Gina Lollobrigida is dead, the legend of Italian cinema was 95 years old’ “Even Maria Callas asked if it was my voice”

Gina Lollobrigida rose to fame in the 1950s as a sensual Mediterranean sex symbol and later, after leaving the world of film, became a photographer and sculptor.

Gina Lollobrigida is dead. Talent, voice and beauty from the golden age of Hollywood

She was born on July 4, 1927 in Subiaco. Before becoming a movie star, she worked as a model, in 1947 she was third in the Miss Italy pageant. After a series of small roles in Italian productions, she was noticed by Hollywood filmmakers. However, she did not decide to move from Europe to the United States for her career, although she appeared in local films and series.

For her role as peasant Maria De Ritis in Luigi Comencini’s 1953 romantic comedy Bread, Love and Fantasy, she won the Nastro d’Argento for Best Actress and was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress. She also starred in such films as “The Most Beautiful Woman in the World” by Robert Z. Leonard, “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame” by Jean Delannoy and “Trapeze” by Carol Reed. She also played in productions: “Solomon and the Queen of Sheba” by King Vidor, “The Law” by Jules Dassin, “Fanfan Tulip” by Christian-Jaque and “When September Comes” by Robert Mulligan. She was partnered with Anthony Quinn, Yul Brynner and Rock Hudson. In “The Most Beautiful Woman in the World” about the life of the soprano Lina Cavalieri, she could boast of not only her acting talent, but also her skills and love for the opera. In one of the interviews she recalled:

I sang what no one believed. American newspapers wrote: beautiful voice, too bad it’s not hers. Even Maria Callas asked me: is that your voice?

In the second half of the 1970s, she withdrew from film and took up photography and sculpture. In the 1980s, however, she returned very successfully to the camera – for the role of Francesca Gioberti in the soap opera “Falcon Crest” she was nominated for a Golden Globe. Interestingly, this role was written with Sophia Loren in mind, who was often her rival – both at castings and in the minds of moviegoers. Both were Italian beauties of European cinema.

Lollobrigida also appeared in the 1980s in the TV melodrama “Scams” and in the cult series “Love Ship”.

She was appointed ambassador of FAO – United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. In 1999, she tried unsuccessfully for a seat in the European Parliament, and in 2022 she tried her hand at the elections to the Italian parliament. In September last year, the actress was discharged from the clinic after a fall at home, which resulted in a fractured femur.