Work: Visconti had an early interest in music and theatre which led him to stage designing, ballet, and opera production, particularly at La Scala for Maria Callas however for a short while he was in the armed services. At the age of 30 he moved to Paris and befriended Coco Chanel. She introduced him to Jean Renoir with whom he worked briefly as assistant on Une Partie de campagne, (1936), which turned his attention towards cinema. He briefly visited Hollywood before returning to Rome where he became part of the group associated with the journal Cinema. His first film Ossessione, (1942), which was an unauthorised adaptation of James Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice, had difficulties with the Fascist censors, but the result was an enormous success in Italy. Visconti's anti-Fascism led to him being imprisoned by the Gestapo in 1944.
He worked in the theatre again briefly after the war. The Italian Communist Party commissioned him to produce a series of three films about fishermen, miners, and peasantry in Sicily but only La terra trema, (1948), was made.

Greatest Achievement: Visconti (along with one or two other directors, Fellini, Pasolini et al) gave Italian cinema world class with fascinating stories and stunning cinematography and not least very attractive men.