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Sophia Loren - leading actress of the sixties

Born on 20 September 1934 in Rome, Sofia Villani Scicolone was born to Romilda Villani and Riccardo Scicolone. Sophia grew up in the slums of Pozzuoli, just outside Naples. After insignificant parts in _Variety Lights (1950)_ and Quo Vadis (1951), she met movie-director Carlo Ponti, some 22 years her senior, whom she later married. Perhaps he was the father figure she never experienced as a child. In 1961, she received an

Academy Award for Ciociara, La (1960) ("Two Women"). This beautiful lady became one of the major sex symbol of the sixties, competing with Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot and Jane

Fonda. She was a very close friend of Cary Grant. She gained wider respect with her later movies. She had her marriage annulled to save Carlo Ponti from bigamy charges in Italy. Her

sister was married to dictator Benito Mussolini's son, Romano.

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Uploaded on July 14, 2007
Taken on November 25, 2015