Top 10 Intriguing Facts About Isabella Rossellini

Isabella Rossellini au festival de Cannes. Photo by Georges Biard – Wikimedia Commons

Top 10 Intriguing Facts About Isabella Rossellini

Isabella Rossellini is one of the world’s most famous models of all time. But the Italian beauty is more than just a model. 

Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini is an Italian actress, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and model.

The daughter of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and Italian neorealist film director Roberto Rossellini, she is noted for her successful tenure as a Lancome model, and for her roles in films such as Blue Velvet and Death Becomes Her.

1. Rossellini was the daughter of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman

Isabella Rossellini and David Lynch at the Cannes Film Festival. Photo by Georges Biard – Wikimedia Commons

Rossellini was born in Rome, the daughter of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman, who was of Swedish and German descent, and Italian director Roberto Rossellini, who was born in Rome from a family originally from Pisa, Tuscany.

2. She has three siblings from her mother and four other siblings from her father’s two other marriages

Isabella Rossellini and Anthony Hopkins were on location at Tempelhof Airport in Berlin to shoot some scenes for the movie “The Innocent”. Photo by Towpilot (talk | contribs) – Wikimedia Commons

She has three siblings from her mother: her fraternal twin sister Isotta Rossellini, who is an adjunct professor of Italian literature; a brother, Robertino Ingmar Rossellini; and a half-sister, Pia Lindström, who formerly worked on television and is from her mother’s first marriage with Petter Lindström.

She has four other siblings from her father’s two other marriages: Romano (who died at age nine), Renzo, Gil, and Raffaella.

3. She underwent an operation for appendicitis at the age of five

Isabella Rossellini at the 2005 Torino Film Festival. Photo by lauracinema – Wikimedia Commons

Rossellini was raised in Rome, as well as in Santa Marinella and Paris. She underwent an operation for appendicitis at the age of five.

 At 11, she was diagnosed with scoliosis. To correct it, she had to undergo an 18-month ordeal of painful stretchings, body casts, and surgery on her spine using pieces of one of her shin bones. Consequently, she has incision scars on her back and shin.

4. Growing up, she received “a liberal Catholic education”

Isabella Rossellini,. Photo by Tabercil from Canadian – Wikimedia Commons

Growing up, she received “a liberal Catholic education”. At 19, she went to New York City, where she attended Finch College while working as a translator and an RAI television reporter.

5. Rossellini was married to Martin Scorsese from 1979 to 1982 and later got married to married Jon Wiedemann between 1983 and 1986

Isabella Rossellini. Photo by Tabercil from Canadian – Wikimedia Commons

She was married to Martin Scorsese from 1979 to 1982. After her marriage to Scorsese ended, she married Jon Wiedemann (1983–1986), a Harvard-educated former fashion model from Texas (now a Microsoft design manager).

She has a daughter, Elettra Rossellini Wiedemann (born 1983), and an adopted son, Roberto Rossellini (born 1993).

6. She also appeared intermittently on L’altra Domenica 

Italian Actress and Director Isabella Rossellini at the Berlin Film Festival 2013. Photo by Siebbi – Wikimedia Commons

 She also appeared intermittently on L’altra Domenica (The Other Sunday), a TV show featuring Roberto Benigni. However, she did not decide to stay full-time in New York until her marriage to Martin Scorsese (1979–1982), whom she met when she interviewed him for RAI.

7. Her modeling career began at the age of 28

Isabella Rossellini. Photo by Tabercil from Canadian – Wikimedia Commons

At 28, her modeling career began when she was photographed by Bruce Weber for British Vogue and Bill King for American Vogue.

She has also worked with many other renowned photographers. She has also worked with many other renowned photographers, including Richard Avedon, Steven Meisel, Helmut Newton, Peter Lindbergh, Norman Parkinson, Eve Arnold, Francesco Scavullo, Annie Leibovitz, Denis Piel, and Robert Mapplethorpe.

8. Her image has appeared in various magazines

Isabella Rossellini. Photo by Tabercil from Canadian – Wikimedia Commons

Her image has appeared in such magazines as Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair, and ELLE. In March 1988, an exhibition dedicated to her photographs, called Portrait of a Woman, was held at the Musee d’Art Moderne in Paris.

 Rossellini’s modeling career led her into the world of cosmetics, when she became the exclusive spokesmodel for the French cosmetics brand Lancôme in 1982, replacing Nancy Dutiel in the United States and Carol Alt in Europe.

9. She was involved in product development for the fragrance Trésor At Lancôme

Isabella Rossellini. Photo by Tabercil from Canadian – Wikimedia Commons

She was involved in product development for the fragranceTrésor

At Lancôme, in 1990, she was involved in product development for the fragrance Trésor.  In October 1992, Rossellini modeled for Madonna’s controversial book Sex.

 In 1996, when she was 43, she was removed as the face of Lancôme for being “too old.”

 In 2016, at the age of 63, she was rehired by Lancôme’s new female CEO, Francoise Lehmann, as a global brand ambassador for the company.

Rossellini also appeared in Madonna’s music video for her successful Top 5 hit song “Erotica”, released in the autumn/fall of 1992.

Rossellini was the inaugural brand ambassador for the Italian Silversea Cruises company in 2004, and she appeared in print ads and on their website.

10. Rossellini holds dual Italian and the United States citizenship

Isabella Rossellini i Berlin 1992. Photo by Jarvin – Wikimedia Commons

Barbara Muckermann, the senior vice-president of worldwide marketing and communications in 2004, said at the time of the announcement, “Isabella is the ideal personification of Silversea’s exclusive standard of elegance, glamour, and sophistication.”

Rossellini holds dual Italian and United States citizenship.

She has always lived near her twin sister Isotta Ingrid while growing up in Rome, Italy, or residing in New York City.

 Rossellini received a 1987 Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her role in Blue Velvet.

 In 1997, she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV for her role in Crime of the Century and an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her work on the television series Chicago Hope.

 In 1998, she received an Honorable Mention at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival for her role in the film Left Luggage.