Rina Morelli's screen appearances spanned five decades of Italian cinema, always interesting and powerful, but her most notable and groundbreaking work was on the stage. She began her career at the age of seven in 'Morte Civile' by Paolo Giacometti, directed by Ermete Zacconi, alongside her father Amilcare Brillanti.
Her first notable success was 'Liliom' by Ferenc Molnár, opposite Annibale Betrone. In 1938, she joined the Teatro Eliseo in Rome and spent the next few years appearing alongside Gino Cervi, Andreina Pagnani, and Paolo Stoppa, who would become her life-long partner.
Their many successes include William Shakespeare's 'La dodicesima notte' (Twelfth Night) and 'Le allegre comari di Windsor' (The Merry Wives of Windsor) in 1938 and 1939, respectively. In 1944, they appeared in Ernst Eklund's 'Quartetto pazzo' directed by Guido Salvani, which was remade for the big screen in 1945 with the same team, except for Andreina Pagnani, who was replaced by Anna Magnani in the role of Elena.
After the war, Rina Morelli worked almost exclusively in the theatre for the next 20 years with the brilliant Luchino Visconti. Her versatility as an actress and his directing genius perfectly served modern plays like 'Parenti terribili' (Les parents terribles) by Jean Cocteau, Jean Anouilh's 'Antigone', and 'A porte chiuse' (Huis clos) by Jean-Paul Sartre in 1945.
She also triumphed in 1949 in Tennessee Williams' play 'Un tram che si chiama desiderio' (A Streetcar Named Desire) with Vivi Gioi and Vittorio Gassman, and in 1951 in Arthur Miller's 'Morte di un commesso viaggiatore' (Death of a Salesman).
Visconti would also direct her in classics like Shakespeare's 'Rosalinda o come vi piace' (As You Like It) and 'Troilo e Cressida' (Troilus and Cressida) in 1948 and 1949, respectively, Goldoni's 'La locandiera' in 1952, and 'L'impresario di Smirne' in 1957.
Her work also includes Vittorio Alfieri's 'Oreste' in 1949; two plays by the Italian author Diego Fabbri: 'I seduttore' in 1951 and 'Figli d'arte' in 1959; another Miller's play 'Uno sguardo dal ponte' (A View from the Bridge) with Paolo Stoppa; 'I ragazzi della Signora Gibbons' (Mrs. Gibbons' boys) by Will Glickman and Joseph Stein in 1958; 'Immagini e tempi di Eleonora Duse' in 1958; and 'L'Arialda' by Giovanni Testori in 1960, all directed by Visconti.
Her last collaborations with the maestro were 'Il tredicesimo albero' by André Gide and Checkhov's 'Giardino dei ciliegi' (The Cherry Orchard),respectively in 1963 and 1965.
