ROME (Reuters) – Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida, a sultry Mediterranean diva who came to portray Italy’s vibrant post-World War Two renaissance, has died aged 95, her lawyer said on Monday. The agent did not provide details.
After a modest upbringing, Lollobrigida starred alongside Hollywood stars such as Humphrey Bogart, Rock Hudson, Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis and Frank Sinatra, becoming one of the most recognizable movie icons of the 1950s and 60s. Lollo”, as she was affectionately known in Italy, never clicked with the Hollywood studio system and her best-known films remain those she made with Italian directors.
It was the eccentric tycoon Howard Hughes who finally brought Lollobrigida to the United States. Besides “The Most Beautiful Woman in the World” in 1955, career highlights included Golden Globe-winning “Come September” with Rock Hudson; “Trapeze;” “Beat the Devil,” a 1953 John Huston film starring Humphrey Bogart; and “Buona Sera, Mrs Campbell”, which won Lollobrigida’s Best Italian Film award as Best Actress in 1969.
In Italy, she worked with some of the country’s best directors after the war, including Mario Monicelli, Luigi Comencini, Pietro Germi and Vittorio De Sica. Two of his most popular home movies were “Pane Amore e Fantasia” (“Bread, Love and Dreams”) in 1953, and the sequel, “Pane Amore e Gelosia” (“Bread, Love and Jealousy”). Lollobrigida was born on July 4, 1927, in Subiaco, a hill town near Rome, where her father was a furniture maker. She started her career in beauty pageants. A producer ripped her off the streets of Rome to appear on the big screen.
A portrait of the diva graced a 1954 cover of Time magazine, which compared her to a “goddess” in an article about Italian cinema. More than half a century later, Lollobrigida was still turning heads with her curly brown hair and statuesque figure, and preferred to be called an actress instead of a gender-neutral actor. Lollobrigida also started a hairstyle rage in the 1950s known as the “poodle cut”. A spokesperson for Sophia Loren, a superstar in her own right in Italy’s post-war years, said Loren, 88, was “very shocked and saddened” by Lollobrigida’s death.
When she stopped making films full time, Lollobrigida worked as a photographer and sculptor and also served as a goodwill ambassador for Unicef. In 1975 she made a documentary film “Portrait of Fidel Castro”, and for years there were rumors that she had an affair with the Cuban leader. One of his last appearances was an appearance in an Italian film in 2011.
After a modest upbringing, Lollobrigida starred alongside Hollywood stars such as Humphrey Bogart, Rock Hudson, Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis and Frank Sinatra, becoming one of the most recognizable movie icons of the 1950s and 60s. Lollo”, as she was affectionately known in Italy, never clicked with the Hollywood studio system and her best-known films remain those she made with Italian directors.
It was the eccentric tycoon Howard Hughes who finally brought Lollobrigida to the United States. Besides “The Most Beautiful Woman in the World” in 1955, career highlights included Golden Globe-winning “Come September” with Rock Hudson; “Trapeze;” “Beat the Devil,” a 1953 John Huston film starring Humphrey Bogart; and “Buona Sera, Mrs Campbell”, which won Lollobrigida’s Best Italian Film award as Best Actress in 1969.
In Italy, she worked with some of the country’s best directors after the war, including Mario Monicelli, Luigi Comencini, Pietro Germi and Vittorio De Sica. Two of his most popular home movies were “Pane Amore e Fantasia” (“Bread, Love and Dreams”) in 1953, and the sequel, “Pane Amore e Gelosia” (“Bread, Love and Jealousy”). Lollobrigida was born on July 4, 1927, in Subiaco, a hill town near Rome, where her father was a furniture maker. She started her career in beauty pageants. A producer ripped her off the streets of Rome to appear on the big screen.
A portrait of the diva graced a 1954 cover of Time magazine, which compared her to a “goddess” in an article about Italian cinema. More than half a century later, Lollobrigida was still turning heads with her curly brown hair and statuesque figure, and preferred to be called an actress instead of a gender-neutral actor. Lollobrigida also started a hairstyle rage in the 1950s known as the “poodle cut”. A spokesperson for Sophia Loren, a superstar in her own right in Italy’s post-war years, said Loren, 88, was “very shocked and saddened” by Lollobrigida’s death.
When she stopped making films full time, Lollobrigida worked as a photographer and sculptor and also served as a goodwill ambassador for Unicef. In 1975 she made a documentary film “Portrait of Fidel Castro”, and for years there were rumors that she had an affair with the Cuban leader. One of his last appearances was an appearance in an Italian film in 2011.
