Strong of bone, a rare breed, with eternal beauty, who made the whole world talk and men feel a squirm at the sight of her, even as a beleaguered poor mother or a slave girl in the south of Italy. Sophia Loren, a symbol of eternal charm, will give us, with her undeniable and original talent, for 70 years, since she first stepped her statuesque foot on the movie set, immortal performances and most importantly she will give us creative inspiration if display.

Sophia Lorenthe girl from Rome, who grew up, with her beloved grandmother, in poverty and war in her beloved Naples, under adverse conditions, enters the last turn of her life, reaching her 90 years (September 20, 1934) , a great celebration for cinema, Italy and of course the incurable lovers of the beautiful. This face, sculpted by Michelangelo, with the green eyes that encompass the entire Mediterranean and that can only be compared to those of wild cats, the fleshy lips, ready to suffocate you with lust, the exquisite proportions and of course the unruly curves her. And together with these small imperfections, which raise even more its charm, like the last touches of Leonardo da Vinci.

Despite her impressive presentation and incredible sex appeal, which, as she said, she owes to the spaghetti, with the delicious sauces, Lauren conquered the cinema, with her acting talent, but also her shrewdness and insight, her endless perseverance her, her will to fight the manner, to always add something new to her interpretations, to let her eroticism free, to swing even in the most opposite roles. From the late 1950s onwards, when Loren was now the world’s most popular actress, winning the 1960 Academy Award for Best Actress, the first to go to a non-English-speaking performance, in his acclaimed drama Dishonored Vittorio de Sica, will also enter the salons of Hollywood. She will work with stars of the first magnitude, from Cary Grant, Marlon Brando and John Wayne, to Clark Gable, Richard Burton and Charlton Easton, but American puritanism and Hollywood stereotypes will put a “cutter” in her eroticism, in the cataclysmic passion that was gushing. But luckily for Loren, there will always be Italian and European cinema, giving her the chance to make it big.

The fictional life and performances of Sophia Loren are more or less known to all the older ones, while even the younger ones when they see her in some old movie, discover in awe what a love symbol, a passionate woman, a beauty really means. Even in 2007, when she was photographed, at the age of 73, for the famous Pirelli calendar, she caused a stir, proving that love passion can never be extinguished. In 1964, her cash reached an unprecedented 1,000,000 dollars for the time, to play in “The Fall of the Roman Empire”, while in 1991, when she received the honorary Oscar, for her contribution to the cinema, she was rightly called “one of the treasures of world cinema”.

The lanzerissa of Naples

On September 20, 1934, at the Queen Margarita Clinic in Rome, God performed one of his miracles, proving that in addition to being omniscient, he is also a miracle worker. Sofia Vilani Siccolone is born. Her mother is the Neapolitan Romilda Villani and her father, ignorant of the Divine gift, Riccardo Cicclone, who abandoned them, while they had also had a second daughter, Maria. Her mother packed up and returned to her hometown of Pozzoli, a beautiful coastal area of ​​Naples, amid the devastation of World War II.

Her childhood and teenage years will be difficult and poor and Sofia will always be proud of them. She will cope with the help of her fellow villagers and especially her namesake grandmother. In fact, a bomb from the allied forces will hit the port in Pozzoli, injuring her in the jaw. The vicissitudes of the time will force her to do various jobs – even a lancerista, while she will naturally look to take advantage of her still unripe beauty. So at the age of 14 she will participate in the Miss Italy beauty pageant, which may have lost the first place, but caught the attention of an experienced eye who was among the judges, the famous film producer, Carlo Ponti.

De Sica and the Siege

He starts acting lessons and starts acting in some movies as an extra. Nothing was easy for Sofia. In 1953 Carlo Ponti will advise her to change her name to the sonorous Loren. Her first leading role that attracted attention, for the first time, was in 1953 in the film “Aida”, while the following year with De Sica’s “Erotic Siege” and next to the insurmountable comedian Toto, her star rose.

The flame with Ponti

Her acquaintance with Ponti developed into a love flame that almost burned them. This is because in 1957 Ponti will have his lawyers obtain a divorce in Mexico from his then wife Juliana and a marriage certificate with Sofia, while at that time in Italy divorce was not recognized. Thus, their adventure turned into a thriller. With a dribble by Ponti (to move to Paris, where divorces were allowed) he managed to free himself from the shackles of his first marriage. Not easily though. After 8 years and after enormous suffering, scandalous headlines, screams and whispers, even legal consequences with the accusation of bigamy, the longed for divorce will come and in 1966 they will marry in a suburb of Paris, and have two sons.

The Oscar

Since the end of the 50s, the name of Sophia Loren has become the hottest thing in world cinema. It’s everywhere. In Hollywood, in Italy, in France. Everyone wants to star her, all the stars want to play with her. But the acclaim will come in 1960 with the sensational drama “The Dishonored” by Vittorio de Sica, with which Sofia will win the Oscar for Best Actress, as well as the acting awards at the leading European festivals, in Cannes, Venice and Berlin.

From Neapolitan mother to princess

Sophia Loren played everything in her long career. From the princess, the prostitute, the saint, to the Neapolitan woman with eight children, the tired midwife and the slave girl. But always keeping her incomparable charm, her wandering gaze, causing the lust of millions of people. Who can forget her attraction to the gay professor (Marcello Mastroianni) in Ettore Scola’s wonderful anti-fascist drama A Special Day, in which she plays a jaded middle-aged fascist’s wife? Who could not go crazy with her performance and her divine appearance in the dramatic comedy “Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow” playing three characters, those of the napoletana woman with many children, the rich Milanese woman who seeks love thrills and the kind-hearted Roman prostitute, who transforms a daddy to a man?

In the shadow of Sophia

She also acted in dozens of films in Hollywood, alongside almost all the big stars of her time, but her best films were the Italian ones, mainly alongside Marcello Mastroianni and directed by Vittorio de Sica, which highlighted her innate talent. When she played in Italy, in her natural space, she transformed into a priestess of cinema, becoming one with all that we admired in her country. Lauren, after all, had to compete with the legendary figures of Anna Magiani, Silvana Magano, but also the beautiful Gina Lollombridgeta, Claudia Cardinale, Monica Vitti, Virna Lizi and many other Italian actresses, who will disturb us forever. But Sophia will be the one and only. Even against the other legendary love symbols, Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot, Sophia is outclassed.

Hydra, the child and the dolphin

Sophia Loren, who was loved like no other star in Greece, will return her success to us in Greece, starring in 1957 in the first Hollywood film shot in our country and in the picturesque Hydra, putting Greece on the world tourism map. He will star in the romantic comedy “The Child and the Dolphin”, a film by Negulesco, seen only for Sophia and the footage from the Hydra. In an interview with the New York Times, she said that “I will never forget Hydra, one of the most beautiful places in the world.”

The original and the substitute

However, Sophia Loren will shoot many great films, in addition to her huge and well-known successes, with which she highlights her talent and her decisive contribution to world cinema. Most of the Italian ones will contribute to its legend, but also to the fascination that Italy and its cinema once caused. Even with a painless romantic comedy, one can easily distinguish the abyss that separates that era from today, the directorial and script misery, the faceless and inept female protagonists. The example of Monica Bellucci typical. She became a star just as a stand-in for Lauren.

Today, Sophia Loren lives quietly in Geneva, cooking her favorite spaghetti, surrounded by her children and grandchildren, good friends and old colleagues, from those who remain. To remember the glorious times, of a great cinema, of great creators, of the people who built the legend of Italian cinema. And above all, Vittorio de Sica and Marcello Mastroianni.