Maria Laura Rocca (5 October 1917 – 6 May 1999) was an Italian actress and writer.
Life and career
Born Maria Laura Gayno in Pasian di Prato, Udine, Rocca spent her adolescence in Genoa, her mother's birthplace.[1] After acting in some amateur dramatics, she studied drama under Teresa Franchini, with whom she also made her professional debut on stage at 30 years old.[1] In films, she was mainly active in supporting roles in adventure and peplum genres, sometimes credited as Manuela Kent.[1] She retired from acting in the mid-1960s.[1] In 1959, she was the author of the book Cina senza muraglia, and in 1969, she wrote the film Mr. Superinvisible, being credited as Mary Eller.[1]
Personal life
In 1939, Rocca married Giuseppe Bisazza, and they had a son, Oreste.[1] In 1948 she remarried to Communist politician Umberto Terracini.[1]
Rocca died in a clinic in Rome, following a long illness, in 1999, at 81 years old.[2]