Rossano Brazzi was an Italian singer, stage and film actor. He was married to Lydia Brazzi until her death, and to Isle Fischer, his second wife, until his death.

His first break into films came in 1942, when Zarah Leander’s film studio was casting for a leading man to play opposite Ms. Leander in the film Damals ("At That Time", "Le Foyer Perdu") (1943).

His most famous role was as Emile de Becque in South Pacific, playing opposite Mitzi Gaynor.

He died in Rome of complications following a neural virus, on 24 December 1994.


After being arrested for involvement in arms smuggling, he was fully acquitted of all charges at his trial in Venice (1985). Claimed he could see the future in his dreams. He foretold his first girlfriend's illness/death, as well as wife Lydia's illness/death before their illnesses were even diagnosed. Uncle of Fabrizio Brazzi. As a young man, Rossano was quite athletic -- soccer, swimming, tennis, golf, fencing and boxing. He was particularly good at soccer, and assumed the role of goalkeeper for the Florentine college team, where he stayed for two years. During his university years he was also an amateur boxer. He quit boxing when he unintentionally but seriously hurt an opponent. A respected stage director in Italy. In 1940, Brazzi married Florentine Baroness Lidia Bertolini (1921-1981). She developed a serious endocrine dysfunction and the couple were unable to have children. She died of pancreatic cancer in 1981. A year after his wife's death he married a German woman, Ilse Fischer. She survived him. Lost both parents to the Fascist Italian government and, according to some sources, was active in the Resistance during the war.