An Oscar for saving a marriage: how Marcello Mastroianni's wife forgave her husband everything and even wanted to adopt his daughter from another woman (11 photos)

She became a kind of haven for him—a point to which he could always return after any storm in life.





Legally, his marriage to Marcello Mastroianni lasted 46 years, but in reality, it was a story of one endless, lifelong wait.



Flora Carabella, like a devoted dog, patiently awaited his return from the embrace of each new woman, mustering the courage to ask for a divorce only to hear in response: "Leave everything as is." And so she did.





Flora and Marcello

They married in August 1950, when Mastroianni's career was just beginning to gain momentum. Flora, the composer's daughter and a graduate of the Rome drama school, took him under her wing from the moment they met.

"He had no money, so I bought him a pizza," she recalled.

But as Marcello's star began to shine, Flora's acting ambitions faded. She found her role—the wife of a genius, his safe haven.



With his daughter Barbara

Their worlds were polar opposites. He adored speed, risk, and women, and disbelieved in superstition. She was afraid of airplanes, superstitious, and indifferent to his collection of sports cars and hundreds of pairs of shoes. "We had little in common," Flora stated. But Mastroianni, despite countless infidelities, clung to this marriage like an anchor, admitting he was afraid to make choices and hurt feelings.

Three Women of One Actor



Marcello Mastroianni and Faye Dunaway

His romance with Faye Dunaway on the set of "The Lovers" was incredibly passionate. For two years, the American star believed Marcello would leave his wife. Everything fell apart when she accidentally saw him with Flora in a tender embrace at a restaurant. Dunaway herself ended the relationship, later calling him "the unattainable love of my life."



Marcello Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve

His relationship with Catherine Deneuve was a whirlwind. For the French actress, Mastroianni considered divorce for the first time. Flora, seeing his suffering, agreed. But when he proposed to Deneuve with a ring and flowers, she coldly refused. Humiliated, he called Flora in tears: "She rejected me!" The divorce from Flora never took place.



Catherine with her daughter Chiara

Later, even after giving birth to his daughter Chiara in 1972, Catherine renounced marriage forever, declaring, "Cohabitation yes, marriage no." She didn't want to repeat Flora's fate.

Incidentally, Flora offered to adopt Chiara, as her celebrity parents clearly weren't up to raising a girl.



Marcello Mastroianni and Anna Maria Tato

The actor's last partner was director Anna Maria Tato, with whom he spent 12 years until his death in 1996.



Mastroianni with his wife and eldest daughter

The paradox is that it was Catherine Deneuve's refusal to marry that forever bound Marcello to Flora. Even Federico Fellini wryly noted that Mastroianni deserved an Oscar for his ability to maintain that marriage.



Flora with her daughter Barbara

But the Oscar for perseverance rightfully belonged to Flora. She outlived her husband by three years, dying of cancer in 1999. Their marriage remained formally unbroken—a tragic and enduring monument to a love that was more like an eternal, one-sided fidelity. He tossed and turned in an ocean of passion, while she always remained a quiet, selflessly awaiting haven.