Lelia Goldoni

Lelia Vita Goldoni (nee Rizzuto; October 1, 1936 – July 22, 2023) was an American actress. She was best known for co-starring in John Cassavetes's groundbreaking independent film Shadows (1959). She received two BAFTA Award nominations throughout her career, the first for Shadows and the second for her performance in Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974). Early life Goldoni was born Lelia Vita Rizzuto in New York City and raised in Los Angeles, California. Her father was an Italian actor and she was a second cousin to baseball player Phil Rizzuto. She attended Los Angeles City College and was one of the Lester Horton Dancers in the 1950s. Career Goldoni began her screen career as a child in the late 1940s with uncredited cameos in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's House of Strangers (1949) and John Huston's We Were Strangers (1949). A decade later, after moving back to New York and meeting John Cassavetes in an acting workshop, Goldoni attracted considerable attention and critical acclaim for her performance in his groundbreaking film Shadows (1959). The film launched Goldoni's acting career, and earned her a BAFTA Award nomination for Most Promising Newcomer. The New York Times wrote that she "brings a freshness and a touching sort of natural gaucherie to the role of the girl."