Bella Cortez

Alicia Paneque was spotted by an Italian film producer visiting Cuba She accepted the proposal and moved to Italy Her first release was Primo Zeglios The Seven Revenges 1961 Cortez played niece to Orson Welless character and formed an attractive pair of young lovers with Luciano Marin in the international film The Tartars 1961 The same year she was paired opposite Gordon Mitchell in the Seven Arts production The Giant of Metropolis 1961 directed by Umberto Scarpelli They appeared together in two more films Vulcan Son of Jupiter 1962 and Ali Baba and the Seven Saracens 1964 Cortezs characters were that of and GrecoRoman mythological Aetna an Arabian princess respectively in these films She continued her starring roles with Antonio Leonvioladirected epic drama Taur The Mighty 1963 Cortez played the female lead in Ali Baba and the Sacred Crown directed by Erminio Salvi The book Italian Sword and Sandal Films 19081990 noted that Cortez was a major asset to the production She made appearance in a supporting character in Gothic horror Katarsis 1963 Beside starring in 11 films Cortez also did print modelling for cars and graced the covers of several European magazines Following her marriage she left the film industry