ROME. The former Rai announcer Nicoletta Orsomando passed away this morning at dawn in a hospital in Rome after a short illness. Orsomando, one of the historical faces of Italian TV and the most beloved among the Misses good evening, had turned 92 last January. For 40 years (1953-1993) she entered the homes of Italians every day with grace and kindness, becoming a family member for millions of viewers. “Ladies and gentlemen, good evening,” said Nicoletta Orsomando for the first time in front of the cameras, announcing, for the children’s TV, a documentary from British TV; and that phrase became his trademark, inextricably linked to a serene face, perfect diction, kind and polite manners. It made its debut on 22 October 1953 on the experimental channel of the nascent state television when Rai was still Radio Audizioni Italiane and to see it the Italians gathered in the homes of the lucky few who owned a device or at the bar. She retired from the small screen on December 28, 1993: no other Signorina buonasera from Rai has remained in office as many years as she.
Born as Nicolina Orsomando in Casapulla (Caserta) on 11 January 1929, after short experiences in the theater she decided to enhance her beautiful voice and thanks to a course in diction she passed an audition in Rai and was chosen as an announcer. Her father Giovanni Orsomando, solo clarinet in the infantry band, pushed and supported her to enter the world of entertainment. Nicoletta thus became the first Signorina buonasera from the RAI studios in Rome, alongside other pioneering colleagues in Turin and Milan. In addition to the role of announcer, Orsomando was also presenter: in 1956 she presented “Cineselezione”, one of the first Rai cinema columns, and supported Angelo Lombardi in the conduction of “L’amico degli animali”. In 1957 he presented the Sanremo Festival alongside Nunzio Filogamo, Fiorella Mari and Marisa Allasio and in 1966 he conducted “Un disco perestate”. In 1965, with the journalist Jader Jacobelli, he inaugurated the news program “The parliamentary day” (which later became “Oggi al parlamento”). In 1976 he conducted the column “Dogs, cats & C. and Plants, flowers and so on and so on”. In 1955 Nicoletta Orsomando took part, in the role of herself, in the comic film “Piccola posta” directed by Steno, which starred Alberto Sordi and Franca Valeri. Same thing happened in the movie “Totò leaves or doubles?” (1956) by Camillo Mastrocinque, in which he appeared in the very short sequence in which he updated the spectators on the disappearance of the character played by Totò. In 1992 she always appeared in the role of herself intent on announcing “Fantastico” in the film “Parenti serpenti” by Mario Monicelli.
Despite her retirement, she returned to Rai afterwards many other times. In 1999 he participated on Rai 1 in the program “Up and down” conducted by Gaia De Laurentiis. On January 21, 2008 she appeared on Rai 1 to present the show “Viva Radio2 Minuti” hosted by Fiorello who had jokingly imitated her in the promos of the show. On 23 September 2008 she participated in “Tutti pazzi per la tele” hosted by Antonella Clerici on Rai 1a, a generational confrontation with Arianna Marchetti, Rai 2 announcer from 2003 to 2009. In 2010 she took part in the variety of Rai 1 “Teach me to dream “, conducted by Pino Insegno. In the first months of 2011 he participated in “Domenica in” alongside Lorella Cuccarini. She then appeared in the program, hosted by Mario Calabresi, “Hotel Patria”, broadcast on Rai 3 in June 2011: in this show Orsomando read letters written by famous or common people. In the 2011-2012 season she participated as a juror in “La prova del cuoco” conducted by Antonella Clerici, flanked in the same role by two other historic former Rai announcers: Mariolina Cannuli and Rosanna Vaudetti. Nicoletta Orsomando in 1957 married the journalist Roberto Rollino; from their union Federica was born. After six years of marriage, the two separated, only to divorce in the 1970s.