World Outside The Window

Italian actress Franca Bettoja (Bettoia) left us on 13 September 2024 at age 88, in Rome, Italy.

She’s remembered for her film role as Ruth Collins in “The Last Man On Earth” (1964), starring Vincent Price. In 1972, she married Ugo Tognazzi. They had two children, actor Gianmarco Tognazzi, born in 1967, and director, assistant director, and screenwriter Maria Sole Tognazzi, born in 1971. She was the stepmother of the director, screenwriter, and actor Ricky Tognazzi born in 1955.

In 1974, she starred alongside Catherine Deneuve, Marcello Mastroianni, and Michel Piccoli in the Euro-western “Touche pas à la femme blanche” (Don't Touch the White Woman), directed by Marco Ferreri.

In 1975, with her mother Maris, Franca Bettoia established Gran Loggia Femminile d’Italia, the first Italian Masonic obedience exclusively for women.

Thank you to Tom Betts for the information.