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Rose McGowan is an American actress and director, known for her contribution to independent film. Since the age of nineteen, she has appeared in acclaimed films by Gregg Araki, Wes Craven, Brian De Palma, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. In 2014, her directorial debut Dawn (2014) was nominated for the Short Film Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Rose Arianna McGowan was born on September 5, 1973 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy, to American parents Terri and Daniel Patrick McGowan. She is the second eldest of six siblings, and has Irish, French, and English ancestry. As a young child, she was raised within the Italian chapter of the Children of God. During the early 1980s, her family severed ties with the community and migrated to Eugene, Oregon, USA. Following the divorce of her parents, Rose relocated to Gig Harbor, Washington, to live with her grandmother. At age 14, McGowan was accused of drug use by a family friend and committed to rehabilitation. She has consistently maintained the decision was unjustified. Upon release, she spent a year without a home and was emancipated from her parents by the age of 15. McGowan's career as an actor began with The Doom Generation (1995). Originally intended for Jordan Ladd, the character of Amy Blue was, coincidentally, awarded to McGowan by an associate of director Gregg Araki. For her performance, she was nominated at the 1995 Independent Spirit Awards for Best Debut Performance. Subsequently cast in Wes Craven's Scream (1996), she experienced further success when the project defied expectations to become one of the highest grossing films of the year. The innovative career of McGowan was overshadowed throughout much of the 1990s by her high-profile relationship with musician Brian Warner (aka Marilyn Manson). Strong performances in Going All the Way (1997), Lewis & Clark & George (1997), Southie (1998) and Jawbreaker (1999) were largely unseen by the general public. When the relationship ended between Rose and Manson in 2001, she remarked: "There is great love, but our lifestyle difference is, unfortunately, even greater". Rose continued to work solidly, appearing in a string of soft-sounding studio and independent films. Performances from this period included: a political activist in Showtime's The Killing Yard (2001), a grifter in Roads to Riches (2002) and a factory worker in "Stealing Bess" (aka Vacuums (2003)). She was re-introduced to the mainstream as Paige Matthews in Aaron Spelling's Charmed (1998), a popular television series for which she devoted five consecutive years. When "Charmed" finished its run in 2006, McGowan emerged in top form. Critics praised her efforts in Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror (2007), and Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof (2007). In several interviews, McGowan has expressed a general apathy and disdain for Hollywood. Despite this, her work ethic remains strong. Following her recent marriage to LA-based artist Davey Detail, the actress has resolved to purse further projects as a director.

Elena Sofia Ricci was born on 29 March 1962 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. She is an actress and director, known for Loose Cannons (2010), Io e mia sorella (1987) and Ne parliamo lunedì (1989). She has been married to Stefano Mainetti since October 2003. They have one child. She was previously married to Luca Damiani.

Alba Rohrwacher was born on 27 February 1979 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. She is an actress, known for Perfect Strangers (2016), Hungry Hearts (2014) and I Am Love (2009).

George P. Cosmatos was born on 4 January 1941 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. He was a director and assistant director, known for Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Leviathan (1989) and Cobra (1986). He was married to Birgitta Ljungberg. He died on 19 April 2005 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Franco Zeffirelli is an Italian director and producer of operas, films and television. He was also a senator from 1994 until 2001 for the Italian center-right Forza Italia party. Some of his operatic designs and productions have become worldwide classics.

He was known for several of the movies he directed, especially the 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet (1968), for which he received an Academy Award nomination. His 1967 version of The Taming of The Shrew (1967) with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton remains the best-known film adaptation of that play as well. His mini-series Jesus of Nazareth (1977) won both national and international acclaim.

In 1999, Zeffirelli received the Crystal Globe award for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. In November 2004, he was awarded an honorary knighthood by the United Kingdom. He was awarded the Premio Colosseo in 2009 by the city of Rome.

Vittoria Puccini was born on 18 November 1979 in Florence, Italy. After graduating from high school, she first appeared on screen in Sergio Rubini's TV movie Tutto l'amore che c'è (2000) and in other minor titles, and finally became a star on Italian TV, playing the title character in Elisa di Rivombrosa (2003). She also has appeared in several international productions including Kronprinz Rudolf (2006).

Daria Nicolodi was born on 19 June 1949 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. She was an actress and writer, known for Phenomena (1985), Deep Red (1975) and Tenebrae (1982). She died on 26 November 2020 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Martina Stella was born on 28 November 1984 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. She is an actress, known for Nine (2009), Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Augustus: The First Emperor (2003). She was previously married to Andrea Manfredonia.

Gino Corrado is best known as the waiter in most of the films from Hollywood's Golden Age. He appeared in such popular and beloved films as Casablanca, Citizen Kane, and Gone with the Wind. With over 1,000 appearances (mostly uncredited roles as a bit player or an extra from 1916 until 1956) he has one of the largest filmographies of any actor in the film industry. Three Stooges fans recognized him from his appearances in several memorable Three Stooges shorts, and it was the Three Stooges Fan Club that eventually bought him his gravestone. Corrado's earliest film roles included DW Griffith's Intolerance (1916), Sunrise (1927) and his biggest role as one of the Three Musketeers (Aramis) opposite Douglas Fairbanks in The Iron Mask (1929). Italian-born Gino Corrado's real name was Gino Liserani and his two brothers were also actors. Lawrence Liserani worked mostly as an extra, and Louis (Luigi) Liserani had a few bit roles in the 1920s under the name Louis Dumar.

Corrado was mainly uncredited after the silent era ended and typecast as a waiter or chef. He, incredibly, entered the restaurant business in the late 1940s where he served the motion picture crowd much like on-screen. Kirby Pringle is writing a book about Gino Corrado titled "Waiting on Hollywood: The Tale of an Italian Bit Player," with University Press of Mississippi, due out in early 2022.

Marina Malfatti was born on 25 April 1933 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. She was an actress, known for They're Coming to Get You! (1972), Il prato macchiato di rosso (1973) and Sherlock Holmes (1968). She was married to Umberto La Rocca. She died on 8 June 2016 in Rome, Italy.

Orso Maria Guerrini was born on 25 October 1942 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. He is an actor, known for The Bourne Identity (2002), Double Team (1997) and Keoma (1976). He has been married to Cristina Sebastianelli since 4 August 2011. He was previously married to Alessandra Carella and Catherine Spaak.

Francesco Nuti was born on 17 May 1955 in Prato near Florence. He made his debut in cinema industry with Giancattivi trio composed by Alessandro Benvenuti and Athina Cenci. They acted in the film Ad ovest di Paperino (1981) with acclaim from both critics and public. Then he acted with Italian director Maurizio Ponzi in Tuscany's trilogy, What a Ghostly Silence There Is Tonight (1982), The Pool Hustlers (1983), and Son contento (1983). After this experience he decided to direct his own movies Tutta colpa del paradiso (1985), and Caruso Paskoski, Son of a Pole (1988). After box-office hit Donne con le gonne (1991), he tried to make a great style film like OcchioPinocchio (1994), but this film was totally stamped on by critics and was a failure at box-office. He tried a come back with Caruso, zero in condotta (2001) and Concorso di colpa (2004) but he wasn't able to repeat the previous success. In the middle of 2006 he was hospitalized in Rome, where he entered a coma. On 24 November 2006 he came out from the coma and was brought into a rehabilitation center.

An expert in aesthetic dermatology, board-certified dermatologist, Dr. Will Kirby, is the Chief Medical Officer for the nation's leader in aesthetic dermatology, LaserAway.

Dr. Kirby has worked with some of the biggest brands in beauty; He served as the national spokesman for Johnson & Johnson's Neutrogena Dermatologics, as a consultant for Kimberly Clark's Truist Skin Care line, and as Social Media Ambassador for Unilever's Dove Men+Care and for Proctor & Gamble's Old Spice as well as Head & Shoulders.

Dr. Kirby has a degree in Biology from Emory University. He received his medical degree from Nova Southeastern University, and completed his first year of postgraduate training in Internal Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center. His dermatology residency training took place in association with Western University/Pacific Hospital where he served as Chief Resident in the Department of Dermatology.

Academically, Dr. Kirby is an Associate Clinical Professor of Dermatology and the Cosmetic Director for Western Dermatology Residency/Western University of Health Sciences where he teaches dermatology residents the art and science of aesthetic energy-based devices, injectables, and skin care. For over a decade he has served as an expert reviewer for the Osteopathic Medical Board of California in dermatology as well.

Dr. Kirby serves on the editorial advisory board of popular dermatological publications including "Dermatology Times", "The Dermatologist", and "The Journal of Aesthetic and Clinical Dermatology". He has published a number of articles on dermatology in peer-reviewed medical journals and he has authored and co-authored medical text book chapters. He is also the lone Health & Beauty Reporter for "Life & Style Magazine".

Having appeared on more than 40 different television shows, Dr. Kirby is the winner of CBS's "Big Brother 2" and in 2016 he also won "The Price is Right". He was a featured physician on E! Entertainment Television's "Dr. 90210" for two seasons, and has been seen on "The Doctors" multiple times. Other TV appearances have included "The Young & The Restless", "Fox News", "The Real Housewives of Orange County", "E! News", "Regis & Kelly", "The Talk", "Chelsea Lately", "Robot Chicken", "Shahs of Sunset", he plays the bounty hunter 'Karales' on Disney Plus' "Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett", and he has appeared live on QVC more than 100 times.

Chiara Francini was born on 20 December 1976 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. She is an actress and writer, known for Miracle at St. Anna (2008), The Worst Week of My Life (2011) and Men Vs Women (2010).

Francesca Bertini was undoubtedly one of the first divas of cinema, a lady not only on screen but also in real life. She made her film debut in La dea del mare (1907) and after that producers fought for her services. In 1921 she married European nobleman and banker Alfred Cartier. She tried her hand at directing films as well as acting in them and turned out two well-received efforts, Assunta Spina (1915) and Tosca (1918)). She made the transition from silent films to talkies, although her output slowed down considerably. Her final role was in Bernardo Bertolucci's 1900 (1976).

A "diva" to the end, she died in a "grand hotel" in Rome, Italy, in 1985, receiving friends and fans on her deathbed in a sumptuous salon.

Gina Wendkos was born on 2 October 1954 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. She is a writer and producer, known for Coyote Ugly (2000), The Perfect Man (2005) and The Princess Diaries (2001).

Fabio Picchi was born on 22 June 1954 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. He died on 24 February 2022 in Prato, Tuscany, Italy.

Lorella De Luca was born on 17 September 1940 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. She was an actress and assistant director, known for Orlando e i Paladini di Francia (1956), Taras Bulba, the Cossack (1962) and Tough Guys (1974). She was married to Duccio Tessari. She died on 9 January 2014 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Marco Gandolfi Vannini was born on 7 June 1981 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. He is an actor, known for Somewhere (2010), Rido perché ti amo (2023) and Florence Fight Club (2015).

Dante Alighieri was born in 1265 into the lower nobility of Florence, to Alighiero di Bellincione d'Alighiero, a moneylender. A precocious student, Dante's education focused on rhetoric and grammar. He also became enamored with a young girl, Beatrice Portinari, whose death in 1290 threw a grieving Dante into intense religious studies. Though the Alighieri family had managed to avoid entanglement in the power struggles between the Ghibelline and Guelf families for control of Florence, Dante allied himself with the democratic Guelfs and married a member of that clan, Gemma di Manetto Donati, in 1285.

After serving in the Guelf forces as a cavalryman in the Battle of Campaldino, Dante enrolled in the Guild of Doctors and Pharmacists and became politically active. He became an ambassador and a prior, but after finding himself on the opposite side of the political party in power he was forced to flee Florence in 1301, never able to return to the city of his birth. He narrowly escaped being executed for treason.

Dante left for Verona and Ravenna, where he was joined by his children. He then wrote his most famous work, "Commedia", not in scholarly Latin but in the vernacular Italian of the time, giving his countrymen a literature of their own. In it he would resurrect the love of his youth, Beatrice, giving her a place among the angels. This work would also take the author, escorted by the Roman poet Publius Vergilius Maro, on a grand tour to Hell and Purgatory, and later by his beloved Beatrice to Paradise. History would later judge Dante's creation to be divine. Dante Alighieri died in 1321 and was buried in Ravenna. Three sons--Pietro, Jacopo and Giovanni--and a daughter, Antonia, survived him.

The archetypal "Renaissance Man," Leonardo da Vinci was one of the greatest scientific minds as well as one of the greatest visual artists the human race has ever produced. The illegitimate son of a wealthy Florentine notary, Piero da Vinci, and a peasant woman named Caterina, Leonardo was born in Tuscany on April 15, 1452, in Anchiano, a town near Vinci, which is in the proximity of Florence.

When he was about 17 years old, Leonardo was apprenticed as a garzone or studio boy to the workshop of the Renaissance master Andrea Verrocchio, the leading Florentine painter and artist of his day. From roughly 1469 to 1476, Leonardo acquired a variety of skills during his apprenticeship at Verrocchio's workshop, including painting altarpieces and panel pictures and making large sculptures in bronze and marble. In 1472, he joined the painters' guild, and six years later, he became an independent master. His first commission was in 1478, to paint an altarpiece for the Palazzo Vecchio's chapel. The painting was never executed. Florence's Monastery of San Donato a Scopeto commissioned Leonardo's first large painting in 1481. 'The Adoration of the Magi' was left unfinished when Leonardo left Florence for Milan approximately a year later, to work for Duke Lodovico Sforza as court artist and as an engineer.

Leonardo had written the Duke of Milan touting his skills as a military engineer. In his letter, Leonardo claimed that he could build portable bridges, manufacture cannon, and build ships and war machines, including armored vehicles and catapults. He also told the Duke he could sculpt in bronze, clay and marble. He worked for the Duke of Milan for almost 18 years, painting portraits, designing festivals, and planning to sculpt a massive equestrian monument to honor the Duke's father. In addition to serving the duke as an architect and working for him as a military engineer, Leonardo assisted the mathematician Luca Pacioli in the celebrated work Divina Proportione.

Leonardo's interest in science began to flourish in Milan, and as a civil and military engineer, he delved into the field of mechanics. His scientific research also embraced anatomy, biology, mathematics, and physics. It was during this period that he finished "The Last Supper," which along with the "Mona Lisa," is his most significant masterpiece.

France captured Milan in 1499, and Leonardo moved to Mantua and then to Venice to seek employment. By April 1500, he had returned to Florence, though two years later, he left to work for Cesare Borgia, the Duke of Romagna, in a military capacity. The son of Pope Alexander VI, Borgia served his father as his general in-chief. Leonardo. as the duke's chief architect and engineer, supervised construction on forts in the Papal states in central Italy.

Back in Florence in 1503, Leonardo served on the art commission of artists that determined the proper placing of Michelangelo's sculpture 'David.' Florence was at war with Pisa, and Leonardo served the city-state as a military engineer while continuing his scientific research. Leonardo began to design a painting for the great hall of the Palazzo Vecchio to commemorate the Battle of Anghiari, a Florentine victory over Pisa. While Leonardo produced a full-size sketch in 1505, he never executed the wall painting. During his second residency in Florence, Leonardo painted the portrait 'La Giocondane,' more famously known as Mona Lisa. Leonardo apparently was quite fond of the completed work, as it accompanied him on all of his subsequent travels.

Arguably the most famous painting in the world, the Mona Lisa is a bravura technical performance. The innovative Leonardo exhibits his mastery of chiaroscuro, the technique of modeling and defining form through contrasts of light and shadow, and sfumato, the technique of using subtle transitions between areas of color. The Mona Lisa, like many of his paintings, features a landscape background utilizing atmospheric perspective. Leonardo was one of the first painters to introduce atmospheric perspective into art, and his work influenced the High Renaissance Florentine masters, including Raphael. He also was a major influence on the artistic development of Correggio.

Returning to Milan in June 1506, at the invitation of French governor Charles d'Amboise, Leonardo went to work for the French court, which with King Louis XII of France, was residing in the Italian city. Except for a sojourn back in Florence in the period 1507-08, Leonardo stayed in Milan for seven years, though he returned to Florence often to visit his half-brothers and -siters and to manage his inheritance. In 1507, Leonardo went was named court painter to King Louis XII.

In Milan, he worked on engineering projects and on the planning of an equestrian statue to honor Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, the French military commander of Milan. The statue was never realized. During this Milan stay, scientific research became paramount. He applied his artistic gifts toward scientific illustration. In addition to his study of anatomy, he studied the stratification of rocks and researched the principles behind light, the flow of water, and the growth of plants. Leonardo's method was to draw and describe things by first approaching the surface before delving in to the underlying structure. He was interested in exactly describing the appearance of natural things in order to analyze their functioning. Similar to his artistic innovations, Leonardo's scientific theories were based on careful observation, precisely documented. He also made sketches of mechanical devices for the transmission of energy.

Along with Giuliano de'Medici, the brother of Pope Leo X, Leonardo moved to Rome in 1514. Enjoying the patronage of Pope Leo X, he lived in the Palazzo Belvedere in the Vatican and was mostly concerned with scientific experimentation. In 1516, he left Italy and moved to France to become the architectural adviser of King Francis I, an admirer of his work. Leonardo lived at the Château de Cloux, near Amboise, France, where he died on May 2, 1519 at at the age of 67.

Massimo Cantini Parrini was born in 1971 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. He is a costume designer, known for Tale of Tales (2015), Dogman (2018) and Cyrano (2021).

Leonardo Pieraccioni was born on 17 February 1965 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. He is an actor and writer, known for The Cyclone (1996), Se son rose (2018) and I laureati (1995).

Folco Lulli was born on 3 July 1912 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. He was an actor and producer, known for The Organizer (1963), The Wages of Fear (1953) and The Tartars (1961). He died on 23 May 1970 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Alessio Della Valle is a film director and screenwriter who was born and raised in Florence, Italy. A polyglot who traveled the world extensively, he has lived in over ten countries by the age of 30. He was awarded the Fulbright Sergio Corbucci Scholarship in Film Directing and holds a cum laude degree from Bologna University, with additional studies in Theatre at the Samuel Beckett Center, Dublin, and Film Directing at the Los Angeles Film School. Alessio is accomplished in playing several instruments and composing music for orchestra, having completed his musical education at the Music Academy of Florence. He directed Giacomo Puccini's opera "The Girl of the Golden West" in Los Angeles. Alessio directed commercials for brands like: Disney, Hello Kitty, Bose, Unesco, Fiat. He founded the "The Art of Awakening" art movement, for which he wrote a manifesto that was published by UNESCO. His work was first exhibited at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Other exhibitions of his photographs and paintings have also been held across Europe.

He served as the Head of International of the Producers Guild of Italy. Former Member of the Youth Jury at the 60th and 61st Venice Film Festival, Alessio has worked for broadcasters (Rai, Sky, Fox), streamers (Apple TV, Hulu, Amazon Prime) and US Studios (Lionsgate, Saban).

His debut feature film "American Night" had the World Premiere at the 78th Venice Film Festival, and it was distributed in the United States by Lionsgate, in the UK as a SKY Originals and all over the world. 4 Oscar winners/nominees and 2 Golden Globe winners worked on the film, earning it the moniker of "an Italian miracle" by ADN Kronos.

Alessio's cinematic endeavors have been featured on Fortune, Variety, TEDx, Hollywood Reporter, Vanity Fair, Cosmopolitan, and Rolling Stone. Praised by Deadline Hollywood: "A unique perspective. A talented director." It has been described by Film Threat as "Absolutely incredible" and "One of the best films of the year."

"American Night" was featured at the Golden Globes. The screenplay of "American Night" was requested by the Oscars to be included in the Academy's Permanent Core Collection for study and preservation.