Sophia Loren

The voluptuous Sophia Loren was among the most successful international stars of the postwar era -- not only did she rise to fame as a sex symbol, but she also won a measure of critical acclaim rarely afforded most of her foreign-born contemporaries. Born Sofia Scicolone in Rome on September 20, 1934, she and her single mother lived in abject poverty in the war-torn slums of Naples. At the age of 14 she began entering area beauty contests, later becoming a model and appearing in a number of uncredited bit parts in films.

After insignificant parts in "Variety Lights"(1950) and "Quo Vadis (1951), Sophia Loren met movie-director Carlo Ponti, some 22 years her senior, whom she later married. Perhaps he was father figure she never experienced as a child. In 1961 she received an Academy Award for "La Ciociara" ("Two Women"). This beautiful lady became one of the major sex symbol of the sixties, competing with Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot and Jane Fonda. She was a very close friend of Cary Grant. Gained wider respect with her later movies like "Cassandra Crossing" (1976), "Una Giornata Particolare" (1977) and "Pret a Porter" (1994). A lot of her movies were produced by her husband. In many of her movies she played together with Marcello Mastroianni.