Sophia Loren
20 September, 1934
| 1.71 m
Actress
Soundtrack
Biography
Sophia Loren was born as Sofia Scicolone at the Clinica Regina Margherita in Rome on September 20, 1934. Her father Riccardo was married to another woman and refused to marry her mother Romilda Villani, despite the fact that she was the mother of his two children (Sophia and her younger sister Maria Scicolone). Growing up in the slums of Pozzuoli during the second World War without any support from her father, she experienced great sadness in her childhood. Her life took an unexpected turn for the best when, at age 14, she entered into a beauty contest and placed as one of the finalists. It was here that Sophia caught the attention of film producer Carlo Ponti, some 22 years her senior, whom she later married. Perhaps he was the father figure she never experienced as a child. Under his guidance, Sophia was put under contract and appeared as an extra in ten films beginning with Le sei mogli di Barbablù (1950), before working her way up to supporting roles. In these early films, she was credited as "Sofia Lazzaro" because people joked her beauty could raise Lazzarus from the dead.By her late teens, Sophia was playing lead roles in many Italian features such as La favorita (1952) and Aida (1953). In 1957, she embarked on a successful acting career in the United States, starring in Chłopiec na delfinie (1957), Legenda zaginionego miasta (1957), and Duma i namiętność (1957) that year. She had a short-lived but much-publicized fling with co-star Cary Grant, who was nearly 31 years her senior. She was only 22 while he was 53, and she rejected a marriage proposal from him. They were paired together a second time in the family-friendly romantic comedy Dom na łodzi (1958). While under contract to Paramount, Sophia starred in Pożądanie... show more
Movies
Two neighbors, a persecuted journalist and a resigned housewife, meet during Hitler's visit to Italy in May 1938.
The fabled Spanish hero Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (a.k.a. El Cid) overcomes a family vendetta and court intrigue to defend Christian Spain against the Moors.
In seaside Italy, a Holocaust survivor with a daycare business takes in a 12-year-old street kid who recently robbed her.
In WWII Italy, a widow and her lonely daughter seek distance between themselves and the horrors of war.
Wealthy businessman Domenico and penniless prostitute Filumena share a large part of their lives in post-WWII Italy.
The death of Marcus Aurelius leads to a succession crisis, in which the deceased emperor's son, Commodus, demonstrates that he is unwilling to let anything undermine his claim to the Roman Empire.
Stories about three very different women and the men they attract.
Passengers on a European train have been exposed to a deadly disease. Nobody will let them off the train. So what happens next?
A widower, his three young children, and an Italian nanny get to know each other better when circumstances have them living together aboard a badly neglected houseboat.
International intrigue in London, involving an American university professor, an Arab prime minister, a ruthless businessman, a beautiful spy, and hieroglyphics.
In Hong Kong, an ambassador returning to America meets a Russian countess, a refugee without a passport, who decides to hide in his cabin.
Inspired by Boccaccio's novellas, each episode focuses on sex, love and seduction in Italy in the 1960s, an era of economic growth and major cultural changes.