| Esther Minciotti | |
| Birth Date: | 20 May 1888 |
| Birth Place: | Turin, Italy |
| Death Place: | New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Spouse: | Silvio Minciotti (?-1961) (his death) (3 children)[1] |
| Years Active: | 1949–1958 |
| Notable Works: | House of Strangers (1949) Marty (1955) The Wrong Man (1956) |
Esther Cunico Minciotti (born March 18, 1888, in Turin, Italy – died April 15, 1962, in New York, United States) was an Italian actress.[2]
Esther Cunico and her husband – Silvio Minciotti (1882–1961), also an actor of Italian origin – emigrated to the United States and settled in New York. There, she played on Broadway in two plays, the first from November 1949 to January 1950, the second (alongside her husband) in October 1956 (see the "Theatre" section below).
In the cinema, she collaborated in only eight American films (see the complete filmography which follows), between 1949 and 1956. Her best known role is undoubtedly that of Theresa Piletti, Ernest Borgnine's mother, in Marty (1955) by Delbert Mann. The following year (1956), she is this time the mother of Henry Fonda, in The Wrong Man directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Note that her husband Silvio Minciotti appears in five of these films (including four minor uncredited roles, including that of Marty's boss).[3]
On television, Esther Minciotti participated in five series in the 1950s. In particular, she created the role of Theresa Piletti, with Rod Steiger playing Marty, in an episode (same title; also directed by Delbert Mann) of The Philco Television Playhouse broadcast in 1953, on an original screenplay by Paddy Chayefsky, whose film already mentioned in 1955 is the adaptation to the cinema.
Shockproof (by Douglas Sirk) - Mrs. Marat
The Undercover Man (by Joseph H. Lewis) - Maria Rocco
House of Strangers (by Joseph L. Mankiewicz) - Theresa Monetti
Strictly Dishonorable (by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama) - Mme. Maria Caraffa
Marty (by Delbert Mann) - Mrs. Teresa Piletti
Murder in Villa Capri (by Otto Simetti) - Mama Flumeri
The Wrong Man (by Alfred Hitchcock) - Mama Balestrero
Full of Life (by Richard Quine) - Mama Colletta Rocco
Studio One (Season 2, episode: "The Man who had Influence", by Franklin J. Schaffner) - Mrs. Cassini
Armstrong Circle Theatre (Season 1, episode: "Johnny Pickup", by Ted Post) - Mme. Maria Caraffa
The Philco Television Playhouse, Season 5, episode: "Marty", by Delbert Mann) - Mrs. Pilletti - Mother
Playhouse 90 (Season 2, episode: "The Death of Manolete", by John Frankenheimer) - Augustias
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse (Season 1, episode: "My Father, the Fool", by Jerry Thorpe) - Mama (final appearance)