(ANSA) - Rome, January 11 - Friends and relatives of Mariangela Melato began paying their last respects on Friday afternoon after the acclaimed Italian stage and cinema actress lost a long battle against cancer earlier in the day at the age of 71. Singer and actor Renzo Arbore, Melato's partner, paid homage to her fight against the disease, saying that she had displayed the same "intelligence, determination and courage that characterised her entire life and artistic commitment". Lina Wertmuller, director of the internationally successful 1974 film Swept Away by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August in which Melato portrayed an aristocratic Milan socialite marooned with a Communist sailor played by frequent onscreen partner Giancarlo Giannini, described the actress as "beautiful, pure, noble". Tributes poured in from the political and cultural establishment, with President Giorgio Napolitano describing her as "one of the most popular actresses for her marked talent, which she demonstrated with willpower and enthusiasm until the end".
Italian Culture Minister Lorenzo Ornaghi said, "Mariangela Melato was one of the most valid interpreters of Italian show business in the second half of the 20th century, an eclectic artist with great sensibility who succeeded in bringing an original touch to both stage and screen".
"All the parts I gave her were a challenge," said Luca Ronconi, one of the directors with whom Milan-born Melato worked most closely during her illustrious career. "She overcame them all," he added. Her funeral will be held on Saturday at the Chiesa degli Artisti church in Rome's Piazza del Popolo.