Sylva Koscina

Sylva Koscina was a Croatian actress best known for her roles in Italian action films of the 60's and 70's. She was born in Zagreb to Dalmatian parents, her father was decedent of the first ship builders in Split. She had moved to her married half-sister's home in Italy after her uncle was arrested by the NDH police force and later executed. Her father was killed during the Fifth Offensive at Sutjeska by the Bulgarian army and her mother had been killed during the initial invasion of Yugoslavia. Her sister had lived in the town of Riva Del Garda which in 1943 was located in a disputed alpine area of Italy, communists had eventually captured the town in early 1944 and it became a no-go area for German and Fascist forces. Koscina was best suited to Italian Red Cinema films were she usually starred as a "girl partisan/soldier" this is what made her famous. She also starred in the 1969 Yugoslavian film "Battle of Neretva". During filming she became friends with Bata Živojinović (whom she was already a fan of) and he convinced her to star in more Yugoslavian films. Although she didn't star in as many Yugoslavian war movies as Italian she did play roles that suited her tomboy character which had influenced culture throughout Italy and the Adriatic in the late 60's and 70's. She died of breast cancer in 1994 in Rome.