Sophia Loren

by 9 people | Log in to rate

Ranked #3,473 in Entertainment, #94,760 overall

Sophia Loren

Sophia Loren, the probably most famous Italian actress of the 20th century, was born September 20, 1934 in Rome, Italy as Sofia Villani Scicolone. Her parents, an aspiring actress and an established engineer, never married. She experienced extreme poverty as she was being raised by her grandmother, aunts and uncles, living in a tight space together with her nieces, nephews. She often referred to this fact later as the one thing that made her appreciate hard work and its fruits even more.

Sophia Loren: Short Biography

In 1949, at age 15, Loren left for Rome and about a year later began her film career with bit parts in mostly minor Italian films. In 1951, Loren and her mother worked as extras in Quo Vadis [= Latin for "Where are you going?"], which was filmed in Rome and provided Loren with an early brush with Hollywood. She also appeared as Aida in Aida (1953), in which the singing of Loren's role was dubbed by opera singer Renata Tebaldi, who since became a world class singer.

Sophia Loren's Most Famous Roles

Sofia Scicolone soon changed her name to Sophia Loren and appeared in film roles that emphasized her voluptuous figure. She made two topless appearance during her entire film career, in Two Nights with Cleopatra and It's Him, Yes! Yes! However, she did not feel comfortable in these roles, as she later explained. Loren's career benefited from teaming up with director Vittorio De Sica and actor Marcello Mastroianni in 1954. Experts agree, her movies with De Sica mark her most meaningful work as an actress.

During late 1950s, Loren's star had begun to rise in Hollywood, with films such as 1957's Boy on a Dolphin and The Pride and the Passion in which her co-stars were Frank Sinatra and Cary Grant. Grant fell so deeply in love with Sophia that he proposed marriage, although she was faithfully committed to Carlo Ponti (Grant was together with actress and writer Betsy Drake at the time). Although the two (Loren and Grant) may have had a romantic liaison, the nature of their romance remains elusive to date.

Sophia: An international star

Video made by CatherinedeNeuveLove

Loren became an internationally famous film star after her contract with Paramount Studios for five movies. Among these: Desire Under the Elms with Anthony Perkins, based upon the Eugene O'Neill play; Houseboat, a romantic comedy co-starring Cary Grant; and George Cukor's Heller in Pink Tights in which she appeared with blond hair (a wig) for the first time. Loren demonstrated considerable dramatic talent as an actress.

In 1960, her performance in Vittorio De Sica's Two Women earned the Cannes, Venice and Berlin Film Festivals' best performance prizes. She was also recognized by an Academy Award for Best Actress, the first major Academy Award for a non-English-language performance.

Runtime:
views
Comments:

curated content from YouTube

Sophia Loren The Singer

During the 1960s Loren was one of the most popular movie stars in the world. She continued to appear in both U.S. and European movies. In 1964, her career reached its peak with her role in The Fall of the Roman Empire (her honorarium was 1 million dollars).

Among her best-known movies of this time period are The Millionairess (1960) with Peter Sellers, Vittorio De Sica's triptych Ieri, oggi, domani (1963) with Marcello Mastroianni, Peter Ustinov's Lady L (1965) with Paul Newman, and Charlie Chaplin's final film, A Countess from Hong Kong (1967) with Marlon Brando.

Sophia has worn some of the most lavish costumes ever created for the movies, like those worn in A Breath of Scandal (1960), Madame Sans-Gêne (1962), Heller in Pink Tights (1960) and More Than A Miracle (1967).

Loren also recorded about 20-30 songs throughout her career, including a best-selling album of comedic songs with Peter Sellers; reportedly, she had to fend off his romantic advances. It was partly due to Sellers' infatuation with Loren that he split with his first wife, Anne Howe. Loren has made it clear to numerous biographers that she never encouraged Seller's feelings. This was also explained in The Life and Times of Peter Sellers where actress Sonia Aquino portrayed Loren.

Sophia Loren on YouTube

Slide Show Video Made by didyrunez

Sophia Loren video Photo gallery

photogallery

Runtime: 214
265419 views
172 Comments:

curated content from YouTube

Sophia Loren's True Love

Loren was discovered by her future husband, the much older and already-married film producer Carlo Ponti. He wanted to get a divorce, and his first wife didn't mind it; but being Roman Catholic, his wish was denied by the Italian church. Nevertheless, he separated from his first wife and the civil marriage bond no longer existed when he married Sophia Loren on September 17, 1957, three days before her 23rd birthday. Because the church considered this second marriage of Ponti's non-existent, much to the lovers' distress, it had to be annulled. After having obtained French citizenship for all three parties involved (Ponti, his first wife, and Sophia) all of them completed the necessary paperwork in France and Ponti got divorced and re-married to Sophia a second time on April 9, 1966. Their marriage was blessed by two sons, Carlo Ponti, Jr., and Edoardo Ponti. They lived happily together, despite all temptations thrown on their path in the movie industry, that brings together talent, fame, money and beauty. Ponti passed away on January 9, 2007.

Sophia Loren's Awards

1961
Academy Award for Best Actress

BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
for Two Women

1991
Academy Honorary Award
co-awarded with Myrna Loy

1995
Cecil B. DeMille Award