Carolyn De Fonseca


Carolyn De Fonseca was an American actress and voice dubbing artist based in Rome. She worked extensively as a voice actress for the English-language dubbing of several hundred foreign films from the early 1960s and onwards. She was also the wife of actor/voice dubber Ted Rusoff, with whom she frequently worked. She died in 2009.

Career

De Fonseca first came to Rome in the early 1960s and tried to make a career for herself as an actress. She played a small role in the acclaimed A Difficult Life, directed by Dino Risi, and had a supporting role as Chloe, the love potion maker, in the sword and sandal film Damon and Pythias. She also had bit part roles in some big productions that did shooting in Italy, such as Barabbas and The Pink Panther. She never really found much success as an actress but she quickly became a prolific and successful voice dubbing artist.
Some of her earliest dubbing work were in the peplum films Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules and Ursus in the Valley of the Lions, in which she provided the voice of actress Moira Orfei in the English dubbed versions of the film. Subsequently, De Fonseca dubbed a series of further peplum film and she was also given the chance to dub the voice of American actress Jayne Mansfield in two of her European films which were post-synchronized without Mansfield's involvement: Primitive Love and Dog Eat Dog. She also provided Mansfield's voice in the infamous quasi-documentary The Wild, Wild World of Jayne Mansfield. Released after Mansfield's death, this mondo-style cult documentary consists of footage of Mansfield visiting various night clubs and beaches while narrating her experiences. Since Mansfield died before the film's completion, De Fonseca performs the task of voicing Mansfield's thoughts and narration.
In the 1960s, De Fonseca dubbed many leading ladies into English, but eventually became more prolific in dubbing villainesses in various sword and sandal and horror films. After a supporting role in the caper film Midas Run with Fred Astaire and Richard Crenna, she would give up her acting career and focus solely on dubbing films into English. She specialized in voicing femme fatale characters such as the evil queen in Hercules vs. the Moon Men, a bitchy tourist in Eyeball and the deranged inmate Albina in Women's Prison Massacre. She would also typically dub exotic figures or upper-class nymphomaniacs, such as a sex-hungry asylum patient in Slaughter Hotel, and a sassy, black nightclub performer in The Case of the Bloody Iris. De Fonseca would also sometimes deliver very over the top performances; dubbing the voices of sobbing and hysterical figures such as a paranoid asylum patient in Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, a sexually frustrated housewife in My Father's Wife, and a drug-addicted nun in The Killer Nun.
As the Italian film industry was slowing down somewhat in the 1980s, De Fonseca resumed her career as a film actress in various American films that were shot in Rome, while still continuing to work with dubbing. On screen she played Christopher Reeve's secretary in Monsignor, had a supporting role in the Pia Zadora film The Lonely Lady, played a comedic role as an American tourist in Detective School Dropouts and finally appeared in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Sheltering Sky. On television, she appeared in the highly acclaimed mini series The Winds of War. She also appeared alongside her real-life husband Ted Rusoff in the mini series Mussolini and I, in which they play the parents of Mussolini's mistress, Claretta Petacci, and played a supporting part in the TV movie thriller The Fifth Missile.

List of dubbing roles (''incomplete'')

YearFilmRoleActress
1961Mole Men Against the Son of HerculesQueen Halis MosabMoira Orfei
1961Ursus in the Valley of the LionsDiarMoira Orfei
1963Thor and the Amazon WomenBlack QueenJanine Hendy
1963The Whip and the BodyNevenka MenliffDaliah Lavi
1964Dog Eat DogDarleneJayne Mansfield
1964Hercules vs. the Moon MenQueen SamaraJany Clair
1964The Last Man on EarthRuth CollinsFranca Bettoia
1964The Long Hair of DeathMary Karnstein/Helen KarnsteinBarbara Steele
1964Primitive LoveDr. JaneJayne Mansfield
1965Bloody Pit of HorrorKinojoMoa Tahi
1965Red DragonCarolRosanna Schiaffino
1965Terror-Creatures from the GraveCleo HauffBarbara Steele
1966Killers Are ChallengedSheena ColemanWandisa Guida
1966Secret Agent Super DragonCharity FarrelMarisa Mell
1966The Murder ClinicGisèle de BrantomeFrançoise Prévost
1967Mission StardustDr. SheridanAnn Smyrner
1968The Great SilenceReginaMarisa Merlini
1968Run, Man, RunPenny BanningtonLinda Veras
1969The SistersDianaNathalie Delon
1969Venus in FursOlgaMargaret Lee
1969A Woman on FireClarissa RenosFrançoise Prévost
1970Queens of EvilBibianaIda Galli
1970Shadow of IllusionGail BlandDaniela Giordano
1971Blackie the PirateIsabelSilvia Monti
1971The Feast of SatanAndreaTeresa Gimpera
1971Slaughter HotelAnne PalmieriRosalba Neri
1971The Strange Vice of Mrs. WardhCarolCristina Airoldi
1972The Case of the Bloody IrisMizar HarringtonCarla Brait
1972Don't Torture a DucklingMaciaraFlorinda Bolkan
1972ManhuntTriniFrancesca Romana Coluzzi
1972The Red Queen Kills Seven TimesLulu PalmSybil Danning
1972Seven Blood-Stained OrchidsElena MarchiRossella Falk
1972Shadows UnseenSimonaMarilù Tolo
1972Smile Before DeathGiannaRosalba Neri
1972So Sweet, So DeadRossellaJessica Dublin
1973AmarcordMathematics TeacherDina Adorni
1973Seven Deaths in the Cat's EyesSuzanneDoris Kunstmann
1973TorsoProstituteRosaria Della Femmina
1973War GoddessOreitheiaSabine Sun
1974The ArenaCorneliaRosalba Neri
1974The Eerie Midnight Horror ShowLuisaLucretia Love
1974The Last Desperate HoursLaura MonachesiSilvia Monti
1974SpasmoClorindaMonica Monet
1974White Fang to the RescueKatieGisela Hahn
1974What Have They Done to Your Daughters?Mrs. TalentiClara Zovianoff
1975Blonde in Black LeatherMieleMonica Vitti
1975Deep RedGianna BrezziDaria Nicolodi
1975Emanuelle's RevengeEmanuelleRosemarie Lindt
1975EyeballGail AlvaradoSilvia Solar
1975The Killer Must Kill AgainNorma MainardiTeresa Velázquez
1975Season for AssassinsRossanaMagali Noël
1975Silent ActionMrs. MartinettiLoredana Nusciak
1975Strip Nude for Your KillerGisella MontaniGiuliana Cecchini
1975Syndicate SadistsFloraFemi Benussi
1976The Big RacketAnna RossettiAnna Zinnemann
1976Black Emanuelle 2SusanDagmar Lassander
1976Emanuelle in AmericaDiana SmithMaria Piera Regoli
1976Gestapo's Last OrgyAlmaMaristella Greco
1976My Father's WifeLauraCarroll Baker
1976SS Camp 5 - Women's HellKapo GretaPatrizia Melega
1976SS Experiment Love CampDr. RenkePatrizia Melega
1976Violent NaplesGervasi's wifeMaria Grazia Spina
1977Achtung! The Desert TigersDr. LessingLea Lander
1977Beast With a GunGiuliana CaroliMarisa Mell
1977Blood and DiamondsMariaOlga Karlatos
1977The Cynic, the Rat, the FistMaria BalzanoGabriella Giorgelli
1977Messalina, MessalinaAgrippinaLory Wagner
1977Return of the 38 GangRosyDagmar Lassander
1977SuspiriaOlgaBarbara Magnolfi
1977The Pajama Girl CaseQuint's NeighborVanessa Vitale
1977Watch Me When I KillEsmeralda MessoriBianca Toccafondi
1978Blazing FlowersNadinaAnna Maria Rizzoli
1978The Bloodstained ShadowSignora NardiJuliette Mayniel
1978The Killer NunSister GertrudeAnita Ekberg
1978Satan's BloodMarySandra Alberti
1978The War of the RobotsLoisMalisa Longo
1979Beyond the DarknessIrisFranca Stoppi
1979Escape From HellKatieCintia Lodetti
1979Hotel ParadiseMurielAjita Wilson
1979Tigers in LipstickMariaMonica Vitti
1980AnthropophagusJulieTisa Farrow
1980The Day of the CobraLolaLecinia Lentini
1980Erotic Nights of the Living DeadFionaDirce Funari
1980Hell of the Living DeadJosieEsther Mesina
1980InfernoCarolAlida Valli
1980MacabreJane BakerBernice Stegers
1981AbsurdMrs. BennettHanja Kochansky
1981'EvelynMariangela Giordano
1981The House by the CemeteryLaura GittlesonDagmar Lassander
1981Murder ObsessionGlendaAnita Strindberg
1982'JaiCarole Davis
1982Ator, the Fighting EagleIndunLaura Gemser
1982NathalieDella JacksonGrazia De Giorgi
1982The New York RipperScellenda's landladyRita Silva
1982PiecesGraceHilda Fuchs
1982The Scorpion with Two TailsHeather HullWandisa Guida
1982Sweet Body of BiancaJillGrazia De Giorgi
1982The Sword of the BarbariansAkiYvonne Fraschetti
1982Violence in a Women's PrisonHerthaFrançoise Perrot
1983The Final ExecutionerEdraMarina Costa
1983Hell Behind BarsThe WardenRita Silva
1983Hell PenitentiaryWarden LandersRita Silva
1983The Seven Magnificent GladiatorsLucillaMandy Rice-Davies
1983Throne of FirePrincess ValkariSabrina Siani
1983Women's Prison MassacreAlbinaUrsula Flores
1984Monster DogSandraVictoria Vera
1984The Violent BreedMadame FraDanika La Loggia
1985Jungle RaidersMaria JanezMarina Costa
1985Miami GolemJoanna FitzgeraldLaura Trotter
1985PhenomenaFrau BrücknerDaria Nicolodi
1986Bridge to HellVanjaFrancesca Ferré
1986The Devil's HoneyCarol SimpsonCorinne Clery
1986The Kiss of the CobraMariaMilly D'Abbraccio
1987Iron WarriorDeevaIris Peynado
1988The Murder SecretNora HamiltonAdriana Russo
1988RatmanTerryJanet Agren
1988The Red MonksRamona CurtisLara Wendel
1989Alien From the DeepJaneMarina Giulia Cavalli
1989The Bronx ExecutionerMargieMargit Evelyn Newton
1989The House of Lost SoulsDariaLicia Colò
1989The House of WitchcraftSharon MasonMarina Giulia Cavalli
1991MillionsMargheritaFlorinda Bolkan
1991Voices From BeyondHilda MainardiFrances Nacman
1995The Strange Story of Olga O.Sheila AltmanFlorinda Bolkan