Who is Valeria Golino?
An actress who was a sex symbol of the late ’80s and early ’90s, Valeria Golino is still perhaps known best for her role as Susanna in the drama “Rain Man”, also starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise. The movie followed the story of a selfish yuppie from Los Angeles, Charlie, who finds out that his estranged father left a fortune to his autistic brother Raymond whom he didn’t know existed – Valeria portrayed Charlie’s girlfriend, Susanna.
Valeria has over 100 other acting credits to her name, and you might remember her from “Hot Shots!” a spoof of the hit movie “Top Gun”, while the younger audience may know her as Paola Lambruschini in “The Morning Show”.
Early life and education
Valeria Golino was born on 22 October 1965, in Naples, Italy; she holds Italian nationality although she comes from a family of Greek, Egyptian and French descent. Her father studied German culture, and her mother worked as a painter. After her parents divorced, she spent her childhood between Athens, Greece, and Sorrento, Italy. Valeria has just one brother, who’s a musician.
When she was 11 years old, Valeria was diagnosed with scoliosis, which effects the spine, and was in the care of a surgeon in a Chicago, USA hospital, where she learned to speak English.
Speaking of her educational background, although she wanted to be a cardiologist, she didn’t matriculate from high school. However, Valeria launched her modeling career, subsequently appearing in various commercials, while she modeled blue jeans and swimsuits.
Acting career beginning
Valeria began acting after her uncle encouraged her to go audition for Lina Wertumuller’s movie, and she made her acting debut in 1983, portraying Adalgisa De Andreiis in the comedy “A Joke of Destiny, Lying in Wait Around the Corner Like a Bandit”.
In the following year, she had a supporting role as a Girl in Bikini in “Blind Date”, written and directed by Nico Mastorakis. Valeria followed with her lead roles in “Little Flames” and “My Dearest Son” which brought her the Golden Globe, Italy Award for Best Breakthrough Actress (Migliore Attrice Rivelazione), in 1986.
Two years later, she was cast to play Susanna in “Rain Man”, the role which brought her international recognition. The movie had 49 award nominations and won 26, including four Oscars for Best Writing – Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Actor in a Leading Role (Dustin Hoffman). Valeria was nominated for the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon Award for Best Supporting Actress (Migliore Attrice Non-Protagonista).
The next Valeria’s significant role came in 1991, when she was seen in “Hot Shots!”, also starring Charlie Sheen and Cary Elwes – one scene from this parody movie is particularly interesting to the audience, the hilarious ‘olive-in-the-belly-button’ scene. In 1993, Valeria reprised her role in “Hot Shots! Part Deux”, which was a “Rambo” parody.
In the following year, Valeria was seen as Sarah Novak in the comedy “Clean Slate” also starring Dana Curvey, which followed the story of a private investigator who suffers total amnesia every 24 hours, and is deeply entangled in a theft and murder case. Although the movie had no nominations, it was well accepted by the audience.
Valeria was seen as Athena on the segment “The Missing Ingredient” of the 1995 comedy “Four Rooms”, also starring Antonio Banderas, Tim Roth and Sammi Davis, followed by her role as Taslima in “Escape from L. A.” in 1996.
In the following years, Valeria acted in numerous movies, however, since the list of her roles and awards is too long to enumerate, we mention just some of her most notable.
In the late ’90s, she focused more on Italian and Greek production movies, as in the US, she was getting roles only in comedies, and wanted to be a drama actress. Not many people know that Valeria auditioned for the lead roles in “Flatliners” and “Pretty Woman”, which both times she lost to Julia Roberts.
What happened to her?
In the early 2000s, Valeria starred in “Respiro”, a drama about the young, free-spirited woman who was accused of madness by people from her town, and her performance brought her the European Film Award for Best European Actress.
Being impressed by her work in “Respiro”, Theodoros Angelopoulos cast her for “The Dust of Time”, however, many delays in the shooting forced Valeria to drop out of the project, and she was replaced by Irene Jacob.
It seems that somehow the big projects just slipped through her hands, and although she never quit acting, Valeria failed to regain the international fame she had.
In 2013, she was cast to play Armida Miserere in the Italian movie “Come Il Vento” (“Like the Wind”) which brought her numerous accolades and awards, including BIFEST – Bari International Film Festival Italian Competition Award for Best Actress.
Valeria had a big success as the director of the movie “Miele”, which had over 50 award nominations and won 24, including the Cannes Film Festival Prize of the Ecumenical Jury – Special Mention.
The following years saw her in numerous European films, and most recently she starred in “The Beautiful Game”, a sports drama, which should be released by the end of 2022. Valeria’s fans are hoping that this is her big comeback to Hollywood.
Love life and relationships
Valeria Golino has been the subject of numerous rumors concerning her love life; it’s known that from 1985 until 1987, she was engaged to Peter Del Monte, an Italian director. When the two separated, Valeria met her future fiancée, Puerto Rican actor Benicio Del Toro, and they became engaged in 1988, but their love story ended in 1992.
From 1993 until 2001, Valeria was in a relationship with Italian actor. Fabrizio Bentivoglio, then in the following year, Valeria began dating Andrea Di Stefano, also an Italian actor – the two broke up in 2006.
Soon after, Valeria found new love with another Italian actor, Riccardo Scamarcio, whom she met on the set of the movie “Texas”. The two become one of the favorite couples of fans and gossip, mostly because Valeria is 14 years older than Riccardo.
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Sometime in 2015, began rumors about their marriage, however, Valeria stated that they still hadn’t chosen the date. Despite the rumors and gossip, the two stayed together, so when in 2016 their love story suddenly ended, their fans were saddened, since they were just one step away from the altar.
The two haven’t commented on the reason for their separation, however, Riccardo said that their break-up was the biggest sentimental disappointment of his life.
As of September 2022, it seems that Valeria is single, and doesn’t have children.
Age, height, and net worth
Valeria’s age is 56, and speaking of her appearance, her trade mark is blonde curly hair, and green eyes; she weighs around 120lbs (55kgs) and is 5ft 6ins (1.67m) tall, with vital statistics of 34-25-35.
If you wondered about her net worth, according to sources, it has been estimated at over $10 million, as of late-2022.
