Actress. She was born in Torino, Italy, and immigrated to the United States with her family in 1894. The Cunico family was associated with several other Italian theater families who first visited the United States on tour but then settled in New York and became synonymous with the Italian-American theater-going experience of the turn of the century. These theater troupes performed the works of William Shakespeare and other writers of the classical theater in Italian, as well as original works of tragedy and comedy. Following the untimely deaths of both her parents in 1909, Esther began touring nationwide with a repertory company she founded with fellow actor Silvio Minciotti. They married while on tour in 1911. After nearly 50 years in the Italian theater, performing primarily in Italian, she made her English-language debut in Katharine Cornell's Broadway play "That Lady" in 1949. This led to several roles in films, including "House of Strangers" (1949) with Edward G. Robinson, "Strictly Dishonourable" (1951) with Ezio Pinza and Janet Leigh, "The Wrong Man" (1956) with Henry Fonda, and her best-known performance, as the mother of Ernest Borgnine's lonely butcher in "Marty" (1955), which won Best Picture in 1955, garnered her several glowing reviews. Her last film appearance was in "Full of Life" (1957) with Judy Holliday.
Actress. She was born in Torino, Italy, and immigrated to the United States with her family in 1894. The Cunico family was associated with several other Italian theater families who first visited the United States on tour but then settled in New York and became synonymous with the Italian-American theater-going experience of the turn of the century. These theater troupes performed the works of William Shakespeare and other writers of the classical theater in Italian, as well as original works of tragedy and comedy. Following the untimely deaths of both her parents in 1909, Esther began touring nationwide with a repertory company she founded with fellow actor Silvio Minciotti. They married while on tour in 1911. After nearly 50 years in the Italian theater, performing primarily in Italian, she made her English-language debut in Katharine Cornell's Broadway play "That Lady" in 1949. This led to several roles in films, including "House of Strangers" (1949) with Edward G. Robinson, "Strictly Dishonourable" (1951) with Ezio Pinza and Janet Leigh, "The Wrong Man" (1956) with Henry Fonda, and her best-known performance, as the mother of Ernest Borgnine's lonely butcher in "Marty" (1955), which won Best Picture in 1955, garnered her several glowing reviews. Her last film appearance was in "Full of Life" (1957) with Judy Holliday.
Bio by: Jennifer M
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