Milena Vukotic

Milena Vukotic — Biography

The daughter of a Montenegrin comedy playwright and an Italian pianist-composer, Milena Vukotic was born in Rome and trained as a child in acting and classical dance in Italy and France, beginning her career as a ballerina. On stage she worked with directors such as Franco Zeffirelli, Giorgio Strehler, Paolo Poli and Jean Cocteau and became one of Rina Morelli's favourite actresses, while in film she worked with Federico Fellini, Luis Buñuel and Andrei Tarkovsky, appearing for Buñuel in The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and Le Fantôme de la liberté. She is best known for playing Pina Fantozzi in the Fantozzi comedy film series, winning a Nastro d'Argento for Best Supporting Actress for Fantozzi in Paradiso, and was also noted for her role as the grandmother in the television series Un medico in famiglia. She had a long-running part on the French series Une famille formidable and, in 1987, appeared in the German series Anna, a major success in German-speaking countries. Over her career she has received the David di Donatello Award for Lifetime Achievement alongside several David di Donatello and Nastro d'Argento nominations. She has continued acting in recent years, appearing in Ferzan Özpetek's film Diamonds.