Beryl Cunningham

Beryl Cunningham (8 August 1946 – 11 December 2020)[1] was a Jamaican actress and model, mainly active in Italian cinema.

Beryl Cunningham
Cunningham in Il dio serpente (1975)
Born(1946-08-08)8 August 1946
Montego Bay, Jamaica
Died11 December 2020 (aged 74)
Occupation(s)Actress, model, singer

Life and career

Born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, the daughter of a university professor, after the high school graduation Cunningham moved to London to attend the university and to pursue a modeling career.[2]

Cunningham's career, after some secondary roles, was launched in the late 60's by the erotic drama Le salamandre, directed by Alberto Cavallone, that she accepted to shoot for free.[3][4] Shortly after she obtained three more commercial successes, The Weekend Murders, directed by Michele Lupo, and Il dio serpente and The Black Decameron, both directed by Piero Vivarelli, her partner at the time.[4] Later starred in several genre films and in Ettore Scola's Brutti, sporchi e cattivi, but failed to capitalize on her early success and retired from acting in the early 1980s.[4]

During her career Cunningham was also a presenter, hosting among others the 1971 edition of Cantagiro, and a singer, recording among others a cover of the Jula de Palma's hit "Tua". In 1979 she was a regular guest of the television program Playboy di mezzanotte.[5]

In 1981, she also published a book of Jamaican aphrodisiac recipes, La cucina giamaicana, published by Crochet Edizioni.[6]

References
  1. E' morta Beryl Cunningham, la musa del Dio Serpente (in Italian)
  2. Lionello Fabbri, "Essere negra", Ciao 2001 n° 12, 16 April 1969, pp. 66–68.
  3. "Erna Schürer: la donna volitiva". Nocturno Dossier: Le sorelle di Venere 2. June 2007.
  4. Enrico Lancia, Fabio Melelli. Le straniere del nostro cinema. Gremese Editore, 2005.
  5. "Playboy di periferia", La Stampa, 2 July 1979, p. 3.
  6. "Beryl: ricette dai caraibi", La Stampa, 19 January 1981, p. 32.


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