The death of Gina Lollobrigida at the age of 95 in Rome occurred after being hospitalized as a result of a fall she suffered at home, according to the Corriere de la Sera newspaper. Movie fans may have little memory of her performances, but very few will overlook the beauty of this 1950s — and partially 1960s — sex symbol.
She was first noticed in 1947 when Gina was running for Miss Italy. It was behind Lucia Bosè and Gianna Maria Canale. The three became stars of European cinema, but their fates were very different.
Bosè had more prestige. She was discovered by Visconti, was Antonioni’s leading actress and filmed with Fellini, Buñuel, Bardem, among others. Canale became a star of popular Italian cinema, filming mainly with her husband Riccardo Freda.
what about ginny Despite only coming in third, she had the most notable international career, with several successful roles in Cinecittà and Hollywood, and the nickname “the most beautiful woman in the world”. It may be a promotional exaggeration, but it is no coincidence that his mythology includes a dialogue in which he says to Marilyn Monroe, “I am the Italian Marilyn”. “No, I’m the American Lollobrigida,” Marilyn reportedly replied.
Yes, beauty was the main reason for Lollo’s success as she rose to prominence and competed with Silvana Mangano for the number one muse of Italian fans. She rose to prominence when she took part in a photonovela under the pseudonym Diana Loris.
From 1947 he gradually rose, starting with small roles. Two years later he was already the head of the cast, albeit in supporting films such as “Miss Italy” by Duilio Coletti or “Alina, the Misguided” by Giorgio Pastina. As early as 1951 he was shooting with top directors such as Carlo Lizzani and Pietro Germi.
The following year, she became an actress of European expression when she filmed ChristianJaque’s Fafan la Tulipe in France alongside Gérard Philippe, then one of the most popular actors in the world. Already in the following year she appears in her most famous Italian role as the protagonist in “Bread, Love and Fantasy” by Luigi Comencini.
From there it was a short jump to Hollywood, which led her to 1955’s The Most Beautiful Woman Alive with Robert Z. Leonard, the following year’s Carol Reed’s Trapeze starring Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis, and 1959’s Solomon and Queen of Sheba” by King Vidor alongside Yul Brynner.
You could say that this was the pinnacle of Lollo’s success. Born in 1927 in Subiaco, a small town in the Lazio region, the girl might have an exuberant beauty but not the vitality of the Neapolitan Sophia Loren, who would rather represent the 1960s and 1970s.
Lollobrigida would never reach Sophia’s level of prestige, which did not prevent her from working in countless films between Europe and the United States, until 1972 when she played the role of the fairy godmother in the remarkable miniseries “Pinocchio and his Adventures”, produced by Luigi Comencini for RAI, the Italian state television.
Since then, his career has not been the focus of his activities. She develops above all as a photographer and is even allowed to interview Fidel Castro. He later tried unsuccessfully in a political career and ran for the European Parliament.
Last year he would claim a seat in Italy’s Senate on the list of Sovereign and People’s Italy and defend, among other things, his country’s exit from the European Union and the end of compulsory vaccination.
From Gina Lollobrigida will remain a tremendous soft spot for very popular films, particularly in the 1950s, and a beauty who eventually lived up to the 1950s epithet she was “the most beautiful woman in the world”. Or definitely one of the greatest and certainly a muse of cinema.