German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag G.m.b.H., Minden (Westf.), no. F 18. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Notre-Dame de Paris/The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Jean Delannoy, 1956).
I.F.P.A. postcard, no. 15.
German postcard by Terra-Color, no. F 130. Photo: Morris, Rome.
German postcard by Ufa, no. CK 67. Photo: Raymond Vainquel. Publicity still for Trapeze (Carol Reed, 1956).
French postcard by E.D.U.G., no. 10. Photo: publicity still for Notre-Dame de Paris/The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Jean Delannoy, 1956).
Italian postcard by Rotalfoto in the Artisti di Sempre series, no. 294.
French postcard in the collection Cinéma Couleur by Editions La Malibran, Nancy, no. MC 37, 1990. Photo: Gina Lollobrigida in Le grand jeu/Card of Fate (Robert Siodmak, 1954).
The most beautiful toddler in Italy
Luigina Lollobrigida was born in the picturesque Italian mountain village of Subiaco in 1927, as one of four daughters of a furniture manufacturer. At the age of 3, Luigina was already selected as the most beautiful toddler in Italy and in her youth, she started to model.
She became an art student and made her film debut in an uncredited bit role in the adventure film Aquila nera/The Black Eagle Returns (Riccardo Freda, 1946) starring Rossano Brazzi. In 1947, she entered the Miss Italia pageant and came in third. The contest was won by Lucia Bosé and the second was Gianna Maria Canale. Both also became film actresses, though not nearly as successful as Lollobrigida.
Gina Lollobrigida was discovered by director Mario Costa who gave her a small part as a girlfriend of Adina (Nelly Corradi) in the opera adaptation L’elisir d’amore/Elixir of Love (Mario Costa, 1946). Lollobrigida started to model as Diana Loris for the Fotoromanzi, the popular Italian photo novel.
She got her first bigger film part in another opera film, Pagliacci/Love of a Clown - Pagliacci (Mario Costa, 1948), co-starring with one of the greatest Italian baritones, Tito Gobbi. The film, based on Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci recounts the tragedy of Canio (Afro Poli), the lead clown (or pagliaccio in Italian) in a Commedia dell'arte troupe, his wife Nedda (Lollobrigida), and her lover, Silvio (Gobbi).
When Nedda spurns the advances of Tonio (also Gobbi), another player in the troupe, he tells Canio about Nedda's betrayal. In a jealous rage, Canio murders both Nedda and Silvio. Lollobrigida's singing in this film was dubbed.
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 29 F. Offered by Les Carbones Korès Carboplane. Photo: Sam Lévin. Publicity still for Fanfan la Tulipe/Fan-Fan the Tulip (Christian Jacque, 1952).
French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 325. Photo: Sam Lévin. Publicity still for Les belles de nuit/Beauties of the Night (René Clair, 1952).
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. 1748. Photo: publicity still for Pane, amore e fantasia/Bread, Love and Dreams (Luigi Comencini, 1953).
Yugoslavian postcard by NPO, no. G5. Photo: publicity still for Pane, amore e fantasia/Bread, Love and Dreams (Luigi Comencini, 1953).
German postcard by Netter's Starverlag, Berlin. The photo refers to the film Notre-Dame de Paris/The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Jean Delannoy, 1956).
Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 187. Photo: Ponti / De Laurentiis. Publicity still for La provinciale/The Wayward Wife (Mario Soldati, 1953).
French postcard.
Miss Italia
Gina Lollobtrigida's first major success as a leading lady was in Miss Italia/My Beautiful Daughter (Duilio Coletti, 1950), a backstage drama set at a beauty contest. It was followed by the delightful comedy Vita da cani/A Dog's Life (Mario Monicelli, Steno, 1950) with Aldo Fabrizi, and the award-winning crime drama La città si difende/Four Ways Out (Pietro Germi, 1951), based on a script by Federico Fellini.
In France, she co-starred with Gérard Philipe in the hugely entertaining melange of swash-buckling adventure, comedy and romance Fanfan la Tulipe/Fan-Fan the Tulip (Christian Jacque, 1952) and in Les Belles de Nuit/Beauties of the Night (René Clair, 1952). James Travers at Films de France: "As French matinee idol Gérard Philipe is propelled through history and cardboard Freudian dreamscapes, into the arms of such beauties as Martine Carol and Gina Lollobrigida, (director René) Clair appears to have all but lost his tenuous grip on reality (the scene with the dinosaur confirms it) - but who cares? This is a film which, like Clair’s earlier comic masterpieces, is intended to distract and entertain, and it does that marvellously and unashamedly."
Gina Lollobrigida had her definitive breakthrough with the huge global hit Pane, amore e fantasia/Bread, Love and Dreams (Luigi Comencini, 1953), in which she starred with Vittorio De Sica. This romantic comedy was nominated in the U.S. for an Oscar, and Lollobrigida herself received in Great Britain a nomination at BAFTA. The success led to three sequels, including Pane, amore e gelosia/Bread, Love and Jealousy (Luigi Comencini, 1954).
Her first American film was Beat the Devil (John Huston, 1953). She was at her best as Humphrey Bogart's wife in this odd but endearing Film Noir comedy. Next, she earned her nickname ‘The World's Most Beautiful Woman’ for her signature film La donna più bella del mondo (Robert Z. Leonard, 1956), in which she played the legendary actress Lina Cavalieri.
For her role in this film, she received the first David di Donatello for Best Actress. Her earthy looks and short 'tossed salad' hairdo were quite influential, and in fact, there's a type of curly lettuce named 'Lollo' in honour of her cute hairdo. (In France 'Lollo's' were a nickname for breasts).
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 29 F. Offered by Les Carbones Korès Carboplane. Photo: Sam Lévin.
French postcard by Editions du Globe (E.D.U.G.), Paris, no. 360. Photo: Sam Lévin.
Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg, no. 354. Photo: Herbert Fried / Ufa. Publicity still for Notre-Dame de Paris/The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Jean Delannoy, 1956).
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2/72. Photo: publicity still for Notre-Dame de Paris/The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Jean Delannoy, 1956).
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 56/72. Photo: publicity still for Notre-Dame de Paris/The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Jean Delannoy, 1956).
French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 230. Photo: Cinedis.
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 3210. Photo: N.V. Standaardfilms.
Esmeralda
Gina Lollobrigida made another Hollywood appearance in the circus melodrama Trapeze (Carol Reed, 1956) between Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis. Next, she starred as Esmeralda in Notre Dame de Paris/The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Jean Delannoy, 1956) opposite Anthony Quinn as Quasimodo. In 1959 she lured Yul Brynner in the Biblical epic Solomon and Sheba (King Vidor, 1959).
One of her most popular Hollywood films was Come September (Robert Mulligan, 1961), in which she played the never-contented mistress of Rock Hudson. For this lightweight comedy, she won the Golden Globe as 'World Film Favorite'. She co-starred again with Hudson in Strange Bedfellows (Melvin Frank, 1965) and in 1968 she starred in the enjoyable screwball comedy Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell (Melvin Frank, 1968), for which she was again nominated for a Golden Globe and won a David di Donatello award, the Italian Oscar.
On TV, Gina Lollobrigida was seen in the mini-series Le Avventure di Pinocchio/The Adventures of Pinocchio (Luigi Comencini, 1972). She retired from acting in the mid-1970s but has occasionally returned for the camera, including in a regular role in the American soap opera Falcon Crest (1984). She has used her celebrity to sell cosmetics, published two books of her photography, Italia (My Italy, 1973) and Wonder of Innocence (1994), and created sculptures.
In the mid-1970s she wrote, directed and produced Ritratto di Fidel/Portrait of Fidel, a very personal 50-minute documentary about Fidel Castro that included a rare interview with the Cuban dictator, fuelling persistent rumours that a romance was sparked. In 1986, she was the head of the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival, and in 1999 she ran for a seat in the European Union Parliament, stressing humanitarian issues, but she lost the election. Gina Lollobrigida made her last film appearance in XXXL (Ariel Zeitoun, 1997) with Gérard Depardieu.
Gina Lollobrigida was married once, to Slovenian physician Milko Skofic, in 1949. Skofic gave up his practice to become her manager. They had one child, Milko Skofic, Jr., born in 1957, and the couple divorced in 1971. In 1993 her grandson Dimitri was born. Lollobrigida lived since 1949 at her home ranch and gardens in Sicily. The property contains her personal museum. In addition, she regularly stayed at her house on Via Appia Antica in Rome and at a villa in Monte Carlo. In 2013, Lollobrigida sold her jewellery collection through Sotheby's. She donated nearly $5 million to benefit stem cell therapy.
Next to her Golden Globe, Lollobrigida won 6 David di Donatello, 2 Nastro d'Argento, and 6 Bambi Awards. In 1985 she was nominated as an Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture, Jack Lang for her achievements in sculpture and in photography. In 1992 she was awarded the Légion d'Honneur by president François Mitterrand.
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 839. Photo: Minerva Film. Gina Lollobrigida and Raymond Pellegrin in La romana/ Woman of Rome (Luigi Zampa, 1954).
Spanish postcard by Ed. Raker, Barcelona. Gina Lollobrigida in Solomon and Sheba (King Vidor, 1959).
German postcard by Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft, Berlin-Tempelhof (Ufa), no. CK-157. Retail price: 30 Pfg. Photo: Camerapress.
German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/135. Photo: Universal / Ufa.
German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/129. Photo: Terb Agency / Ufa. Publicity still for Come September (Robert Mulligan, 1961) with Rock Hudson.
Italian postcard by Edizioni Panini, Modena (EPM). Photo: Sampaolofilm / Cinepat. Publicity still for Le avventure di Pinocchio/The Adventures of Pinocchio (Luigi Comencini, 1972) with Andrea Balestri. Caption: The Fairy and the boy Pinocchio.
German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/56. Photo: Farabola.
Sources: James Travers (Film de France), NNDB, Andrea LeVasseur (AllMovie), kd haisch (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
lollobrigida is unreapitable,a real artist.No poor loren can stand near by her.Only in Italy some people think loren is every thing.
ReplyDeletejust so,in Italy some people think and just say,specialy in tv,that loren is the best woman Italy have ever had.In Italy there are stupid persons and a very ignorant and not so nice lady,mrs.sofia loren.Ah I forget to say that the best is ,of course ,la lollo.
ReplyDeletewith marilyn and brigitte the best one.
ReplyDeletenot one of the most popular star,but simply the most popular star in europe with,behind,bardot and loren.She has been the same that in usa was marilyn.
ReplyDeletelollobrigida is italy in the world.loren is just a bluff,even if in italy they say she is bravissima...bellissima...etc..etc...She leaves some De Sica's films and nothing else.Not so much,dear italian stupid critics and false intellecyuals.
ReplyDelete