Death of Gina Lollobrigida at 95, icon of Italian cinema of the 50s and 60s

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Legendary Italian actress, Gina Lollobrigida died on January 16, at the age of 95. Icon of the cinema of the 50s and 60s, she had filmed for Jean Delannoy, King Vidor, John Huston and Carol Reed.

Unforgettable Esmeralda in Notre Dame de Paris opposite Anthony Quinn in the masterpiece by Jean Delannoy, star of the films Fanfan la Tulipe and Pain, Amour et Fantaisie, icon of Italian cinema who has played with the greatest actors, by Franck Sinatra to Sean Connery, from Marcello Mastroianni to Humphrey Bogart, Gina Lollobrigida died at the venerable age of 95, according to information reported by the Italian press agency Ansa. Last September, she fell at her Roman home, breaking her femoral neck; which required hospitalization.

A true monument of the seventh art, Gina Lollobrigida was the daughter of a craftsman. She spent her childhood in a small Italian village, then began studying painting and sculpture. After a brief career as a model, she took part in several beauty contests and came third in the Miss Italy competition (her two rivals, Lucia Bose and Gianna Maria Canale, would also become actresses).

Titanus

Gina Lollobrigida in “Bread, Love and Fantasy”.

Italian cinema opened its arms to her and she shot a dozen films, cine-novels and filmed operas. The one we already nicknamed “Lollo” in homage to her generous curves became the little fiancée of the French playing with Gérard Philipe in Fanfan la Tulipe in 1951 then in Les Belles de nuit two years later.

An international success

His popularity increased as an international career held out to him: filmmakers were snatching him up, from John Huston with Louder than the Devil to Carol Reed with Trapeze or Jules Dassin with The Law. However, she did not forget Italian cinema, since she was La Belle Romaine for Luigi Zampa, and played four times for her compatriot Luigi Comencini (Pain, Amour et Fantaisie, Pain, Amour et Jalousie, Les Poupees, Les Aventures de Pinocchio).


Panitalia

In 1956, Gina is the unforgettable Esmeralda of Notre-Dame-de-Paris. She then appeared in many genres and for directors from different backgrounds: peplum with King Vidor (Solomon and the Queen of Sheba), war with John Sturges in La Preie des vultures, melodrama with Robert Mulligan in Le rendez-vous of September, and comedy with Frank Tashlin in La Marine en folie, where she makes fun of her image as a volcanic brunette…

A new life

She put her film career on hold in the 1970s, to devote herself successfully to photography, posing for models as famous as Paul Newman, Salvador Dali and Fidel Castro.

Gina is involved in the world of fashion and makeup. Then she appears on a scene where she was not expected: politics. Participating in the political and social life of her native Italy, she also took the time to play in Agnès Varda’s tribute film, The Hundred and One Nights, alongside another icon of Italian cinema, Marcello Mastroianni. The actor was already his partner in The Law, filmed some forty years earlier. In 1997, she played in her last fiction film, XXL, worn by Gérard Depardieu and Michel Boujenah.

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