Goodbye to Ira Von Furstenberg, the actress and jet-set star of the '70s has passed away. Born in Rome on April 17, 1940, she was the daughter of Prince Tassilo Fürstenberg and Clara Agnelli, sister of Gianni. In October, she received her last recognition, the Capri Person Award 2023. Her full name was Virginia Carolina Theresa Pancrazia Galdina zu Fürstenberg. Born in Rome on April 17, 1940 from Prince Tassilo Fürstenberg, son of Karl Emil Fürstenberg, the second born of the princely house originally from the Black Forest.
Endowed with great charm, one of the noble sexy icons of the '60s, Ira von Fürstenberg became a popular face on the big screen thanks to the role of Dr. Olivieri in the film «Il prof. dott. Guido Tersilli, primary of the clinic Villa Celeste affiliated with the mutuals» (1967) directed by Luciano Salce and masterfully interpreted by Alberto Sordi. She also acted alongside Count Giovanni Nuvoletti (in the role of Professor Gustavo Azzarini), then companion of her mother Clara Agnelli.
Ira von Fürstenberg was married to the Spanish prince Alfonso di zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg, with whom she had two sons Christoph (1956-2006) and Hubertus (1959), former Olympic skier representing Mexico, singer and photographer. She then remarried to playboy Francesco «Baby» Pignatari and their union did not produce any children.
Ira spent her childhood in Switzerland during the years of the second world war, then in the Villa Fürstenberg, on the Terraglio, the road that connects Venice to Treviso, and between Cortina, Salzburg and Forte dei Marmi; after the separation of her parents she was sent to study in a boarding school in England. At 14 she modeled for the designer Emilio Pucci, a family friend, and soon after she got engaged to Prince Alfonso zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg, who courted her despite already being 30 years old.
In December 1959 Ira met in Cortina the legendary playboy Francisco Pignatari, known as 'Baby', 23 years older than her, and from there they soon started a relationship. Upon learning of his wife's infidelity, Alfonso di zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg filed a complaint for adultery (at the time this was still a criminal offense for women and was punished with two years in prison for the adulteress and for the accomplice) and began the battle for custody of the two children. At the end of a long battle the Spanish prince withdrew the complaint in exchange for custody of the children. Ira and 'Baby' were married on January 12, 1961 in Reno, in the American state Nevada. Already the following year it seems that the marriage began to crack and the two divorced in Las Vegas on January 15, 1964. Only in 1969 did she obtain the annulment of the first marriage.
In a difficult period of her life, with two marriages behind her, just over 25 years old it was the producer Dino de Laurentis who proposed to Ira to enter the world of cinema. The princess-actress shot a total of 28 films and turned down the film «Barbarella» (1968) by Roger Vadim, a role that was then assigned to Jane Fonda. She also refused to shoot a film with Tinto Brass that included erotic scenes.
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