Who was Lina Wertmüller? First woman to be nominated for Best Director Oscar, dies age 93 

On Thursday, December 9, iconic Italian filmmaker Lina Wertmüller passed away at the age of 93. She reportedly passed away at her Rome, Italy home. Wertmüller was a director and screenwriter who was also the first woman nominated for the 'Best Director' Academy Award.

In 1977, Lina Wertmüller received two Oscar nominations in the 'Best Director' and 'Best Writing' categories for her 1975 film, Pasqualino Settebellezze (Seven Beauties). The nonagenarian also received an honorary Oscar last year for her contributions to filmmaking.

Lina Wertmüller was also the consecutive nominee for Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1972 and 1973. The director was iconic for her stylistic choice of wearing white-framed glasses and having short hair.

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What was Lina Wertmüller known for?

Lina Wertmüller is known for directing and writing classic avant-garde films like 1973's Love & Anarchy, 1975's Pasqualino Settebellezze (Seven Beauties), 1985's Camorra (A Story of Streets, Women, and Crime), amongst others.

The Italian director was born as Arcangela Felice Assunta Wertmüller von Elgg Spanol von Braueich on August 14, 1928.

In a 2015 documentary about her, titled Behind the White Glasses, Lina Wertmüller mentioned Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon comics as an early inspiration for her to be inducted into filmmaking. She said:

"(Flash Gordon comics were) rather cinematic, more cinematic than most films."

As per reports on her life, in 1962, she was introduced to her mentor, famed auteur director Federico Fellini (renowned for his works like 8½ and Roma). Lina reportedly served as the assistant director on 8½.

Lina Wertmüller began her career as an assistant director in Armando Grottini’s 1953 film, ...e Napoli canta! Since her foray into filmmaking, she has written over 37 films, most of which include projects that she directed herself. As per her IMDb page, she has also directed over 33 films in her lifetime.

In 1965, Lina married production designer and art director Enrico Job, who passed away in 2008 at the age of 73. They are survived by their daughter, Maria Zulima Job, who is also part of the Italian film industry, as an actress.