<p>Italian actress Monica Vitti, an icon best known for her starring roles in films by Michelangelo Antonioni, has died aged 90, the culture ministry said Wednesday.</p>.<p>"Goodbye Monica Vitti, goodbye queen of Italian cinema. Today is a truly sad day, we have lost a great artist and a great Italian," Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said in a statement.</p>.<p>Vitti shot to international fame with the 1960 drama <em>L'Avventura</em> ("The Adventure") in which she plays a tormented woman who dallies with the lover of her missing friend.</p>.<p>Born in Rome on November 3, 1931, Vitti -- whose real name was Maria Luisa Ceciarelli -- discovered her passion for the theatre during World War Two, when she entertained her family with puppets to relieve boredom.</p>.<p>"As the bombs fell, when we had to take refuge in the shelters, my little brother and I would improvise little plays to entertain those around us," she would recount years later.</p>.<p>After graduating from Rome's National Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1953, she began her career in the theatre, where she stood out for her comic talent.</p>.<p>She was spotted by Antonioni, with whom she quickly developed an artistic and sentimental relationship.</p>.<p>"I was lucky enough to start my career with a man of great talent", but who was also "spiritual, full of life and enthusiasm", Vitti said in an interview on Italian television in 1982.</p>.<p>Former Italian culture minister Walter Veltroni broke the news of Vitti's death with a tweet. He said he had been asked to do so by Roberto Russo, Vitti's husband, and expressed his "pain, affection and regret".</p>.<p>The actress, who had been suffering from a degenerative disease, had withdrawn from public life in recent years.</p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>
<p>Italian actress Monica Vitti, an icon best known for her starring roles in films by Michelangelo Antonioni, has died aged 90, the culture ministry said Wednesday.</p>.<p>"Goodbye Monica Vitti, goodbye queen of Italian cinema. Today is a truly sad day, we have lost a great artist and a great Italian," Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said in a statement.</p>.<p>Vitti shot to international fame with the 1960 drama <em>L'Avventura</em> ("The Adventure") in which she plays a tormented woman who dallies with the lover of her missing friend.</p>.<p>Born in Rome on November 3, 1931, Vitti -- whose real name was Maria Luisa Ceciarelli -- discovered her passion for the theatre during World War Two, when she entertained her family with puppets to relieve boredom.</p>.<p>"As the bombs fell, when we had to take refuge in the shelters, my little brother and I would improvise little plays to entertain those around us," she would recount years later.</p>.<p>After graduating from Rome's National Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1953, she began her career in the theatre, where she stood out for her comic talent.</p>.<p>She was spotted by Antonioni, with whom she quickly developed an artistic and sentimental relationship.</p>.<p>"I was lucky enough to start my career with a man of great talent", but who was also "spiritual, full of life and enthusiasm", Vitti said in an interview on Italian television in 1982.</p>.<p>Former Italian culture minister Walter Veltroni broke the news of Vitti's death with a tweet. He said he had been asked to do so by Roberto Russo, Vitti's husband, and expressed his "pain, affection and regret".</p>.<p>The actress, who had been suffering from a degenerative disease, had withdrawn from public life in recent years.</p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>