Gina Lollobrigida in 2022.Photo: Daniele Venturelli/Getty
Gina Lollobrigida, an award-winning Italian actress and one of the last stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood, has died.
The movie star, who worked with Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra, Errol Flynn and Rock Hudson in the 1950s and 1960s, died in Rome on Monday, her agentconfirmed to the Associated Press. In September, she had leg surgery after suffering a fall, the outlet said. She was 95.
“Farewell to a diva of the silver screen, protagonist of more than half a century of Italian cinema history,” Culture minister Gennaro Sangiulianowrote on Twitter. “Her charm will remain eternal.”
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Gina Lollobrigida in 1993.VINCENT AMALVY/AFP via Getty
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Born Luigia Lollobrigida on July 4, 1927, in Subiaco, Italy, Lollobrigida was the second of four daughters and began entering beauty contests in her youth, according to abiography on IMDb. In 1947, she placed third in the Miss Italy competition.
After reportedly rejecting a seven-year American movie contract from Howard Hughes, Lollobrigida appeared in several Italian films before her breakout English-language role in 1954’sBeat the Devil. In the John Huston-directed adventure-comedy, she played Maria Dannreuther, the wife of Humphrey Bogart’s character Billy Dannreuther.
Lollobrigida went on to land several starring sliver-screen roles, including three in 1956 alone: inBeautiful but Dangerous,TrapezeandThe Hunchback of Notre Dame. In the latter, she played Esmeralda oppositeAnthony Quinnas Quasimodo.
The actress would appear in more than two dozen films after that, with her final role in the 1997 French comedyXXL.
Gina Lollobrigida and Anthony Quinn inThe Hunchback of Notre Dame(1956).Allied Artists Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
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Lollobrigida released severalbooks featuring her photographsover the years, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2018.
Shortly after her 95th birthday this past summer, Lollobrigida also announced plans to run for the Senate in Italy’s elections the following month, as part of the Sovereign and Popular Italy (ISP) party.
While her bid was unsuccessful, she toldCorriere della Sera(via theLos Angeles Times) at the time, “I was just tired of hearing politicians arguing with each other without ever getting to the point.”
“I will fight for the people to decide, from health to justice. Italy is in bad shape, I want to do something good and positive,” Lollobrigida added.
source: people.com
