Sophia Loren

Biography for Sophia Loren More at IMDbPro » ad feedback Date of Birth 20 September 1934, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Birth Name Sofia Villani Scicolone

Height 5' 8½" (1.74 m)

Mini Biography

Sophia Loren was born as Sofia Scicolone in a hospital charity ward in Rome, Italy, on September 20, 1934. Her father Riccardo was married to another woman and refused to marry her mother Romilda, despite the fact that she was the mother of his two children (Sophia and her younger sister Maria). Growing up in the slums of Pozzuoli during the second World War without any support from her father, she experienced much sadness in her childhood. Her life took an unexpected turn for the best when, at age 14, she entered into a beauty contest where she placed as one of the finalists. It was there that Sophia caught the attention of 37-year old film producer Carlo Ponti, whom she eventually married. She immediately enrolled in acting classes and was soon playing bit parts in several films per year.

After starring in many Italian movies such as La favorita (1952) and Aida (1953), she embarked on a successful acting career in the United States, starting with her debut in The Pride and the Passion (1957) with Cary Grant. They were paired together a second time in the family-friendly romantic comedy Houseboat (1958), before Sophia returned to Europe to star in La ciociara (1960) ("Two Women"). The film was a period piece about a woman living in war-torn Italy who is raped while trying to protect her young daughter. Originally cast as the daughter, Sophia fought against type and was re-cast as the mother, proving herself as a genuine actress and displaying her lack of vanity. This performance received international acclaim and was honored with an Academy Award for Best Actress.

In the sixties and seventies, Sophia was a bonafide international movie star, and she continued to make films in both the U.S. and Europe, starring opposite leading men such as Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, Gregory Peck, and Charlton Heston. Her notable American films included El Cid (1961), The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), Arabesque (1966), Man of La Mancha (1972), and The Cassandra Crossing (1976). She gained a wider respect with her Italian movies like Matrimonio all'italiana (1964) ("Marriage Italian-Style") and Una giornata particolare (1977) ("A Special Day"). Between 1964 and 1977 she received a second Oscar nomination and won five Golden Globe Awards.

From the eighties onward, Sophia's appearances on the big screen came few and far between. She preferred to spend most of her time with her husband, and raising sons Carlo Ponti Jr. and Edoardo Ponti. After starring in a biopic based off her autobiography titled Sophia Loren: Her Own Story (1980) (TV), she ventured into other areas of business and became the first actress to launch her own fragrance and design of eye wear. In 1982 she voluntarily spent nineteen days in jail for tax evasion.

In 1991 Sophia received an Honorary Academy Award for her contributions to world cinema, and was declared "one of the world's greatest treasures." Her return to the screen in Prêt-à-Porter (1994) ("Ready to Wear") was well-received, although the film as a whole was not. She followed this up with her biggest U.S. box-office hit in decades, the comedy Grumpier Old Men (1995) in which she played a sexy divorcée who seduces Walter Matthau. After this she took another break from acting, occasionally appearing in small productions abroad such as Between Strangers (2002) and Lives of the Saints (2004) (TV). Still beautiful at 72, she posed scantily-clad for the 2007 Pirelli Calendar. Sadly, that same year she lost her husband of 50 years, Carlo Ponti, who was said to have wooed her all those decades by giving her a single rose every day of their marriage. After far too much time away from film, she re-emerged in the musical Nine (2009) opposite Daniel Day-Lewis and Penélope Cruz.

These days Sophia divides her time between Switzerland and Los Angeles where she is close to her sons and their families. Despite her position as showbiz royalty, she relishes her discrete, low-profile lifestyle, claiming throughout the years "Showbusiness is what I do, not what I am." With a career that has already spanned six decades and been honored with 50 awards, Sophia Loren remains one of the most beloved and recognizable figures in the international film world.

Sophia Loren

The star of the party: Sophie Loren in Rome

When Sophia Loren was voted the world's most naturally beautiful woman last year, few begrudged her the honour.

Her timeless beauty has made her one of Hollywood's most glamorous stars for half a decade.

Now, however, the other candidates may be feeling a little less magnanimous.

It is often said that Miss Loren's 38C-24-38 measurements are unchanged from her youth.

But at a recent party to celebrate the 70th anniversary of a film studio in Rome, her famous bust appeared even

fuller than usual. Miss Loren, 72, has always denied going under the knife for a breast operation or any other cosmetic surgery.

In one interview the actress put her good looks down to "a love of life, spaghetti, and the odd bath in virgin olive oil".

In another she said: "My secret to looking young? I always have one more dream that has yet to come true. I am always looking forward to something."

Nobody for Miss Loren was available for comment.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-453126/Miss-Loren-looking-bigger-star-ever.html#ixzz0qIwDjDm1

IMDb Mini Biography By: jennyflex3@yahoo.com

Spouse Carlo Ponti 	(9 April 1966 - 10 January 2007) (his death) 2 children Carlo Ponti 	(17 September 1957 - 1962) (annulled)

Trivia

As a child, she also had the nickname, "Toothpick".

Filed a lawsuit against 76 websites for using "fraudulent photographs" of her on adult sites (17 September 1999).

Mother of Carlo Ponti Jr. (b. 1969) and Edoardo Ponti (b. 1973). Father is Carlo Ponti.

She may have been the voluptuous sex goddess as an adult, but until the age of 14, she was a skinny child and considered an ugly duckling, nicknamed 'The Stick'.

Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world (1991).

She had her marriage annulled to save Carlo Ponti from bigamy charges in Italy.

She served 18 days in prison in Italy in 1982 for tax evasion.

Born at 2:10pm-CET

Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#25) (1995).

Derives great pleasure from rolling her bare feet over a wooden rolling pin while watching TV.

She didn't get along with Marlon Brando during the shooting of A Countess from Hong Kong (1967), especially after the day they were doing a love scene and he commented, "Did you know you have hairs up your nostrils?".

She performed two duets with Peter Sellers which were major hits in the UK pop chart. 'Goodness Gracious Me' was released in 1960 and reached four and 'Bangers and Mash' made it to the top 20 in 1961.

Carlo Ponti obtained a Mexican divorce from his first wife and married Sophia by proxy, while she was in Hollywood, filming Houseboat (1958) - and dating co-star Cary Grant (17 September 1957).

While filming Boy on a Dolphin (1957), Sophia was required to walk in a trench in order to give audiences the impression that her diminutive co-star, Alan Ladd, was taller than she.

Her sister Maria Scicolone (born Anna Maria Scicolone) was married to dictator Benito Mussolini's son, Romano Mussolini.

Suffered from stage fright and, therefore, never appeared in a theatrical production.

Measurements: 38C-24-38 (self-described - 1955, and from Edith Head- 1957), 36D-24-37 3/4 (at age 50 - 1985) (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)

Had two miscarriages prior to her first-born son Carlo Ponti Jr. Because of these complications, she had to have complete bed rest throughout her first and second successful pregnancies.

Her mother won an all-Italy Greta Garbo lookalike contest run by MGM in 1932; but, being only 17 years old, her mother wouldn't allow her to pursue her Hollywood dream. Soon after, she became pregnant with Sofia.

Her adopted surname is a slight variation of "Toren" after the Swedish actress Märta Torén.

Her mother named her after her paternal grandmother, so when Sofia's father abandoned her, her maternal grandmother began calling her 'Lella'.

Won a Grammy award in 2004 for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for her work in "Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf/Beintus" along with former US President Bill Clinton and former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev.

Was named #21 Actress, The American Film Institutes 50 Greatest Screen Legends

Often called the "Italian Marilyn Monroe".

At times, male actors have been hesitant to appear with her, due to the fact that she stands nearly 5' 9" and wears towering heels and tall hair that can make her look over 6 feet tall.

Portrays herself and her mother in Sophia Loren: Her Own Story (1980) (TV)

Her "Best Actress" Academy Award was the first Oscar ever given for a performance in a "foreign-language" film.

Received an honorary citizenship in her hometown of Pozzuoli, Italy, on June 22, 2005 (she gave up her Italian citizenship and became a French citizen years ago because of legal and tax problems she and her husband incurred in Italy).

President of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1966.

Is portrayed by Sonia Aquino in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)

One of eight women, also among them Susan Sarandon and author Isabel Allende, carrying the Olympic flag at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games' opening ceremony in Turin (10 February 2006).

She and Marcello Mastroianni made 13 movies together: La bella mugnaia (1955), Fatto di sangue fra due uomini per causa di una vedova - si sospettano moventi politici (1978), La fortuna di essere donna (1956), Una giornata particolare (1977), I girasoli (1970), Ieri, oggi, domani (1963), Matrimonio all'italiana (1964), La moglie del prete (1971), Peccato che sia una canaglia (1954), Prêt-à-Porter (1994), La pupa del gangster (1975), Questi fantasmi (1967) and Tempi nostri (1954).

Cited as one of Drew Barrymore's early role models. Loren was a close friend of Drew's godmother, Anna Strasberg (wife of famed acting coach Lee Strasberg.) Anna would bring young Drew - from age 8 until she was 12-to Sophia's ranch outside Los Angeles where Drew would spend summers with Loren's two sons. (Jane magazine interview March 2007).

Being a fan of soccer club S.S.C. Napoli, she told the daily "Gazzetta dello Sport", when the team was just third in Serie B, that she would do a striptease if they achieved promotion to Serie A for the next season. When they managed to achieve promotion, she explained that she had made just a joke (June 2007).

Appeared in the 2007 edition of the famous Pirelli Calendar at the age of 72, making her the oldest model in its history.

Owns an apartment in the Trump World Tower in New York.

Mentioned in Bob Dylan's song "I Shall Be Free".

Hating beauty salons, she does her hair and nails herself.

Being one of the contestants at the 1950 Miss Italia competition, she earned the 2nd place and was awarded "Miss Eleganza".

The Best Actress Oscar she won for La ciociara (1960) (Two Women) was stolen by thieves from her Italian villa. AMPAS later replaced it for a small fee.

Is one of five performers to win an Oscar playing a character that spoke mostly in a foreign language. The other are Marion Cotillard, Robert De Niro, Roberto Benigni and Benicio Del Toro.

Sister of Maria Scicolone.

Godmother of Drew Barrymore.

Was amongst those considered for the role of Lara Antipova in Doctor Zhivago (1965), but the part ultimately went to Julie Christie.

Grandmother of Lucia Ponti (b. 2006) and Vittorio Ponti (b. 2007).

Mother-in-law of Sasha Alexander and Andrea Mezaros.

Personal Quotes

Sex appeal is 50% what you've got and 50% what people think you've got.

Mistakes are a part of the dues one pays for a full life.

The two big advantages I had at birth were to have been born wise and to have been born in poverty.

Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself. That is why some people with mediocre talent, but with great inner drive, go so much further than people with vastly superior talent.

[on adultery] It's a game I never play.

[explaining why she stopped doing nude scenes] When Sophia Loren is naked, that is a lot of nakedness.

Cooking is an act of love, a gift, a way of sharing with others the little secrets -- "piccoli segreti" -- that are simmering on the burners.

A woman's dress should be like a barbed wire fence: serving its purpose without obstructing the view.

A mother has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.

Many people think they want things, but they don't really have the strength, the discipline. They are weak. I believe that you get what you want if you want it badly enough.

[on Tyrone Power] Tyrone Power was my ideal man.

[on Marcello Mastroianni] Marcello is a man who thinks like a man, talks like a man -- is a man! He has so much magnetism, he brings out the very soul in a woman.

[on Gregory Peck] One of the most charming men I've ever met.

[on Cary Grant] I learned many things working with Cary Grant. He has such tremendous concentration. Many actors do not have the courage to stand still. Cary Grant knows how to concentrate, how to look directly at you, but always with great relaxation.

[on Gina Lollobrigida] Gina's personality is limited. She is good playing a peasant but is incapable of playing a lady. That said, I don't think she's positively mad about me. Because I'm bigger than she? It's possible. Who knows?

Salary Man of La Mancha (1972) 	$750,000 The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) 	$1,000,000 El Cid (1961) 	$750,000 The Pride and the Passion (1957) 	$200,000

Where Are They Now''' ''' (1998) Release of her cookbook, "Sophia Loren's Recipes and Memories".

(1972) Release of her cookbook, "In the Kitchen with Love".

Sophia Loren (born Sofia Villani Scicolone; September 20, 1934) is an Italian actress.

In 1962, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance. Loren has won 50 international awards, including two Oscars, five Golden Globe Awards, a Grammy Award and a BAFTA Award. Her other films include The Pride and the Passion (1957), Houseboat (1958), El Cid (1961), The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), Man of La Mancha (1972), The Cassandra Crossing (1976), Prêt-à-Porter (1994), Grumpier Old Men (1995), and Nine (2009).

In 1999, Sophia Loren was listed by the American Film Institute on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars as one of 25 American female screen legends of all time. In 2002, she was honored by the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) at its annual Anniversary Gala and was inducted into its Italian American Hall of Fame.

Early life
Loren was born Sofia Villani Scicolone at the Clinica Regina Margherita in Rome, the daughter of Romilda Villani (1914-1991) and Riccardo Scicolone, a construction engineer. Scicolone refused to marry Villani, leaving her, a piano teacher and aspiring actress, without support. However, Loren's parents did have another child together, her sister Maria, in 1937. Romilda, Loren and Maria lived in Pozzuoli, near Naples, to live with Loren's grandmother in order to survive.

During World War II, the harbor and munitions plant in Pozzuoli was a frequent bombing target of the allies. During one raid, as Loren ran to the shelter, she was struck by shrapnel and wounded in the chin. Subsequently, the family moved to Naples and begged distant relatives to take them in.

After the war, Loren and her family returned to Pozzuoli. Grandmother Luisa opened their living room as a pub, selling homemade cherry liquor. Villani played the piano, Maria sang and Loren waited tables and washed dishes. The place was very popular with the American GIs stationed nearby.

When she was 14 years old, Loren entered a beauty contest in Naples and, while not winning, was selected as one of the finalists. Later she enrolled in acting class and was selected as an extra in Mervyn LeRoy's 1951 film, Quo Vadis, thus launching her career as a motion picture actress. She eventually changed her name to Sophia Loren.

Beginnings
After being credited professionally as Sofia Lazzaro, she began using her current stage name in 1952's La Favorita. Her first starring role was in Aida (1953), for which she received critical acclaim. After playing the lead role in Two Nights with Cleopatra (1953), her breakthrough role was in The Gold of Naples (1954), directed by Vittorio De Sica. Too Bad She's Bad, also released in 1954, became the first of many films in which Loren co-starred with Marcello Mastroianni. Over the next three years she acted in many films such as Scandal in Sorrento (1955) and Lucky to Be a Woman (1956). In 1957, Loren's star had begun to rise in Hollywood, with the films Boy on a Dolphin (her U.S. film debut), Legend of the Lost with John Wayne, and The Pride and the Passion in which she starred opposite Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra.

International fame


Loren became an international film star with a five-picture contract with Paramount Pictures in 1958. Among her films at this time were Desire Under the Elms with Anthony Perkins, based upon the Eugene O'Neill play; Houseboat, a romantic comedy co-starring Cary Grant; and George Cukor's Heller in Pink Tights, in which she appeared as a blonde for the first time.

In 1961, she starred in Vittorio De Sica's Two Women, a stark, gritty story of a mother who is raped while trying to protect her daughter in war-torn Italy. Originally cast as the daughter, Loren fought against type and was re-cast as the mother (actress Eleonora Brown would portray the daughter). Loren's performance earned her many awards, including the Cannes Film Festival's best performance prize, and an Academy Award for Best Actress, the first major Academy Award for a non-English-language performance and to an Italian actress.

Loren is known for her sharp wit and insight. One of her most frequently-quoted sayings is her quip about her famously-voluptuous figure: "Everything you see, I owe to spaghetti." However, on the December 20, 2009, episode of CBS News Sunday Morning, Loren denied ever saying the line.

During the 1960s, Loren was one of the most popular actresses in the world, and she continued to make films in both the U.S. and Europe, acting with leading male stars. In 1964, her career reached its zenith when she received $1 million to act in The Fall of the Roman Empire. In 1965, she received a second Academy Award nomination for her performance in ''Marriage Italian-Style.

Among Loren's best-known films of this period are Samuel Bronston's epic production of El Cid (1961) with Charlton Heston, The Millionairess (1960) with Peter Sellers, It Started in Naples (1960) with Clark Gable, Vittorio De Sica's triptych Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (1963) with Marcello Mastroianni, Peter Ustinov's Lady L (1965) with Paul Newman, the 1966 classic Arabesque with Gregory Peck, and Charlie Chaplin's final film, A Countess from Hong Kong (1967) with Marlon Brando.

Loren received four Golden Globe Awards between 1964 and 1977 as "World Film Favorite - Female."

Mid-career and musical recordings
Once she became a mother, Loren worked less. Most of her acting during the next two decades was in Italian features. During the 1970s, she appeared in such films as Lady Liberty (1971) with Susan Sarandon and the musical Man of La Mancha (1972) with Peter O'Toole. She was paired with Richard Burton in the last De Sica-directed movie, The Voyage (1974), and a remake of the film Brief Encounter (1974). In 1976 she starred in The Cassandra Crossing, a disaster film featuring such veteran stars as Richard Harris, Martin Sheen, and Ava Gardner. She also co-starred with Marcello Mastroianni in Ettore Scola's A Special Day (1977), an Italian film for which she was nominated for several awards. Loren then starred in the Hollywood thrillers Brass Target (1978), set during World War II, and Firepower (1979).

In 1980, Loren portrayed herself, as well as her mother, in a made-for-television biopic adaptation of her autobiography titled Sophia Loren: Her Own Story. Actresses Ritza Brown and Chiara Ferrari played Loren at younger ages. In 1981, she became the first female celebrity to launch her own perfume, Sophia, and a brand of eyewear followed soon thereafter. She made headlines in 1982 when she served an 18-day prison sentence in Italy on tax evasion charges, a fact that didn't damage her career or popularity. She acted infrequently during the 1980s and turned down starring roles on the TV series Dynasty and Falcon Crest, preferring to devote more time to raising her sons. In 1988 she starred in the miniseries The Fortunate Pilgrim.

Loren has also recorded well over two dozen songs throughout her career, including a best-selling album of comedic songs with Peter Sellers; reportedly, she had to fend off his romantic advances. It was partly owing to Sellers' infatuation with Loren that he split with his first wife, Anne Howe. Loren has made it clear to numerous biographers that Sellers' affections were reciprocated only platonically. This collaboration was covered in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers where actress Sonia Aquino portrayed Loren. It is said that the song "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)" by Peter Sarstedt was inspired by Loren.

Later career
In 1991, Loren received the Academy Honorary Award for her contributions to world cinema and was declared "one of the world cinema's treasures." In 1995, she received the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award. She presented Federico Fellini with his Honorary Oscar. In 2009 Loren stated on Larry King Live that Fellini had planned to direct her in a film shortly before his death in 1993.

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Loren was selective about choosing her films and ventured into various areas of business, including cook books, eyewear, jewelry and perfume.

She received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in Robert Altman's film Ready to Wear (1994), co-starring Julia Roberts.

In the comedy Grumpier Old Men (1995), Loren played a femme fatale opposite Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, and Ann-Margret. The film was a box-office success and became Loren's biggest U.S hit in years.

In 2001, Loren received a Special Grand Prix of the Americas Award at the Montreal World Film Festival for her body of work. She filmed two projects in Canada during this time: the independent film Between Strangers (2002), directed by her son Edoardo and co-starring Mira Sorvino, and the television miniseries Lives of the Saints (2004).

In 2009, after five years off the set and fourteen years since she starred in a prominent US theatrical film, Loren starred in Rob Marshall's film version of Nine, based on the Broadway musical that tells the story of a director whose midlife crisis causes him to struggle to complete his latest film; he is forced to balance the influences of numerous formative women in his life, including his deceased mother. Loren was Marshall's first choice to portray the mother. The film also stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Kate Hudson, Marion Cotillard, and Nicole Kidman. As a part of the case she received her first nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award.

As of 2010 Loren is working in Italy on a two-part television biopic of her early life titled La Mia Casa È Piena di Specchi (translated My House Is Full of Mirrors), based on of the memoir written by her sister Maria.

Personal life
Loren's primary residence has been in Geneva, Switzerland since late 2006. She also owns homes in Los Angeles and New York.

In September 1999, Loren filed a lawsuit against 76 adult websites for posting altered nude photos of her on the internet.

Loren is a huge fan of the football club S.S.C. Napoli. In May 2007, when the team was third in Serie B, she told the Gazzetta dello Sport that she would do a striptease if the team won.

Loren posed scantily-clad at 72 for the 2007 Pirelli Calendar along with such actresses as Penelope Cruz and Hilary Swank.

Marriage
Loren first met Carlo Ponti in 1950 when he judged her at a beauty contest. She was 15 years old at the time, while he was 37. They married on September 17, 1957. However, Ponti had been married once before, and had never officially divorced his estranged wife Giuliana because Italy did not recognize divorce at that time, and as a result the marriage between Loren and Ponti was annulled in 1962. In 1965, Ponti and Giuliana obtained citizenship in France where they could be legally divorced, allowing him to marry Loren on April 9, 1966.

The couple had two sons: Carlo Ponti Jr. (born December 29, 1968) and Edoardo Ponti (born January 6, 1973).

Loren remained married to Carlo Ponti until his death on January 10, 2007 of pulmonary complications.

When asked in a November 2009 interview if she is ever likely to marry again, Loren replied "No, never again. It would be impossible to love anyone else."

Trivia

 * There is a street in the city of Etobicoke, Toronto, Ontario named for her.


 * Loren is referenced in the song "Italian Girls" by 80s duo Hall & Oates on the 1982 album H20. The lyrics in the bridge say "I see Sophia on the Silver Screen, there must be more like her in Rome."


 * In 2005, she received honorary citizenship in her hometown of Pozzuoli.


 * Her name is the title of a song by the famous rock band Rolling Stones.