Sophia Lorenis one of the most famous actresses in film history.
Loren’s talent brought her fame and fortune, but her success was very much an uphill journey.
The family’s situation was particularly difficult during WWII.
Villani scrounged for food for Loren and her younger sister also fathered by Scicolone.
Loren was so thin that her classmates nicknamed her “Sofia Stuzzicadenti,” meaning toothpick.
Loren’s prize was $35, a ticket to Rome, and wallpaper.
Loren’s eyes, though, were set on a career in film.
“I’d wanted to be an actress since I was 10 years old,” she toldDolce.
Loren began to land small roles in films, beginning with an uncredited part in the 1950s filmTototarzan.
Hotchner (via theOrlando Sentinel).
Her new last name, Loren, was modeled after the name of Swedish actress Marta Toren.
Did Sophia Loren have an affair with Cary Grant?
Over the next few years, Sophia Loren continued to act.
She eventually chose Ponti, tellingExpressthat Grant “belonged to another world in America.”
She explained, “I felt that I would never fit in there.
I would never have a future there because of my nationality.”
Ponti took charge of Loren’s career, and Loren became his lover when she was 19.
While Loren loved Ponti, she admitted part of his appeal was as a father figure.
They were eventually legally married in France in 1966, staying together until Ponti’s death in 2007.
While Loren could have set herself up in Los Angeles, her heart was never in America.
Loren never felt at home in Hollywood.
She explained to theSarasota Herald-Tribunethat she thought that even if shedidwin, she would “faint and fall.”
So, she stayed at home in Rome instead of attending the ceremony.
Loren’s win was the first for a foreign language film and the first win for an Italian actress.
Loren recalled being so stunned that she dropped the phone and began to jump in excitement.
Loren toldAlain Elkann Interviewsthat she “always disagreed” with his assessment.
She did the same when pregnant with her second child, giving birth to Edoardo Ponti four years later.
After becoming a mother, Lorentook on fewer roles, although she continued to act steadily for decades.
Loren also successfully branded herself and her name.
Loren is alsoa successful author.
In 1998, she releasedSophia Loren’s Recipes and Memories.
Loren also authored a memoir,Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow: My Life.
“The book is a story of my life read as a story,” she said.
“Anyway, why should I give it all out?”
For Loren, the true secret of youth is internal.
Loren is also excited to see how much more diverse the industry has become.
As an Italian actress in Hollywood in the ’50s, Loren was a trailblazer.
“Cinema is a reflection of society, all voices need to be heard,” she said.
She’s only starred ina handful of rolesin the 21st century in films likeBetween Strangers,Too Much Romance… “Working with my son is one of the joys of my life,” Loren toldThe Irish Times.
Ponti was equally full of praise for his mother.
