Sophia Loren

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Biography

Sophia Loren was born as Sofia Scicolone at the Clinica Regina Margherita in Rome, Italy, on September 20, 1934. Her father, Riccardo Scicolone, 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 Loren remains one of the most beloved and recognizable figures in the international film world.

  • Primary profession
  • Actress·soundtrack
  • Country
  • Italy
  • Nationality
  • Italian
  • Gender
  • Female
  • Birth date
  • 20 September 1934
  • Place of birth
  • Rome
  • Residence
  • Geneva
  • Children
  • Edoardo Ponti·Carlo Ponti
  • Spouses
  • Carlo Ponti·Carlo Ponti
  • Knows language
  • Italian language

Music

Movies

TV

Books

Awards

Trivia

Daughter of Romilda Villani.

Mother of Carlo Ponti Jr. and Edoardo Ponti. Father is Carlo Ponti.

Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World.

She had her marriage annulled to save Carlo Ponti from bigamy charges in Italy.

She served an 18-day prison sentence in Italy in 1982 for tax evasion.

She may have been the voluptuous sex goddess as an adult. But, until age 14 she was a skinny child and considered an ugly duckling. Her nickname was "The Stick" and "Toothpick".

Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#25).

Derives great pleasure from rolling her bare feet over a wooden rolling pin while watching television.

She did not get along with Marlon Brando during the shooting of A Countess from Hong Kong , especially after the day they were doing a love scene and he commented, "Did you know you have hairs up your nostrils?".

She performed two duets with Peter Sellers which were major hits in the UK pop chart. "Goodness Gracious Me" was released in 1960 and reached four and "Bangers and Mash" made it to the top 20 in 1961.

(September 17, 1957) Carlo Ponti obtained a Mexican divorce from his first wife and married Sophia by proxy, while she was in Hollywood, filming Houseboat - and dating co-star Cary Grant.

While filming Boy on a Dolphin , Sophia was required to walk in a trench in order to give audiences the impression that her diminutive co-star, Alan Ladd , was taller than she.

Has one sister, Maria Scicolone (born 1938); and two half-brothers, Giuliano Scicolone (born 1943) and Giuseppe Scicolone .

Suffered from stage fright and, therefore, never appeared in a theatrical production.

Had two miscarriages prior to her first-born son Carlo Ponti Jr. Because of these complications, she had to have complete bed rest throughout her first and second successful pregnancies.

Her mother won an all-Italy Greta Garbo lookalike contest run by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1932; but, being only 17 years old, her mother would not allow her to pursue her Hollywood dream. Soon after, she became pregnant with Sofia.

Her adopted surname is a slight variation of "Toren" after the Swedish actress Mrta Torn.

Her mother named her after her paternal grandmother. When Sophias father abandoned her, her maternal grandmother began calling her "Lella".

Won a Grammy Award in 2004 for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for her work in "Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf/Beintus" along with former US President Bill Clinton and former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev.

Was named #21 Actress on The American Film Institutes 50 Greatest Screen Legends.

At times, male actors have been hesitant to appear with her, due to the fact that she stands nearly 59" and wears towering heels and tall hair that can make her look over 6 feet tall.

Her "Best Actress" Academy Award was the first Oscar ever given for a performance in a "foreign-language" film.

Received an honorary citizenship in her hometown of Pozzuoli, Italy on June 22, 2005 (she gave up her Italian citizenship and became a French citizen years ago because of legal and tax problems she and her husband incurred in Italy).

Was president of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1966.

(February 10, 2006) One of eight women, also among them Susan Sarandon and author Isabel Allende , carrying the Olympic flag at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games opening ceremony in Turin.

She and Marcello Mastroianni appeared in 11 movies together: La bella mugnaia , Fatto di sangue fra due uomini per causa di una vedova. Si sospettano moventi politici , La fortuna di essere donna , Una giornata particolare , I girasoli , Ieri oggi domani , Matrimonio allitaliana , La moglie del prete , Peccato che sia una canaglia , Prt--Porter and La pupa del gangster .

Cited as one of Drew Barrymore s early role models. Loren was close friends with Drews godmother Anna Strasberg (wife of famed acting coach Lee Strasberg ). Anna would bring young Drew--from age 8 until she was 12--to Sophias ranch outside Los Angeles, where Drew would spend summers with Lorens two sons (Jane magazine interview March 2007).

(June 2007) Being a huge fan of soccer club S.S.C. Napoli, she told the daily "Gazzetta dello Sport", when the team was just third in Serie B, that she would do a striptease if they achieved promotion to Serie A for the next season. When they managed to achieve promotion, she explained that she had made just a joke.

Has appeared in the 2007 edition of the famous Pirelli Calendar at age 72, making her the oldest model in its history.

Was mentioned in the song "I Shall Be Free" by Bob Dylan on his 1963 album "The Freewheelin Bob Dylan".

Owns an apartment in the Trump World Tower in New York City.

Hating beauty salons, she does her hair and nails herself.

Being one of the contestants at the 1950 Miss Italia competition, she earned the second place and was awarded "Miss Eleganza".

The Best Actress Oscar she won for La ciociara was stolen by thieves from her Italian villa. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences later replaced it for a small fee.

Is one of five performers to win an Oscar playing a character that spoke mostly in a foreign language. The other are Marion Cotillard , Robert De Niro , Roberto Benigni and Benicio Del Toro.

Her sister Maria Scicolone was once married to dictator Benito Mussolini s son, Romano Mussolini.

Godmother of Drew Barrymore.

Was amongst those considered for the role of Lara Antipova in Doctor Zhivago , which ultimately went to Julie Christie.

Mother-in-law of Sasha Alexander and Andrea Mezaros.

Turned down roles that went to Joan Collins on "Dynasty" and Gina Lollobrigida on "Falcon Crest" .

Husband Carlo Ponti was two years older than Sophias mother.

Has played the love interest of a much older man in the majority of her films, the most illustrative example being It Started in Naples with Clark Gable when she was 25 and he was 59.

Her father Riccardo died of cancer in 1976.

Has four grandchildren: Lucia (born May 12, 2006) and Leonardo (born December 20, 2010) from son Edoardo Ponti and his wife Sasha Alexander ; Vittorio (born April 3, 2007) and Beatrice from son Carlo Ponti Jr. and his wife Andrea Meszaros.

Attended the September 1992 funeral of former co-star Anthony Perkins.

Turned down the title role in Barbarella .

Turned down an offer to appear in the Western comedy 4 for Texas and a $1-million fee for four weeks work.

She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7050 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 1, 1994.

She was awarded a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars in Palm Springs, California on January 9, 1994.

Returned to work 7 months after giving birth to her son Edoardo Ponti to begin filming Il viaggio .

Was 1 month pregnant with her son Edoardo Ponti when she completed filming Man of La Mancha .

Delivered both her sons, Carlo Ponti Jr. and Edoardo Ponti , via Caesarean section.

(September 17, 1999) Filed a lawsuit against 76 websites for using "fraudulent photographs" of her on adult sites.

Is one of 14 Best Actress Oscar winners to have not accepted their Academy Award in person, Lorens being for La ciociara . The others are Katharine Hepburn , Claudette Colbert , Joan Crawford , Judy Holliday , Vivien Leigh , Anna Magnani , Ingrid Bergman , Anne Bancroft , Patricia Neal , Elizabeth Taylor , Maggie Smith , Glenda Jackson and Ellen Burstyn.

Was the 55th actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Actress Oscar for La ciociara at The 34th Annual Academy Awards on April 9, 1962.

Is one of six performers with multiple Oscar nominations for foreign language films; the others are Marcello Mastroianni for Divorzio allitaliana , Una giornata particolare and Oci ciornie (Italian), Liv Ullmann for Utvandrarna and Ansikte mot ansikte (Swedish), Isabelle Adjani for Lhistoire dAdle H. and Camille Claudel (French), Javier Bardem for Before Night Falls and Biutiful (Spanish), and Marion Cotillard for La mme and Deux jours, une nuit (French). Loren was nominated for her performances in La ciociara (for which she won) and Matrimonio allitaliana (Italian), she and Marion Cotillard are the only atresses to win a Best Actress Oscar for a foreign-language film, they also appeared together in the film Nine .

Was mentioned in a song entitled "Oh Boy" by Allan Sherman.

Yvonne De Carlo inspired her to become an actress.

Because of her love for actor Tyrone Power , she saw the romance drama Blood and Sand twenty times.

For her 80th birthday in 2014, her son, Carlo Ponti Jr.. commissioned a symphony to be written by Daniel Brewbaker. "Sinfonietta per Sofia" ("for love and laughter") was performed in the Napa Valley in 2014 with Carlo Ponti Jr. conducting the orchestra.

Her eldest son Carlo Ponti Jr. weighed 3.487050 Kilos or 7 lbs 11 oz at birth as announced in the January 10, 1969 Milestones column of that weeks issue of Time magazine.

Despite being Italian, she was dubbed by Lydia Simoneschi and Rita Savagnone in the Italian versions of most of her films.

As of 2016, she is the seventh earliest surviving recipient of a Best Actress Oscar nomination, tied with Piper Laurie and behind only Olivia de Havilland , Leslie Caron , Carroll Baker , Joanne Woodward , Shirley MacLaine and Doris Day. She was nominated (and won) in 1961 for La ciociara .

Sophia first learned of her Oscar win for La ciociara from erstwhile co-star and paramour Cary Grant who called her home in Italy from Los Angeles with the news. Greer Garson had accepted the statuette on her behalf (Santa Monica Civic Auditorium / April 9, 1962).

She played the mother of her real life niece Alessandra Mussolini in Una giornata particolare .

Quit smoking in 1985.

Quotes

Mistakes are a part of the dues one pays for a full life.

The two big advantages I had at birth were to have been born wise and to,have been born in poverty.

Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself.

That is why some people with mediocre talent, but with great inner,drive, go so much further than people with vastly superior talent.

[on why she did not pose nude in the 2007 Pirelli calendar] When Sophia,Loren is naked, that is a lot of nakedness.

Cooking is an act of love, a gift, a way of sharing with others the,little secrets -- "piccoli segreti" -- that are simmering on the,burners.

A mother has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.

Everything you see I owe to spaghetti.

I am lucky. I had a very beautiful mother.

Everything you live through helps to make you the person you are now.

I hated my father all my life but in his final days I forgave him for,all the suffering he caused us. As you grow older, marry, and have,children of you own, you learn and forget. I do not forget easily, but,I do forgive.

There IS a Fountain of Youth: It is your mind, your talents, the,creativity you bring to your life and the lives of the people you love.

When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.

[on why she, a nominee, could not attend the 1961 Academy Awards] I,decided that I could not bear the ordeal of sitting in plain view of,millions of viewers while my fate was being judged. If I lost, I might,faint for disappointment. If I won, I would also very likely faint with,joy. I decided it would be better to faint at home.

[on having made the drama film La ciociara (1960) ] I said before,I am not a sexy pot. Now I can prove it.

Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes. It is not something physical.

Everything you see I owe to spaghetti.

You have to believe in marriage and you have to believe in a relationship between two people. If you really think in your life that you have found the right person, you have to stick to it, even though there are ups and downs. If you really believe in your union, you have to nourish it and work for it, then you can really spend your life together forever.

There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.

At the dressing table, every woman has a chance to be an artist, and art, as Aristotle said, "completes what nature left unfinished.

When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.

Discipline is the great equalizer. If a young woman is beautiful but has no discipline, she will lose her looks as she grows older. If a plain woman is disciplined she will undoubtedly become more beautiful with time.

Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself. You must be able to sustain yourself against staggering blows. There is no code of conduct to help beginners. That is why some people with mediocre talent but with great inner drive go much further than people with vastly superior talent.

Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life.

When you are a mother you are never really alone in your thoughts . . . A mother has to think twice once for herself and once for her child.

There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind your talents the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of the people you love. When you learn to tap this source you will truly have defeated age.

As far as beauty is concerned in order to be confident we must accept that the way we look and feel is our own responsibility.

There is a Fountain of Youth: It is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of the people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.

Spaghetti can be eaten most successfully if you inhale it like a vacuum cleaner.

Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself. That is why some people with mediocre talent, but with great inner drive, go so much further than people with vastly superior talent. .

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