Gina Lollobrigida, known as the face of Italian film, dies - Los Angeles Times

There she is, waving from the backseat of a convertible of the eve of the Cannes Film Festival. And present she is again, stepping to the tarmac from a pitchy successful Paris, her scarf billowing perfectly successful the evening breeze. And again, cloaked successful emerald — formal and rings, some — successful her villa extracurricular Rome.

An actor, yes, but someway Gina Lollobrigida was ever much than conscionable that.

As Italy was pulling itself from the rubble of World War II and the grinding oppression of fascism, Lollobrigida emerged arsenic the look of la dolce vita, a siren beckoning Romans to erstwhile again indulge, observe and embrace.

“She represented thing iconic, acold much important than the existent endowment she often displayed successful her enactment arsenic an actress,” wrote the precocious writer Peter Bondanella successful his publication “Italian Cinema.”

Never retired of the headlines for agelong and with a beingness captured successful movie and an endless burst of personage photographs — squeezed up adjacent to Mick Jagger, Andy Warhol oregon David Bowie — Lollobrigida remained planted firmly successful nationalist presumption until her decease Monday.

Forever beloved successful her homeland, Lollobrigida died successful Rome, the Italian quality bureau Lapresse said, quoting Tuscany Gov. Eugenio Giani. Lollobrigida was an honorary national of a Tuscan town.

Her agent, Paola Comin, besides confirmed her decease but did not springiness details, the Associated Press reported.

Lollobrigida had country successful September for a breached thigh bony aft a fall. She returned location and said she had rapidly resumed walking.

Billy Wilder poses with Gina Lollobrigida backstage astatine the 1960 Academy Awards.

(AMPAS)

Lollobrigida’s emergence to stardom was rapid. She made movies successful Europe and the U.S., signed a semipermanent Hollywood declaration with Howard Hughes, starred alongside Yul Brynner, Frank Sinatra and Rock Hudson, kept institution with Salvador Dali, Fidel Castro and pioneering bosom surgeon Christiaan Barnard, and had a moving drama-fest with chap countrywoman Sophia Loren, a rivalry truthful fierce 1 wondered whether determination was capable oxygen successful Italy for the 2 of them.

“I americium fire. I’m a volcano. All the things I do, I bash with passion, occurrence and strength,” she said successful a 1994 interrogation with The Times. “That’s me.”

Born successful Subiaco, Italy, successful 1927 (though she sometimes claimed it was 1928), Lollobrigida was the 2nd of 4 daughters of Giovanni and Giuseppina Lollobrigida. When Allied aerial attacks destroyed their location successful the aboriginal days of World War II, the household fled to the municipality halfway of Rome.

Lollobrigida said her puerility memories were of hunger, hardship and upheaval.

“I cognize what it is to beryllium hungry. I cognize what it is to suffer your home. I retrieve erstwhile I had fear,” she told the Associated Press successful 1994. “I cognize what it is to turn up ne'er having a toy.”

She was studying sculpture astatine the Academy of Fine Arts successful Rome erstwhile a endowment cause spotted her and offered her a modeling and acting contract. When she was summoned to the Cinecitta studios, the hub of Italian cinema, she was offered 1,000 lire to sign.

“I told them my asking terms was 1 cardinal lire, reasoning that would enactment a halt to the full thing,” Lollobrigida told Vanity Fair successful 2015. “But they said yes!”

Lollobrigida was formed successful respective movies filmed successful Italy, including immoderate for which she received nary credit, earlier filming “Alina,” a melodrama successful which Lollobrigida uses her quality arsenic her main limb successful a unsafe smuggling operation. Among others, it caught the attraction of Hughes, the eccentric businessman, aviator and maverick movie tycoon.

Hughes rapidly invited Lollobrigida to Hollywood for a surface test. Though she asked for 2 level tickets truthful that her hubby could travel her, erstwhile her question packet arrived successful Rome, determination was lone 1 ticket.

Her husband, a doc named Milko Skofic, was little than pleased, but yet relented. “’He said ‘Go. I don’t privation you to accidental 1 time that I didn’t fto you person a career.’ So I went alone.”

Hughes parked the 24-year-old successful a suite astatine the Town House Hotel, past a luxurious ceramic and terra cotta retreat connected Wilshire Boulevard. She was handed scripts and had sessions with a dependable manager and an English instructor.

The 2 would spell retired to dinner, often astatine lesser diners truthful Hughes could debar the media helium truthful feared. Several times, she said, they ate successful the car.

Gina Lollobrigida signing autographs during the Cannes Film Festival successful 1961.

(Anonymous / AP)

“I knew precise small English then,” said told Vanity Fair. “Howard Hughes taught maine the curse words.”

After 2 and a fractional months of fending disconnected his advances and tolerating his erratic behavior, Lollobrigida said she signed a seven-year declaration conscionable truthful that she could spell home. The pact made it hard and hugely costly for immoderate American movie workplace — different than Hughes’ RKO Pictures — to prosecute Lollobrigida.

She ne'er made a azygous movie for Hughes and said she was contented to hold retired the declaration successful Europe, wherever determination was nary shortage of work.

Lollobrigida rapidly became a prima successful Europe, appearing successful astir a twelve movies earlier her relation successful “Bread, Love and Dreams” earned her a BAFTA grant for champion overseas actress. It is regarded by immoderate critics arsenic her best, astir earthy role.

“I succeeded successful spite of Howard Hughes,” she said successful a 1999 interrogation with the Age, an Australian newspaper.

In 1953, she returned to Hollywood and was paired with Humphrey Bogart successful “Beat the Devil,” an adventure/comedy directed by John Huston and written by Truman Capote connected a day-by-day ground during filming successful Italy. It marked Lollobrigida’s archetypal English-speaking movie and — arsenic would go her destiny — called for her to play the relation of a seductress. Though the movie helped present Lollobrigida to America, it was a box-office failure.

She fared amended 3 years aboriginal erstwhile she was formed arsenic the manipulative, scheming Lola successful “Trapeze,” the communicative of a crippled acrobat who tries to coax greatness from his brash, easy distracted protégé, roles filled by Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis. The film, changeable successful Paris, was a fiscal success.

Lollobrigida went connected to squad up with Yul Brynner successful “Solomon and Sheba,” a sexed-up Bible story, and with Rock Hudson successful “Come September,” a 1961 romanticist drama astir a joined antheral and his mistress who observe that the villa wherever they conscionable up each twelvemonth has been turned into a younker hostel. Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin are among the young tourists staying astatine the hostel. Despite a pancake-thin plot, the movie did well.

And truthful the ’60s went — romanticist drama aft romanticist drama matching Lollobrigida with stars similar Ernest Borgnine, Frank Sinatra, Sean Connery, Peter Lawford and Bob Hope. If the films were sometimes forgettable — and Lollobrigida aboriginal admitted galore were — they lone seemed to burnish her prima power. One mightiness not beryllium capable to sanction a azygous 1 of her films, but everyone knew La Lolla.

As the Hollywood movie offers slowed, Lollobrigida returned to Italian cinema, though she did prime up a relation successful 1984 connected the prime-time soap opera “Falcon Crest” and made an obligatory quality connected “The Love Boat.”

For each of her courtships and friendships and each the tabloid fodder that drifted successful her wake, the idiosyncratic who became known arsenic “the astir beauteous pistillate successful the world” was joined conscionable once, a national that ended successful 1971. Or truthful she rigorously maintained.

Gina Lollobrigida connected her 95th day past year.

(Daniele Venturelli / Getty Images)

But a antheral much than 3 decades her inferior said the 2 were softly joined successful Barcelona, Spain, successful 2010 and that a surrogate stood successful for Lollobrigida due to the fact that she was disquieted the ceremonial mightiness crook into a media spectacle.

The man, Javier Rigau y Rafols, claimed Lollobrigida signed the matrimony documents and that witnesses could verify the union. Photos of the 2 unneurotic had circulated for years.

She denied the marriage, however, and dismissed the licence and different paperwork arsenic a “horrific and vulgar fraud.” She filed suit successful Italy and Spain and vowed to motorboat “an planetary investigation.” The truth, wherever it mightiness beryllium found, was rapidly enveloped successful ineligible disputes that were ongoing astatine the clip of her death.

Men seemed to travel done Lollobrigida’s beingness similar a fast-moving stream. They pursued her, and — she insisted — she kept them each astatine bay.

“It would beryllium bully for maine arsenic a quality being to person a antheral that tin counsel me,” she told the New York Times successful 1995. “But I can’t person everything. I person galore interests, and possibly that’s enough.”

One of her interests was jewelry, which she collected arsenic if she were a depository curator. She toured diamond mines successful Africa and came location with a handful. She bought golden bracelets encrusted with a postulation of rubies, sapphires and emeralds. She went to India to store for necklaces. And she openly wondered whether her pursuit of specified opulence was the flip broadside to a deprived childhood. Eventually, she sold overmuch of her postulation and donated the proceeds to stem compartment research.

She dabbled successful sculpture and pursued a 2nd vocation arsenic a photographer, producing 5 books of photos. In 1973, she flew to Cuba — armed, she said, with 8 cameras, 200 rolls of movie and 10 pairs of bluish jeans — and landed an interrogation with Fidel Castro, which was published successful the Italian mag Gente and billed arsenic an exclusive.

“I was sunbathing nude successful the plot of the residence erstwhile a antheral appeared and announced the beingness of Fidel. He smiled astatine me, pretending not to announcement my scanty clothing,” she wrote. “He shook hands with me, welcoming maine to Cuba.”

In 1999, Lollobrigida ran for a spot connected the European Parliament, admitting she had small involvement successful authorities and lone mounted a run due to the fact that she’d been invited to bash so. She shrugged disconnected the full happening erstwhile voters formed their ballots for much superior candidates. In 2022, she announced that she would tally for a Senate seat, citing the governmental upheaval successful Italy, but she mislaid her bid for office.

During her career, she won much than a twelve awards. She was nominated 3 times for a Golden Globe, winning 1 successful 1961. In 1985 she was nominated to the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, usually reserved for French citizens who person made important contributions to the arts. French President Francois Mitterrand awarded her the Legion d’honneur for her accomplishments, and the National Italian American Foundation gave her a beingness accomplishment grant successful 2008.

When she turned 90, the metropolis of Rome turned retired to observe successful the historical Piazza di Spagna, and Lollobrigida unveiled a sculpture that had been commissioned successful her honor. For decades she had lived successful a villa adjacent the past Appian Way (not to notation a ranch successful Sicily and a location successful Monte Carlo) and those successful Rome saw her arsenic a lifelong ambassador for each that was bully and glorious successful Italy.

“It’s conscionable 30 positive 30 positive 30,” she told reporters erstwhile asked astir her longevity.

And then, La Lolla being La Lolla, she reignited her feud with Loren.

“I was ne'er looking for a rivalry with anyone,” she said. “But, again, I was ever No. 1.”

Lollobrigida is survived by a son, Milko Skofic Jr.