape from the hordes of bloodthirsty, undead people exposed to nuclear radioactivity as military leaders fight a losing war of attrition against the relentless attacks.

Nightmare City

1980

Rome, Armed to the Teeth poster
6.6

A tough, violent cop who doesn't mind bending the law goes after a machine-gun-carrying, hunchbacked psychotic killer.

Rome, Armed to the Teeth

1976

Visanteta, estáte quieta poster
5.8

Just when normalcy seemed to have returned to the Valencian town of Favara with Visanteta's marriage, tragedy strucks and she's widowed. To avoid the wrath of Saint Barbara after Visanteta's honor is threatened, they seek her a husband, but none lasts for long.

Visanteta, estáte quieta

1979

Wałesa: Man of Hope poster
5.7

How was it possible that a single man influenced contemporary world so significantly? This film is an attempt to capture the phenomenon of a common man’s metamorphosis into a charismatic leader — an attempt to see how a Gdansk shipyard electrician fighting for workers’ rights awakened a hidden desire for freedom in millions of people.

Wałesa: Man of Hope

2013

The Adventures of Hercules poster
4.8

Hercules searches for the Seven Thunderbolts of Zeus, which have been stolen by renegade gods.

The Adventures of Hercules

1985

The Cop in Blue Jeans poster
6.2

A top undercover cop finds and arrests a series of purse snatchers until he discovers an American at the top of an evil ring of thieves.

The Cop in Blue Jeans

1976

El virgo de Visanteta poster
5.2

No synopsis available yet.

El virgo de Visanteta

1979

Sulle ali dei gabbiani - L'isola vola in città poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Sulle ali dei gabbiani - L'isola vola in città

2006

Rimini, Rimini: A Year Later poster
3.7

Four episodes set on the beaches of Rimini: a womanizer pretends to be homosexual in order to gain the favors of a beautiful woman who ignores him. A mature beachgoer suffers from indigestion. A businessman unknowingly finances his wife's infidelities. Two wives from the south are forced to exchange partners.

Rimini, Rimini: A Year Later

1988

Culo e camicia poster
5.1

The movie is basically two unrelated comedic features: the first one features the travails of a man who stutters and tries to woo a woman he wants to date. The second features the wonderful Renato Pozetto as a gay man who lives with a partner, but finds himself falling for a woman, and not knowing how to tell his partner, who is prone to melodrama.

Culo e camicia

1981

Sabato, domenica e lunedì poster
5.4

Like every Saturday, Rosa Priore prepares the ragù for Sunday while her husband Peppino paces nervously around the kitchen, arguing about every little thing. When Sunday arrives, the entire Priore family gathers around the table and Mrs. Priore wears a beautiful blue scarf given to her by her neighbor, the thoughtful accountant Ianniello, who lavishes compliments on Donna Rosa and her cooking. After yet another compliment, Peppino explodes and accuses them in no uncertain terms of having an affair. Sunday is ruined, but will the family be able to pull themselves together on Monday?

Sabato, domenica e lunedì

2021

Giocare d'azzardo poster
NR

While desperately looking for a change, the 40yo Anna - a bored housewife - decides to start gambling. Luck is not on her side though: she loses everything she had, she's almost broke. Caught up by a moment of madness, she steals her daughter’s lifetime savings. She even pawns her own car - , she’s willing to do anything to try to win… Her only wish is for her lotto number to be the winning one… She tries, and tries, and tries… Till the day when that lotto number gets drawn - is it the truth or has the gambling driven her crazy and she can’t distinguish between reality and a dream anymore?

Giocare d'azzardo

1982

La lozana andaluza poster
5.3

In 16th century Rome, Rampín, a friendly and shameless rogue, exploits his arts of deception. He lives with his aunt, Napolitana, a pimp dedicated to the same trades as his nephew. With the arrival of a beautiful Andalusian, Lozana, her fortune enters their house by making her the most beautiful courtesan in Rome. Lozana and Rampín reach an agreement: he will be at her service, taking her lovers home, and she will treat him like a king and give him the best, something that others will never have. But one fine day, Don Sancho, a handsome Spaniard, falls in love with her.

La lozana andaluza

1976

Bloody Sin: Abonimations of the Third Reich poster
1.8

A team of researchers investigates a European castle that was used for sadistic tortures during the inquisition, as well as horrifying and abominable Nazi experiments on innocent people. Riddled with history, the demonically possessed castle overtakes the crew turning their nightmares into a terrifying reality.

Bloody Sin: Abonimations of the Third Reich

2011

Intolerance poster
7.0

A collective cinematic project to promote tolerance and the value of diversity.

Intolerance

1996

The Crazy Neighbors 2 poster
7.0

Fermin and Julio are two married men whose wives, Justina and Mireya, are political leaders. While Justine is part of a conservative party, Mireya leads one that is feminist. Their husbands have become something completely different to what is generally expected in that is it they who are responsible for caring for their children, cleaning the house, etc...though of course they also get into trouble with women. Fermin and Julio are regulars at a whorehouse who runs Encarna, but it's unusual in that in addition to its main function, it also servers as a nursery.

The Crazy Neighbors 2

1980

Guido, Who Challenged the Red Brigades poster
7.5

Genoa, Italy, 24th of January 1979. Red Brigades' member Roberto Dura is waiting with two other comrades for trade unionist leader and factory worker Guido Rossa to leave his home to go to work. Three months earlier, Rossa had denounced a work colleague, Francesco Berardi, because he was distributing Red Brigade flyers inside the factory. Berardi was arrested and, after a fast tracked trial, was convicted to four and a half years. ....

Guido, Who Challenged the Red Brigades

2007

The Criminals Attack. The Police Respond poster
6.4

Returning from Switzerland to Rome, the boss prof. Salviati, called 'The Prince', finds his business compromised by Rudy, a small local bandit full of presumption, audacity and men ready to kill. Commissioner Baldi a young and brave employee, will fight against them with the help of an ex-employee Rampelli.

The Criminals Attack. The Police Respond

1977

Leo e Beo poster
9.5

A man named Leo has the ability to speak to his dog, Beo. He falls in love with a single mother named Sabrina.

Leo e Beo

1998

Drakut the Avenger poster
6.9

No synopsis available yet.

Drakut the Avenger

1961

The Museum Of Wonders poster
3.0

When the beautiful dancer Salome learns that the dwarf circus owner Marcel has just received an inheritance, she marries the lovesick, diminutive performer, all the while planning to steal his fortune and run off with her lover, strong man Sansone. When Marcel and fellow performers discover her evil plan, they band together to carry out a brutal revenge.

The Museum Of Wonders

2010

L'Ave Maria poster
7.2

No synopsis available yet.

L'Ave Maria

1982