Lucia Modugno, Italian Actress Who Worked With Rossellini, Risi and Scola, Dies at 94

Italian actress Lucia Modugno has died at the age of 94. She died on Monday, November 2, 2026, at the Tiberia Hospital in Rome, and her family announced the news to the Adnkronos news agency, Italian outlets reported.

Her funeral is set for Thursday, November 5, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. at the parish church of San Giuliano Martire, on via Cassia 1036 in Rome. The family has given no cause of death.

A debut with Rossellini

Modugno was born on July 9, 1932, in the Bari area. She made her film debut in 1959 in Roberto Rossellini's Il generale Della Rovere, known in English as General Della Rovere. She played a young partisan in the film, opposite Vittorio De Sica.

Work with the leading Italian directors of the period followed. In 1963 she appeared in Dino Risi's I mostri, known as The Monsters, in the episode La nobile arte, and in Mario Bava's La ragazza che sapeva troppo, known as The Girl Who Knew Too Much. In 1964 Ettore Scola directed her in Se permettete parliamo di donne, his first feature film. English language obituary coverage also lists her work with Lucio Fulci and with Bava on Danger: Diabolik.

Television and the stage

For television she acted in Il segno del comando in 1971, in Sandro Bolchi's Anna Karenina in 1974 and in Madame Bovary in 1978. In 1980 she founded her own theatre company and led it for about thirty years, directing and writing for the stage as well as acting.

She also wrote books. She published five in all: two on show business, two novels and a novelised essay.

Later screen work

Her later film work brought her back in front of the camera with a new generation of Italian directors. She acted for Pupi Avati in Gli amici del bar Margherita in 2009 and in Il fulgore di Dony in 2017. For Gabriele Muccino she appeared in Che bella giornata in 2011, Lasciati andare in 2017 and Gli anni piu belli in 2020.

From 2009 to 2022 she made cameo appearances in films and television series, and in 2022 she joined the main cast of Home Sweet Rome.

Tribute from the culture ministry

Lucia Borgonzoni, Italy's Undersecretary of Culture, paid tribute to her in a statement reported in English language obituary coverage. "Lucia Modugno was an artist who made a significant contribution to the culture of our country, able to naturally move from the big screen to the theater, to arrive in the following years also to directing and writing," Borgonzoni said. "With her we lose a refined professional, who worked with the greatest Italian directors, from Rossellini to Risi to Scola."