Italian film legend Gina Lollobrigida, who achieved international stardom during the 1950s and was dubbed 鈥渢he most beautiful woman in the world鈥� after the title of one her movies, died in Rome on Monday, her agent said. She was 95.
The agent, Paola Comin, didn鈥檛 provide details. But Lollobrigida had surgery in September to repair a thigh bone broken in a fall. She returned home and said she had quickly resumed walking.
A drawn portrait of the diva graced a 1954 cover of Time magazine, which likened her to a 鈥済oddess鈥� in an article about Italian movie-making. More than a half-century later, Lollobrigida still turned heads with her brown, curly hair and statuesque figure, and preferred to be called an actress instead of a the gender-neutral term actor.
鈥淟ollo,鈥� as she was lovingly nicknamed by Italians, began making movies in Italy just after the end of World War II, as the country began to promote on the big screen a stereotypical concept of Mediterranean beauty as buxom and brunette.
Besides 鈥淭he World鈥檚 Most Beautiful Woman鈥� in 1955, career highlights included Golden Globe-winner 鈥淐ome September,鈥� with Rock Hudson; 鈥淭rapeze;鈥� 鈥淏eat the Devil,鈥� a 1953 John Huston film starring Humphrey Bogart and Jennifer Jones; and 鈥淏uona Sera, Mrs. Campbell,鈥� which won Lollobrigida Italy鈥檚 top movie award, a David di Donatello, as best actress in 1969.
In Italy, she worked with some of the country鈥檚 top directors following the war, including Mario Monicelli, Luigi Comencini, Pietro Germi and Vittorio De Sica.
Two of her more popular films at home were Comencini鈥檚 鈥淧ane Amore e Fantasia鈥� (鈥淏read, Love and Dreams鈥滷antasy) in 1953, and the sequel a year later, 鈥淧ane Amore e Gelosia鈥� (鈥淏read, Love and Jealousy鈥�). Her male foil was Vittorio Gassman, one of Italy鈥檚 leading men on the screen.
Lollobrigida also was an accomplished sculptor, painter and photographer, and eventually essentially dropped film for the fine arts. With her camera, she roamed the world from what was then the Soviet Union to Australia. In 1974, Fidel Castro hosted her as a guest in Cuba for 12 days as she worked on a photo reportage.
Lollobrigida was born on July 4, 1927 in Subiaco, a picturesque hill town near Rome, where her father was a furniture maker. Lollobrigida began her career in beauty contests, posing for the covers of magazines and brief appearances in minor films. Producer Mario Costa plucked her from the streets of Rome to appear on the big screen.
Eccentric mogul Howard Hughes eventually brought Lollobrigida to the United States, where she performed with some of Hollywood鈥檚 leading men of the 1950s and 60s, including Frank Sinatra, Sean Connery, Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis and Yul Brynner.
Over the years, her co-stars also included Europe鈥檚 most dashing male stars of the era, among them Louis Jourdan, Fernando Rey, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Alec Guinness.
While Lollobrigida played some dramatic roles, her sex symbol image defined her career, and her most popular characters were in lighthearted comedies such as the 鈥淏read, Love鈥� trilogy.
With lush eyelashes and thick, brown curls framing her face, Lollobrigida started a hairstyle rage in the 1950s known as the 鈥減oodle cut.鈥� Gossip columnists commented on alleged rivalries between her and Sophia Loren, another Italian film star celebrated for her physical beauty,
In middle age, Lollobrigida鈥檚 romance with a man 34 years her junior, Javier Rigau, from Barcelona, Spain, kept gossip pages buzzing for years.
鈥淚 have always had a weakness for younger men because they are generous and have no complexes,鈥� the actress told Spain鈥檚 鈥淗ola鈥� magazine. After more than 20 years of dating, in 2006, the then-79-year-old Lollabrigida announced that she would Rigau, but the wedding never happened.
Her first marriage, to Milko Skofic, a Yugoslavia-born doctor, ended in divorce in 1971.
In the last years of her life, Lollobrigida鈥檚 name more frequently appeared in articles by journalists covering Rome鈥檚 courts, not the glamour scene, as legal battles were waged over whether she had the mental competence to tend to her finances.
On her website, Lollobrigida recalled how her family lost its house during the bombings of World War II and went to live in Rome. She studied sculpture and painting at a high school dedicated to the arts, while her two sisters worked as movie threater ushers to allow her to continue her studies.
鈥擣rances D鈥檈milio, The Associated Press
