Sophia Loren

Sophia Loren aka Sofia Villani Scicolone Ponti

Born September 20, 1934 in Rome, Italy.

Sophia Loren is an international star in the true sense, as her film career is a combination of American films and international films, and she can be categorized as an Italian film star, but just as easily labeled an American one, too, as her film list of Hollywood movies is very long and has her starring and co-starring with most of Hollywood's upper-tier of male stars: Clark Gable, John Wayne, Charlton Heston, Cary Grant, Gregory Peck, etc.

Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1962 for her performance as Cesira in director Vittorio De Sica's Two Women.

She has been the author of a number of books, has owned numerous businesses utilizing her fame to sell perfume, eye wear, and more.

Loren in Hollywood

One of the interesting aspects of Loren's career is how far she was able to maneuver beyond exploitation roles in a time when film-making could be relentless in marketing the famous physiques of male and female actors. In the great "arms race" of the 1950s between actresses like Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Brigitte Bardot, Elizabeth Taylor, Gina Lollobrigida, Mamie Van Doren and Jane Russell, Sophia Loren was a strong competitor. Of this group, only Elizabeth Taylor and Loren transcended into a situation where they also had a series of critically accepted dramatic roles in multiple films that did not require the razzmatazz of their measurements on the screen, just their famous names. These two could turn on-and-off the focus which best advanced their careers.

Early on, one of the ways American film projects looked to "soften" Loren's roles and image type was to integrate her via child co-stars so that a maternal aura was put around her characters but without making her either a widow, divorcee, or, worst of all in terms of Hollywood marketing, married.

For example, Clark Gable and Loren teamed up for It Started in Naples, a romantic comedy from Paramount in 1960. It borrows the idea from the earlier Boy on a Dolphin of having Loren appear on screen with some youthful baggage in tow. In Dolphin the kid side-kick was the little brother Niko, in Naples, it is the nephew Nando. In both films, Loren is a fascinating but slightly out of control native who has their life straightened out by a visiting American man. In a way, this theme is turned on its head for the Loren/Cary Grant Houseboat from 1958, in which Grant's harassed widower has 3 kids on his hands, and it's visiting Italian Loren who straightens all of them out. All three films share life near (or on) water, kids, and cinematography that is constantly trying to drink in Sophia Loren's looks.

Review: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow

Sophia Loren Memoir 2014

Sophia Loren uses the 352 pages of this book to chronicle her film career and to narrate the life of her family, particularly her mother who transfers her love for film (and ambition for acting) to her, and of Loren's long association with manager and husband Carlo Ponti.

Included in the tale is the impoverished desperation of her childhood and the pain of being an ignored daughter of a father who rarely enters the life of her and her sister, and when he does it often creates brutal emotional pain. She recounts her career rise through Italian photo-comic books, beauty pageants, and finally a long film career.

She talks about film productions and other Hollywood personalities like John Wayne, Cary Grant, Peter Sellers, among many others, and also discusses Italian movie production in general.

Read the review of Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

Sophia Loren Films

1957 – Boy on A Dolphin – Sophia Loren and Alan Ladd

1957 – Legend of the Lost – Sophia Loren and John Wayne

1961 – El Cid – Sophia Loren and Charlton Heston

1970 – The Priest's Wife – Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni

Cary Grant and Sophia Loren

Amazon

Sophia Loren: A Life in Pictures - 192 Pages Amazon.com

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Original Page Feb, 2014 | Updated September 20, 2023