Biographie
The dark, delicate, and demure beauty of Anna Maria Alberghetti perfectly matches the image of a princess, a role she had the opportunity to play a few times in her life. Instantly reminiscent of the equally enchanting Pier Angeli, Anna Maria's Cinderella story took a far less tragic turn than Angeli’s. Instead, Anna Maria continues to captivate audiences today, especially on concert and lecture stages.
Born in 1936 in Pesaro, Italy, into a musical family—with a concertmaster father and pianist mother—Anna Maria was deeply influenced by her parents. By age six, she was performing with symphony orchestras under her father's vocal guidance. World War II forced the Alberghettis to leave Italy, and after a European tour, Anna Maria made her American debut at Carnegie Hall at age 14, enchanting listeners with her pure operatic voice. The family settled permanently in the U.S., where the teenager performed with numerous symphony orchestras.
In 1950, Paramount recognized her promise. She quickly won hearts on screen with a magical debut in Gian Carlo Menotti’s haunting chamber opera The Medium (1951), directed by Menotti himself, starring opposite the remarkable Marie Powers. While the film gained art house acclaim, Paramount swiftly moved Anna Maria into mainstream projects. However, her talent was oddly underused. She delivered an extended operatic solo in the breezy Capraesque comedy Here Comes the Groom (1951) and portrayed a Polish émigré with musical talent in The Stars Are Singing (1953), performing the heartfelt songs "My Kind of Day" and "My Heart Is Home." Afterward, her singing was mysteriously sidelined. She appeared instead in rugged adventures like The Last Command (1955) and Duel at Apache Wells (1957), as well as the lighthearted Ten Thousand Bedrooms (1957) alongside Dean Martin. Ultimately, she was charming but wasted as the Prince Charming figure in the gender-bending Jerry Lewis farce Cinderfella (1960), arriving late in the film with no songs to sing—Jerry performed them all.
Disillusioned, Anna Maria left films in the early ’60s and turned to Broadway, where she found elusive stardom. After a role in the operetta Rose Marie (1960), she landed the part of a lifetime as the waif-like Lili in the musical Carnival, inspired by Leslie Caron’s film role. Anna Maria’s performance was both delightful and moving, earning her a Tony Award, which she shared with Diahann Carroll for No Strings. Her sister Carla succeeded her in the show. Throughout the ’60s, she shone in roles such as the title character in Fanny (1963), Maria in West Side Story (1964), Marsinah in Kismet (1967, televised), and Luisa in The Fantasticks (1968), among others.
As she matured, Anna Maria expanded her presence in entertainment. Introduced to millions by Ed Sullivan, she appeared on his show nearly 53 times, enchanting audiences as a singing angel. She also took on non-singing roles in popular TV series like Wagon Train and Checkmate. Her recording career included work with Capitol, Columbia, Mercury, and MGM Records.
In 1964, Anna Maria married TV director and producer Claudio Guzmán, who was nearly ten years her senior. Their ten-year marriage produced two daughters, Alexandra and Pilar. Following their divorce in 1974, she gradually prioritized parenting over her career.
Though she occasionally returned to theater, Anna Maria reconnected with television audiences as a housewife and spokesperson for Good Seasons salad dressing. Her one-woman stage show sparked an interest in cabaret performance. More recent film roles include enjoyable parts in the comedies Friends and Family (2001) and The Whole Shebang (2001).
