Stars have always been abundant in Hollywood. While some achieve a brief peak before fading away as fast as they appeared, others remain in the public eye for decades.
Famous actresses like Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot, Jayne Mansfield, Raquel Welch, and Jean Harlow have received a lot of attention over the years, largely due to their innate talent and stunning appearance.
However, there were always others waiting in the wings, hoping to take over, even when they were sitting on the throne as industry queens. American actress Sydne Rome, known as the “golden girl” from the Midwest, was one such.
To succeed in the entertainment industry, Sydne took a different route than other actresses. Rather, she traveled to Europe, where her blue eyes and blond hair captivated spectators. She even reportedly dated David Bowie at one point.
Rome may have had the “it” factor, but her time in the spotlight was brief. Nevertheless, she continues to be very busy and has started a family of her own throughout the years. Unfortunately, she suffered a lifelong facial scar from one accident.
On March 17, 1951, Sydne Rome was born in Akron, Ohio. According to Sydne, her mother was a “born hippie,” and her father was employed in the plastics industry.
She was raised in the tiny town of Upper Sandusky, which has 5,000 residents, and hailed from an upper-middle-class family. According to reports, it had the highest per capita income of any American town.
Early life of Sydne Rome
We have seen numerous instances of actors’ offspring succeeding in their own right throughout Hollywood history. Examples include Dakota Johnson, whose parents were actors Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson, Miley Cyrus, the daughter of country music artist Billy Ray Cyrus, and Kate Hudson, the daughter of Goldie Hawn and Bill Hudson.
The phrase “nepo baby” is used, which Sky explains is “a catchier way to say the successful child of a celebrity – someone who rode to fame on the coattails of their talented parent, often making a name for themselves in the same or an adjacent industry.”
Some people see having a famous parent as a great chance that gives them access to contacts in the entertainment industry. Others, however, find it difficult because they feel pressured to equal their parents’ success and celebrity status.
There was no need for Sydne Rome to worry about this. Her family members had never even considered pursuing careers in showbiz.
In 1974, she told the Daily News, “It was nothing in the family that should have given me my craze for acting.” “My mother is just’mom,’ and my father owned a plastics company.” I have two younger siblings—two sisters and two brothers.
Rome attended an Ohio high school, but she was already demonstrating a strong interest in acting. After talking to others who were close to her, the young girl’s intentions for the future were completely altered.
She chose Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh University’s renowned Carnegie Tech School of Acting as her new home rather than Illinois.
Initial attempt at Hollywood stardom
After high school, I intended to enroll at Northwestern University. However, I was informed there that I should attend Tech if I truly wanted to pursue acting. I’m happy that I did,” Sydne said to The Pittsburgh Press.
Rome started honing her acting techniques at the Carnegie Tech School of Acting. She received instruction from film executive Bern Stearn, whose daughter she would later become close to, and renowned vocal instructor and voice actor Edith Skinner. She played the lead roles of Nina in Anton Chekhov’s The Sea Gull and Tania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream while attending the school.
It was time for the talented actress to move to California after completing her education in Pennsylvania. She continued to flourish on stage after joining the Pasadena Playhouse.
Rome’s initial attempt at Hollywood stardom in film was a failure, despite the fact that she starred in plays by Tennessee Williams, Chekhov, and Shakespeare. Her agency sent her to Rome after she missed her first big role in the movie Candy, and she tried her luck in Europe once more after spending another year at the Pasadena Playhouse.
She was a stunning woman, no question about that. But wearing nice clothes wasn’t enough in that day and age.
She told the Daily News, “I had a horrible time in Rome with young Italian directors who wanted me to play in the nude.” “I was unwilling to do it. My perspective has changed. Playing naked has become a common practice. I don’t mind as long as it doesn’t include violent romantic moments and is actually necessary for the plot.
Before the 1970s, Sydne Rome primarily starred in little Italian motion pictures.
In contrast with Birgitte Bardot
Her major break came in 1972 when she collaborated with filmmaker Roman Polanski on the movie What?Despite the negative reviews, the film was a significant advancement for Sydne. She also married Emilio Lari, a photojournalist and cameraman, in 1973.
The young American actress was being compared to Brigitte Bardot by that point. In 1979, the Sunday Telegraph even called her “the ticking Sex Bomb of the Nineteen-Eighties” or “the up-and-coming Jean Harlow or Raquel Welch.”
A young actress might have felt a lot of strain from that comparison. Sydne, however, handled it well.
“[Brigitte] is amazing, thrilling, incredibly accessible, and incredibly available.” She is the dream of every man. I can appear less available at first glance. However, I believe viewers will reconsider and adopt a new perspective. She said, “And I’m a better actress than Bardot.”
Rome appeared to have all the necessary skills to succeed in Hollywood, but she was never able to make the leap. In 1969, she starred in her first movie, Some Girls Do, but it didn’t boost her career. As a result, she took a chance in a different country, appearing in numerous French, Italian, and German motion pictures.
Rome costarred with the legendary David Bowie in David Hemmings’ Just a Gigolo at the close of the 1970s.
“We had a friendship. I was informed that they hadn’t located the leading man when I was scheduled to travel to Berlin for the initial [script] readings. I reasoned that David might want to tackle this section because he [Bowie] was interested in the time between the two world wars in Germany. I asked if I could send him the script over the phone. She told NME in 2021, “We did so, and he accepted.”
A romantic relationship with David Bowie
At one time, there were even rumors that the two were dating, which she later confirmed in an Italian television appearance.
“I accepted [the offer for Just a Gigolo] right away, and I met him because he called to take me to Paris to see the premiere of his film,” Rome said. We spent a year together. He was delicious and a lot of fun.
Rome relocated to Rome, where she lived for more than a decade. She started playing music in the 1980s and put out a number of CDs, none of which were very successful.
Among the numerous productions in which Synde starred was the 1980 movie L’uomo puma [The Pumaman]. It doesn’t take a movie expert to determine its success, since the International Movie Database gives it a pitiful 2.2 out of 10. Rome also started making documentaries, one of which was filmed in Rio de Janeiro and focused on Formula 1.
She still aspired to be a huge star, but she was troubled by the fact that the movie industry had evolved beyond just making outstanding movies.
“Everywhere except America, I’m well-known,” she declared. “I detest the business aspect of my ‘career,’ but I adore creative work.” An actress may come to believe that she is merely a business asset and that no one is interested in her other than what she can offer in a transaction.
“A woman’s experience in movies can be awful – no, it’s not just having passes made, I can take care of that,” Sydne added. But before someone truly respects you, you have to work hard for years. It is believed that actresses are not intelligent.
“Perhaps that’s why so many actors and actresses feel insecure—the women more than the men,” she concluded. My pals who are actors weep on each other’s shoulders. Since they don’t truly belong to any one class—they’re neither aristocrats nor middle-class nor lower-class—actors actually make friends easily. They can be used anyplace.
Sydne Rome was permanently damaged in an automobile accident.
Unfortunately, Rome and Emilio’s marriage did not endure. According to Corriere, she remarried physician Roberto Bernabei, and the two of them made the decision to adopt two sisters, Vanessa and Jesse, from the Sao Paulo, Brazil, favelas. He rose to prominence in the medical field and was named Pope Francis’ personal physician in 2021.
Rome starred in numerous plays as her career progressed, but the US was never the place where she made her big break. She nevertheless discovered more significant things in life, like a loving, tranquil family.
Then, Sydne Rome’s life took a permanent turn in 2009. She was engaged in a serious accident while driving her automobile, which had one of her daughters, who was eight years old at the time.
Rome said that she had been driving her automobile for the first time after keeping it in the garage for three weeks in an interview on the Italian chat show Vei di Me.
Sydne ended up driving off the road and colliding with a tree while her daughter was inside the vehicle. The airbag caused significant injury when it exploded on her face.
Rome remarked, “I went to the hospital and they stitched up my ski,” adding that the medical staff was unaware that the mishap had damaged her facial muscles. “I had physical therapy ten years ago because that part of my face eventually became paralyzed, and I’m a little better today.”
Sydne regrettably acknowledged that she couldn’t recognize her face in old photos due to the alteration to the right side of her face.
Today, Sydne Rome
“It’s like seeing someone else again, even though I know it’s me,” she continued.
Sydne refused to let her severe injury depress her. She kept on her career in entertainment, most recently appearing in the 2023 Italian film La Quattordicesima Domenica Del Tempo Ordinario.
In addition, Sydne, who is currently 72 years old, appeared in 53 episodes of the Italian television series Don Matteo between 2021 and 2022.
Despite not becoming the next Brigette Bardot, Sydne Rome has always pursued her passions. She has persisted in pursuing her interest in spite of the tragic accident.
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