Gina Lollobrigida, great icon of Italian cinema, dies at the age of 95

Actress, photojournalist and politician, Gina Lollobrigida, great icon of Italian cinema of the 50s and 60s, died this January 16 at the age of 95 in a clinic in Rome, as reported by the ANSA news agency. Starring in ‘Solomon and the Queen of Sheba’, ‘The Most Beautiful Woman in the World’ and ‘When September Comes’, Lollobrigida was also one of the faces of Hollywood’s golden age, winning a Golden Globe and five David Donatello Awards.

Lollobrigida was born on July 4, 1927 in Lazio, Italy and moved with her family to Rome after World War II. In the capital, she began studying painting and sculpture and carried out various jobs as a model, as well as participating in (and winning) beauty contests. She finished third in the 1947 Miss Italy contest which crowned Lucia Bosè, but it was the gateway to fame and success for her. In this same period he begins to appear in some film productions such as ‘Aguila negra’, ‘El elixir de amor’ or ‘The secret of Don Giovanni’, but success will soon come with ‘Pane, amore e fantasia’ by Luigi Comencini, which acted alongside Vittorio De Sica; or “Fanfan la Tulipe” by Christian-Jacque.

The leap to Hollywood

After seeing her in a few roles, in 1950 Howard Hughes tried to get Lollobrigida to sign a seven-year contract to make 3 pictures a year with RKO Pictures, but despite flying there, she ultimately refused to leave Europe and returned home. Because Lollobrigida violated the terms of his contract at the last moment, Hughes prevented him from working in the United States, but allowed him to make American films on Italian soil. His international debut came from the hands of John Huston with ‘La burla del diablo’ in 1953, where he shared the bill with Humphrey Bogart and Jennifer Jones.

The decade of the 50s is an absolute effervescence in his career and he begins to alternate works between Italy and America with titles such as ‘Crossed swords’ with Errol Flynn, ‘La Romana’ by Luigi Zampa, ‘Pane, amore e jealousia’ and ‘The most beautiful woman in the world. In 1956 she starred in ‘Trapeze’ with Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis. and that same year she became the Esmeralda of ‘Notre-Dame de Paris’ with Anthony Quinn as Quasimodo. In Spain he will shoot the eventful, albeit huge box office success, ‘Salomon and the Queen of Sheba’ by King Vidor, and will close the decade with ‘When Blood Boils’ alongside Frank Sinatra.

The 1960s weren’t exactly boring for Lollobrigida either, appearing in titles such as ‘When September Comes’, ‘Italian Pension’, ‘Room for Two’, ‘Hotel Paraíso’ and ‘Cervantes’, directed by Vincent Sherman with Paco Rabal and Fernando Rei. The whirlwind ended in 1972.

Missing from the big and small screen for 12 years, Lollobrigida returns to television in ‘Falcon Crest’, in a role that was intended for Sophia Loren and that despite being promoted with clamor and cymbal, only lasted 5 episodes. Later we would have seen her in ‘Engaños’, in a couple of chapters of ‘Vacanze al mare’ and in the miniseries ‘La Romana’.

Curiously, in 1968 he starred in ‘Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell’, the film that would inspire the musical ‘Mamma Mia!’, and for this work he won his third David di Donatello. She has never been nominated for an Oscar. but gave this best director award to Billy Wilder for “The Apartment” in the 33rd edition. He has had his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame since 2018.

His other works

In the 1970s her acting career slowed down and she started working as a photojournalist. You have portrayed characters such as Paul Newman, David Cassidy, Audrey Hepburn, Ella Fitzgerald and Salvador Dalí; he interviewed Fidel Castro, published a book and continued to make sculpture. In 1999 he made his foray into the world of politics by running for the European Parliament with Romano Prodi’s Democrats. Even if it didn’t work, in 2022, already at the age of 95, he tried to win a seat in the Senate, but his party didn’t get the necessary votes.