Sophia Loren
Selected credits include Lina Wertmüller's Francesca e Nunziata and Michelangelo Antonioni's Destination Verna, five decades after she began her career in 1950s as an extra in Mervyn LeRoy's Quo Vadis. She subsequently starred in Aida (her voice was dubbed with that of operatic legend Renata Tebaldi's), followed by Vittorio de Sica's The Gold of Naples. In 1954, de Sica teamed Loren with Marcello Mastroianni in Too Bad She's Bad, and the three were immediately reunited in 1955 for The Miller's Wife. She went on to star opposite Marcello Mastroianni in 14 films in such hits as Marriage Italian DStyle which earned her a 1965 Oscar nomination for Best Actress; Sunflower, Lucky to be a Woman, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow; The Priest's Wife; A Special Day and Robert Altman's Ready to Wear, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination as Best Supporting Actress.
Her first English-speaking role was in The Pride and the Passion, opposite Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra (1957), which opened the door to Hollywood. As she perfected her fluency in English, Loren moved with ease between Italian and English-speaking roles, starring in a string of successful films: Houseboat with Grant; The Key with Willliam Holden and Trevor Howard; It Started in Naples with Clark Gable and de Sica; The Millionaress with Peter Sellars; The Black Orchid and Heller in Pink Tights with Anthony Quinn, earning honors in Cannes, New York and London along the way. In 1969, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association named her the world's most popular star.
Some of Loren's other films include: El Cid, The Fall of the Roman Empire, Boy on a Dolphin, The Condemned of Altona, Judith, Arabesque, Charlie Chaplin's Countess from Hong Kong, Desire Under the Elms, Man of La Mancha, The Voyage, The Cassandra Crossing, and Saturday, Sunday and Monday. More recently she starred in Grumpier Old Men, Messages and Soleil. She has written four books including her autobiography Living and Loving (1979) and the best-seller, Sophia Loren's Recipes & Memories (1998). Loren is married to Carlo Ponti. They have two sons, Carlo and Edoardo.
Sophia Loren Facts
| Birth Name | Sofia Villani Scicolone |
| Occupation | Musician, Actress, Model |
| Birthday | September 20, 1934 (75) |
| Sign | Virgo |
| Birthplace | Rome, Italy |
| Height | 5' 8½" (1m74) |
| Awards | 1995 Golden Globe Awards: Cecil B. DeMille Award |
| 1991 Academy Awards: Honorary Award | |
| 1962 Academy Awards: Best Actress (for Two Women) |

