Gina Lollobrigida
Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg, no. 354. Photo: Herbert Fried / Ufa. Publicity still for Notre Dame de Paris (1956).
Italian actress and photojournalist Gina Lollobrigida (1927), was one of Europe’s most prominent film stars of the 1950’s. ‘La Lollo’ was the first European sex symbol of the post war years and she paved the way into Hollywood for her younger colleagues Sophia Loren and Claudia Cardinale.
At the age of 3 Luigina was already selected as the most beautiful toddler of Italy and in her youth she started to model. She became an art student and made her film debut in an uncredited bit role in Lucia di Lammermoor (1946, Piero Ballerini). In 1947, she entered the Miss Italia pageant and came in third. The contest was won by Lucia Bosé and second was Gianna Maria Canale - both became also film actresses, though not nearly as successful as Lollobrigida. That same year Gina was discovered by director Mario Costa who gave her a small part in L’elisir d’amore (1946, Mario Costa) A bigger part followed in the opera film Pagliacci (1948, Mario Costa), in which her singing was dubbed. She also started to model as Gina Loris for the foto romanzi, the popular Italian photo novels. Her first major success as a star was in Miss Italia (1950, Duilio Coletti), a backstage drama set at a beauty contest. It was followed by the delightful comedy Vita da cani (1950, Mario Monicelli, Steno) and the award winning crime drama La città si difende (1951, Pietro Germi), based on a script by Federico Fellini. In France she co-starred with Gérard Philipe in the swashbuckling comedy Fanfan la Tulipe (1952, Christian Jacque) and the charming fantasy Les Belles de Nuit (1952, René Clair). Her first American film was Beat the Devil (1953, John Huston). She was at her best as Humphrey Bogart's wife in this odd but endearing noiresque comedy. She returned to Italy and had her definitive breakthrough with the huge global hit Pane, amore e fantasia (1953, Luigi Comencini), in which she starred with Vittorio de Sica. This romantic comedy was nominated for an Oscar and led to three sequels, including Pane, amore e gelosia (1954, Luigi Comencini). Next she earned her nickname ‘The World's Most Beautiful Woman’ for her signature film La donna più bella del mondo (1956, Robert Z. Leonard).
Gina Lollobrigida made another Hollywood appearance in the circus melodrama Trapeze (1956, Carol Reed) with Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis. Next she starred as Esmeralda with Anthony Quinn as Quasimodo in Notre Dame de Paris (1956, Jean Delannoy). In 1959 she lured Yul Brynner in the Biblical epic Solomon and Sheba (1959, King Vidor). One of her most popular Hollywood films was Come September (1961, Robert Mulligan), in which she played the never-contented mistress of Rock Hudson. For this lightweight comedy she won the Golden Globe as World Film Favorite. She co-starred again with Hudson in Strange Bedfellows (1965, Melvin Frank) and in 1968 she starred in the enjoyable screwball comedy Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell (1968, Melvin Frank), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe. On tv she was seen in the mini series Le Avventure di Pinocchio (1972, Luigi Comencini). She retired from acting in the mid-1970’s, but has occasionally returned for the camera, as in the soap opera Falcon Crest (1984). She has used her celebrity to sell cosmetics, published two books of her photography, Italia Mia (1973) and Wonder of Innocence (1994), and created sculptures. In the mid-1970’s she wrote, directed and produced Ritratto di Fidel, a documentary about Fidel Castro that included a rare interview with the Cuban dictator, fueling persistent rumors that a romance was sparked. In 1986, she was the head of jury at the Berlin International Film Festival, and in 1999 she ran for a seat in the European Union Parliament, stressing humanitarian issues, but lost the election. Now virtually retired, Lollobrigida has not made a film appearance since XXL (1997, Ariel Zeitoun).
Sources: Filmglorie.nl, Wikipedia, NNDB, Andrea Le Vasseur/All Movie Guide and IMDb.
Gina Lollobrigida
Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg, no. 354. Photo: Herbert Fried / Ufa. Publicity still for Notre Dame de Paris (1956).
Italian actress and photojournalist Gina Lollobrigida (1927), was one of Europe’s most prominent film stars of the 1950’s. ‘La Lollo’ was the first European sex symbol of the post war years and she paved the way into Hollywood for her younger colleagues Sophia Loren and Claudia Cardinale.
At the age of 3 Luigina was already selected as the most beautiful toddler of Italy and in her youth she started to model. She became an art student and made her film debut in an uncredited bit role in Lucia di Lammermoor (1946, Piero Ballerini). In 1947, she entered the Miss Italia pageant and came in third. The contest was won by Lucia Bosé and second was Gianna Maria Canale - both became also film actresses, though not nearly as successful as Lollobrigida. That same year Gina was discovered by director Mario Costa who gave her a small part in L’elisir d’amore (1946, Mario Costa) A bigger part followed in the opera film Pagliacci (1948, Mario Costa), in which her singing was dubbed. She also started to model as Gina Loris for the foto romanzi, the popular Italian photo novels. Her first major success as a star was in Miss Italia (1950, Duilio Coletti), a backstage drama set at a beauty contest. It was followed by the delightful comedy Vita da cani (1950, Mario Monicelli, Steno) and the award winning crime drama La città si difende (1951, Pietro Germi), based on a script by Federico Fellini. In France she co-starred with Gérard Philipe in the swashbuckling comedy Fanfan la Tulipe (1952, Christian Jacque) and the charming fantasy Les Belles de Nuit (1952, René Clair). Her first American film was Beat the Devil (1953, John Huston). She was at her best as Humphrey Bogart's wife in this odd but endearing noiresque comedy. She returned to Italy and had her definitive breakthrough with the huge global hit Pane, amore e fantasia (1953, Luigi Comencini), in which she starred with Vittorio de Sica. This romantic comedy was nominated for an Oscar and led to three sequels, including Pane, amore e gelosia (1954, Luigi Comencini). Next she earned her nickname ‘The World's Most Beautiful Woman’ for her signature film La donna più bella del mondo (1956, Robert Z. Leonard).
Gina Lollobrigida made another Hollywood appearance in the circus melodrama Trapeze (1956, Carol Reed) with Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis. Next she starred as Esmeralda with Anthony Quinn as Quasimodo in Notre Dame de Paris (1956, Jean Delannoy). In 1959 she lured Yul Brynner in the Biblical epic Solomon and Sheba (1959, King Vidor). One of her most popular Hollywood films was Come September (1961, Robert Mulligan), in which she played the never-contented mistress of Rock Hudson. For this lightweight comedy she won the Golden Globe as World Film Favorite. She co-starred again with Hudson in Strange Bedfellows (1965, Melvin Frank) and in 1968 she starred in the enjoyable screwball comedy Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell (1968, Melvin Frank), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe. On tv she was seen in the mini series Le Avventure di Pinocchio (1972, Luigi Comencini). She retired from acting in the mid-1970’s, but has occasionally returned for the camera, as in the soap opera Falcon Crest (1984). She has used her celebrity to sell cosmetics, published two books of her photography, Italia Mia (1973) and Wonder of Innocence (1994), and created sculptures. In the mid-1970’s she wrote, directed and produced Ritratto di Fidel, a documentary about Fidel Castro that included a rare interview with the Cuban dictator, fueling persistent rumors that a romance was sparked. In 1986, she was the head of jury at the Berlin International Film Festival, and in 1999 she ran for a seat in the European Union Parliament, stressing humanitarian issues, but lost the election. Now virtually retired, Lollobrigida has not made a film appearance since XXL (1997, Ariel Zeitoun).
Sources: Filmglorie.nl, Wikipedia, NNDB, Andrea Le Vasseur/All Movie Guide and IMDb.