Liliane Montevecchi Dies: Tony Award Winner For ‘Nine’ Was 85

Tony Award-winning actress, singer, dancer and cabaret star Liliane Montevecchi has died in New York City. She was 85 and passed away from colon cancer.

Born in Paris in 1932, Montevecchi was best known for her performance in the musical ‘Nine,’ which won her a Tony Award.

Montevecchi started her career as a ballerina in the company of Roland Petit. She moved to Hollywood in the 1950s, where she worked as an MGM contract player. She had small roles in such films as The Glass Slipper with Michael Wilding, Daddy Long Legs with Fred Astaire, and The Sad Sack with Jerry Lewis.

In 1958, she made her Broadway debut in the musical revue La Plume de Ma Tante. After that, she had a starring role in the Folies Bergere, appearing throughout the 1970s in a touring company.

Her biggest success came in 1982, when she appeared on Broadway in Nine, a musical based on Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2. Directed by Tommy Tune, Montevecchi won a best featured actress Tony for her part as a producer.  In a nod to her past, her showstopping number was Folies Bergere.

Montevecchi also earned a Tony nomination for her 1990 appearance in Grand Hotel. 

She was honored in 2013 by the French Minister of Culture as an Officer of Arts and Culture to France and the world at large.

Montevecchi is survived by her companion of 30 years, Italian actor, Claudio Saponi. A private burial will be in held in Paris, followed by a memorial service in New York that will be announced.