Anna Maria Pierangeli was born June 19, 1932, in Cagliari, Sardinia,
Italy. Anna and her twin sister, Marisa Pavan, both had their eyes on becoming
film stars, since that was one of the big Italian pastimes. Anna
adopted her surname and split it in half, and it was as Pier Angeli
that she would find fame. Her first role was an uncredited part in
1948's The Million Dollar Nickel (1952), an Italian production. Pier was 16 at the time and it
was to be the first of many roles for this beautiful woman. The film
was largely forgettable but it was a start. The following year she
played in another Italian production, Morgen ist es zu spät (1950). Again it was a very
small role, and she was not seen on the screen again until 1951.
Between 1949 and 1951 she appeared in stage productions and found work
in menial jobs. When she did return it was in the film Begegnung in Tunis (1951) as Anna
Vasarri. Later that year she won the title role in Teresa - Die Geschichte einer Braut (1951). However,
she again hit a drought with only one film in 1952 and two in 1953. The
next year things began to pick up, however, with Hollywood beckoning. After the Italian Frl. Nitouche (1954) she caught the eyes of Hollywood
moguls, who cast her in Flammende Sinne (1954) and Der silberne Kelch (1954). Now she divided her time
between Italy and the US making movies. She married Vic Damone in 1954, a
union that lasted only four years and produced one son.
No film offers came in 1955, but in 1956 Pier landed the role of
Norma Graziano (wife of fighter Rocky Graziano) in Die Hölle ist in mir (1956) opposite Paul Newman.
The film was well received at the box office and she had hopes that
things were going to pick up again. She played Ynez in Port Afrika (1956) later
that year and then another drought ensued. After Unter glühender Sonne (1957), König der Spaßmacher (1958) and
Dicke Luft und heiße Liebe (1959), she made three more films in 1960. Then once again 1961 saw no
appearances. In 1962 Pier played Ildith in Sodom und Gomorrha (1962) and later that year
played in a French production entitled Meuterei auf der Albatros (1961). After the Italian
production of OSS 117 - Heisse Hölle Bangkok (1964) she returned in the hit European-American
co-production Die letzte Schlacht (1965).
After a handful of films between 1966 and 1970, Pier realized her
dreams of super-stardom were not to be. She had divorced her second
husband (Armando Trovajoli) in 1969 and made her final appearance on the screen
in 1971 in the low-budget sci-fi opus Octaman - Die Bestie aus der Tiefe (1971). On September 10th of that
year Pier was found dead of a barbiturate overdose in her Beverly Hills
home. She was only 39 years old.
