Sophia Loren Biography
Extraordinarily beautiful actor who managed against formidable odds to rise from extreme poverty and obscurity in post-war Italy while struggling against typecasting and thankless roles that have been the fate of similarly endowed performers. The illegitimate daughter of a frustrated actress, the young Loren was so thin as a child she was nicknamed “the Stick”. With American film production companies arriving in post-war Rome, her mother took Loren north from Naples where they were then living. She managed to get irregular work as a print model, entered beauty contests and took extra work in such films as “Quo Vadis” (made in 1949 but released in 1951). In 1951 alone she had bits in nine films, the same year she met producer and future husband Carlo Ponti, one of a panel of judges presiding over a beauty contest in which she was competing. Under Ponti’s guidance she became one of Italy’s leading stars of the 1950s, an earthy, voluptuous figure.
By 1954 she was an established name, and vying with the well-established Gina Lollobrigida for roles and fans on both sides of the Atlantic. After appearing in several American productions shot overseas, Loren arrived in Hollywood in the mid-1950s, preceded by a huge press campaign. Her natural sensuousness was vulgarized by the artificial glamour treatment and with few exceptions like “Houseboat” (1958) with Cary Grant, Sidney Lumet’s “That Kind of Woman” (1959), and “The Black Orchid” (1958) for which she received a Best Actress Award at Cannes, she was woefully miscast. Nonetheless, over the next two decades, Loren occasionally demonstrated the talent and range needed to transcend her pin-up status. She once again won an award at Cannes as well as a Best Actress Oscar for her memorable performance in Vittorio De Sica’s “Two Women” (1960), giving the performance of her career in the portrayal of a mother protecting her daughter in war-torn Italy.
Loren worked steadily throughout the 60s in forgettable projects with some of the industry’s most celebrated directors, most of whom were unfortunately past their prime: Michael Curtiz (”A Breath of Scandal”, 1960) Anatole Litvak (”Five Miles to Midnight”, 1963), and Charles Chaplin (”A Countess From Hong Kong”, 1967). Some of her better vehicles were George Cukor’s off-beat “Heller in Pink Tights” (1960), the Vittorio De Sica section of the episodic “Boccaccio 70″ (1962) and Stanley Donen’s stylish thriller “Arabesque” (1966) which co-starred Gregory Peck. Her only true standout roles of the period, however, were in “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” (1963) with Loren doing the famous bedroom striptease scene, and “Marriage Italian-Style” (1964), both under the direction of De Sica and co-starring Marcello Mastroianni, a leading man with whom she appeared in 14 films during her career. Loren also made several autobiographical specials for US TV including “The World of Sophia Loren” (ABC, 1962) and “Sophia!” (ABC, 1968).
In the 70s, Loren continued to get work offers but performed primarily in Europe. Other than Ettore Scola’s “A Special Day” (1977), which featured fine performances by her and Mastroianni in distinctly unglamorous roles, she appeared mostly in uneven productions including the disastrous adaptation of the stage musical “Man of la Mancha” (1972) directed by Arthur Hiller. Loren also worked with Italy’s celebrated female director Lina Wertmuller in two films, “Blood Feud” (1978), with Mastroianni again, and “Saturday, Sunday and Monday” (1990).
During the 80s Loren made only a few feature films while she raised her teenaged sons by Ponti, but she did perform in several American TV-movies including “Courage” (1986), “Aurora” (1984), which also featured her son Eduardo, and the autobiographical “Sophia Loren: Her Own Story” (1980) in which she played both herself and her own mother. By then each appearance she made was promoted as an event and her gracious presence as an acceptor of affection became more important than any other role she played. Having worked hard for many years, her status as a “legend” and a “survivor” was unshakably secure, even to the point where, somewhat unexpectedly, she was awarded a second, honorary Oscar in 1990. In 1994 Loren returned to US films in Robert Altman’s much ballyhooed but disappointing take on the French fashion scene, “Ready to Wear (Pret-a-Porter)”. The film’s major highlight was the recreation of the famous striptease that Loren performed once again for Mastroianni, who also co-starred. She subsequently brought a warm, friendly presence and her sensuous, distinctive beauty to the middle-aged antics of the popular and unassuming if derivative sequel film, “Grumpier Old Men” (1995).
- Also Credited As:
Sofia Lazzaro, Sofia Villani Scicolone - Born:
on 09/20/1934 in Rome, Italy - Job Titles:
Actor, Model
Family
- Father: Riccardo Scicolone.
- Mother: Romilda Villani. born c. 1910; died May 9, 1991 in Rome at age 81 after long illness
- Niece: Alessandra Mussolini. born c. 1962; appeared in Israeli film “The Road to Einharold”, in Ettore Scola’s “Una Giornata Partibato” and Lina Wertmuller’s “Saturday, Sunday and Monday” (1992); also acted on Italian TV and later became a physician in training; won a seat in the Italian Parliament running on the neo-Fascist ticket (1992); married to Capt. Mauro Floriani, a customs police officer
- Sister: Anna Maria Scicolone. formerly married to Romano Mussolini, third son of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, who ruled Italy in the 1930s and during WWII
- Son: Carlo Ponti. born in 1969; graduated from Pepperdine University (majored in music) in 1991; went on to graduate work at USC in conducting
- Son: Eduardo Ponti. born c. 1973; studied at USC majoring in film; made first film “Liv” (1998)
Significant Others
- Husband: Carlo Ponti. met in 1951; married in 1957; marriage annulled in 1962 due to charges by Italian government that Ponti’s divorce from previous wife was not valid and therefore he was a bigamist; legally married in France in 1966
Milestones
- 1950 Feature acting debut, “Variety Lights”; played a bit part in film directed by Federico Fellini
- 1950 First film in which she and Marcello Mastroianna both appeared, “Cuori sul mare”
- 1952 Given the name “Sophia Loren”, which had been thought up by a producer
- 1953 Signed contract with Carlo Ponti
- 1954 First of eight collaborations with director Vittorio DeSica, “Gold of Naples”, an anthology film in which Loren acted in the segment, “Pizza on Credit”
- 1955 First film in which she and Marcello Mastroianni played leading roles opposite each other, “Peccato che sia una canaglia/Too Bad She’s Bad”, directed by Alessandro Blasetti
- 1957 Moved to Hollywood under contract to Paramount; first feature in Hollywood, “The Pride and the Passion”
- 1962 TV debut in America as hostess of own special, “The World of Sophia Loren”
- 1966 Served as president of Cannes Film Festival Jury
- 1974 Acted in last film directed by Vittorio DeSica, “Il viaggio/The Voyage”
- 1974 American TV acting debut, “Brief Encounter” (for “Hallmark Hall of Fame”), a remake of the 1945 classic film directed by David Lean; co-starred opposite Richard Burton
- 1978 Last American-made film for over 15 years, “Brass Target”
- 1980 Played both herself and her mother in an NBC TV-movie biopic, “Sophia Loren: Her Own Story”
- 1984 Acted opposite her son Eduardo (then age 11, in his acting debut) in the American-made TV-movie, “Aurora”
- 1994 First American-made film since 1978, “Ready to Wear (Pret-a-Porter)”, directed by Robert Altman
- 1994 Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
- 1998 Hospitalized in NYC with a heart arrhythmia
- 2002 Returned to the Venice Film Festival after years away to support her 29-year-old son, director Edoardo Ponti, whose film “Between Strangers” Loren starred in
- Moved to Rome with her mother at age 14 and a half to pursue modeling and acting career; met Carlo Ponti at age 15 (he was a judge in beauty contest she had entered)
Next:Elle Macpherson Biography
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