The secret of the popularity of the most seductive actress of the 20th century: Sophia Loren

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The most beautiful Italian and one of the most seductive actresses of all time is Sophia Loren. The woman about whom the archbishop of Genoa once joked: "The Vatican, of course, is against cloning people, but for Sophie's sake I would make an exception!" The great Fellini himself compared Lauren with the Mona Lisa. What made this talented actress so beautiful, mysterious and desirable? Let's try to reveal the main secret of Sophia Loren's crazy attractiveness.

The future star was born in Rome on September 20, 1934. Her mother was aspiring actress Romilda Villani. Romilda was obsessed with the desire to make a career in cinema and easily fell on the hook with an experienced man in amorous affairs. Producer Ricardo Shicolone easily charmed the ambitious provincial, promising her a career. But, as soon as Romilda became pregnant, he immediately left her, and the birth of his daughter Sophia forever put an end to Villani's film career. Ricardo Shicolone was an aristocrat from a noble family and he did not need a marriage of this kind. But Romilda was able to obtain official recognition of paternity from him. He gave Sophia his last name. He never took any more part in the lives of his daughters. He and Sophie only saw each other three times in their life. Sophia Loren jokingly said: "I have never had a real father, but I can call myself a viscountess and marquise!"

In the hope of still getting Ricardo as a husband, Romilda, three years later, became pregnant again by him. With the birth of her second daughter, Anna-Maria, all dreams went to waste. It turned out that Shikolone is already married. In Italy, divorce was then almost impossible, and even if Romilda's beloved wanted to marry her, he would not have been able to do this. He never recognized his second daughter. Romilda Villani returned to her native provincial town of Pozzuoli, in the Naples region. The parents adopted the prodigal daughter with their children. They lived very poorly. In a small house where Sophie and Anna-Maria didn't even have their own beds. They slept together on the floor, on an old mattress. They shared a bedroom with eight relatives. They ate from hand to mouth. Years later, the famous Sophia Loren will say that she did not fall asleep in the evening without holding a piece of bread in her hands. She could not sleep, not being sure that when she woke up she would have food. The war years were especially difficult. In addition to hunger and cold, Sophie's family experienced a terrible fear of death. Naples was heavily bombed. Whenever the bombing started, Romilda grabbed the girls and they hid in a dark basement. The actress admitted in one of her interviews that she is still afraid of the dark and cannot sleep without light. Young Sophia did not like school. Classmates, for her tall stature and thinness, nicknamed Sophie Zherdya. She considered herself a hopeless ugly woman. But her mother saw in her daughter something that neither those around her nor Sophie herself noticed - the emerging beauty and acting talent. Romilda sent photos of her daughter to all modeling agencies. Mother literally forced Sophie to take part in the local beauty pageant "Queen of the Sea". So, a 14-year-old girl got her ticket to a better life, being one of the top three winners. Having received a cash prize and a certificate, the mother and daughter went to Rome.

In the capital of Italy, Sofia Shikolone took part in all kinds of castings. In 1950, she received the Miss Elegance title at the Miss Italy beauty pageant, which the jury invented especially for her. They were completely fascinated by this girl, dressed in a dress of pink tulle curtains and shoes dyed with white. Despite this, she was great!

She was invited to the cinema. She was an extra, starred in a semi-nude form for erotic pictures, worked as a model. In 1952, at the Miss Rome pageant, something happened that Sophie considers her second birth - she met Carlo Ponti.

She was 16 and he was 38 years old. This did not prevent them from starting a romance three years later, which later became a half-century marriage. But in the beginning, things were not so rosy. Sophie's mother persuaded her to give up this relationship, she was very much afraid that her daughter would repeat her fate.

Carlo was married, and divorce in Italy, as we have already noted, was virtually impossible. To get married, the couple went through a lot of not entirely legal manipulations. Carlo "divorced" in Mexico and secretly married Sophie there. But when this became known, the young were excommunicated from the church, Holy Communion, and the public anathematized. Sophie sobbed throughout her honeymoon.

A way out was found by the wife of Carlo Ponti, who was a lawyer. The three of them went to France, took French citizenship there. According to local laws, Carlo quietly divorced and he and Sophie remarried. Sophie Lauren called Carlo Ponti not only her husband, she considered him her father, in some way. It was thanks to him that she became a world star. He came up with the stage name Lauren. In everything, Sophie listened to him, except for one. She categorically refused to change her appearance with the help of plastic surgery. And then she was right: her uniqueness, the uniqueness of her appearance, combined with talent, fantastic hard work and perseverance - made her who she is.

Carlo Ponti hired the best etiquette and stage speech teachers for Sophia Loren. Eminent makeup artists taught the girl the intricacies of makeup. The dance teachers perfected her famous gait, with seductively swaying hips. Carlo, despite his feelings for Sophie, was quite strict in everything related to work. He even forced the girl to read classical literature so that she could learn the basics of dramatic art. The film producer insisted that Sophie learn first English and then French. Italian cinema was not supposed to be her ceiling. Sophia Loren was obliged to conquer the world! Hollywood learned about the actress from the film "The Gold of Naples", which was released in screens in 1954. Three years later, Lauren was already filming on the same set with such stars as Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra. Hollywood lay at her feet. World fame and many fans around the world did not bring the star as satisfying as she would like. She dreamed of children. The actress was treated for infertility for a long time, experienced several miscarriages and, finally, gave birth to her long-awaited first child. For the sake of his birth, she practically did not get out of bed for 9 months. Doctors forbade her to watch TV or listen to the radio. Sophie even walked around the house with earplugs so that some loud sound would not inadvertently scare her.

Four years later, another son of the couple was born. Sophie was finally, definitely happy. He and Carlo were separated by his death in 2007. Lauren once said that their marriage is a gift from God, which only a few are honored in this life.

Sophia Loren has starred in more than a hundred films to date. She raised two beautiful and worthy sons, who were always in the first place for her. She is the recipient of many prestigious awards in the field of cinematography and beyond. But she considers her family the biggest reward in this life. The actress calls the secret of her unfading beauty the serenity. The actress leads a modest lifestyle and rarely comes out. He reads a lot, making up for lost time. But she is still flawlessly elegant and enchantingly beautiful at 85. Sophia Loren argues that beauty is a sense of self, not a physical phenomenon, it is reflected in our eyes. Find out more about this iconic actress in another our article.