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Sofia Loren
Sophia Loren is an Italian motion-picture actress, who progressed from international sex symbol to Academy Award-winning actress. Born in Rome in 1934, Loren was a beauty contest winner (Miss Elegance at Miss Italia 1950) and was discovered at age 15 by movie producer Carlo Ponti, who later became her husband.
She became a star by the age of 20, though
her early films were not notable. Her most noteworthy Hollywood
film was the Western Heller in Pink Tights (1960). Loren returned
to Italy and acted in the powerful wartime tale directed by
Vittorio De Sica, Two Women (1961), for which she earned
her first Academy Award.
De Sica also cast Loren in a series of earthy Italian comedies opposite Marcello Mastroianni, starting with Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (1963) and Marriage Italian Style (1964); the latter brought her another Oscar nomination.
Loren has moved freely between European and
Hollywood projects. Her films include Gold of Naples
(1954), Houseboat (1957), The Black Orchid
(1959), El Cid (1961), A Countess from Hong Kong
(1967), and A Special Day (1977). In the latter time she
have perform only for a few commedy: one of this is the film of
Robert Altman, "Prêt-à-Porter" (1994) and "Grumpier
Old Men" (1995) with Jack Lemmon e Walter Matthau
(1920-2000).
Loren received an honorary Academy Award in 1991.