Claudia Cardinale - 83: Why is one of the most beautiful actresses of the twentieth century. never married

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

April 15 marks 83 years of the legend of Italian cinema and one of the most beautiful women of the twentieth century. Claudia Cardinale. In the 1960-1970s. she was one of the most popular actresses, who starred not only at home, but also abroad, including in the USSR. She had millions of fans all over the world, the famous heartthrobs Alain Delon and Marcello Mastroianni sought her attention, but, unlike other actresses, she did not start romances on the set. There was only one true love in her life, but all previous relationships forever deprived her of the desire to get married.

Cruel youth lesson

Her real name is Claude Josephine Rose Cardinale, she was born in Tunisia to an Italian family. In her youth, she did not realize her own attractiveness and considered herself an ugly duckling - until, at the age of 17, she won the title of the most beautiful Italian woman in Tunisia. However, her beauty turned into disaster for her. Once she fell in love with a guy with whom she could not meet in any way. One Frenchman offered to help her in this matter. He said he would take her to a party where this young man was supposed to be. The naive girl went with him, and when he brought her to his house, it turned out that there was no one else but them. The man locked the door with a key and abused her. This tragedy taught her never to trust men.

The girl became pregnant, many advised her to get rid of the child, because she was not married and was just starting her career in the acting profession, but she decided to keep it. The producer forbade her to recognize her motherhood - this could turn into a huge scandal in society, and for many years the public believed that Patrick was her brother, not her son. Even the boy himself until 7 years old did not know who his mother was.

Love by contract

After winning a beauty contest, Claudia was invited to the Venice Film Festival, and there she met producer Franco Cristaldi. He invited her to come to Rome and sign a contract with his film company. So her film career began. It was Kristaldi who convinced her that she should hide her motherhood. He took care of not only her film career and reputation - the producer watched her every step and controlled everything. Of course, Cardinale achieved success in the profession largely thanks to Cristaldi, who turned her into a movie star, but at the same time, strict contract conditions obliged her to star in frankly unsuccessful walk-through films.

Soon their relationship became not only professional, but there was no romance in them. They never lived together, each had his own apartment, but the producer zealously made sure that there were no more men around the actress. When he could not do it himself, he sent his press agent with her on trips, who reported to him about every step of the actress. The same functions were assigned to the chauffeur and secretary.

The actress has repeatedly said that she has never been married in her life, although there was one official ceremony in her life. They signed with producer Franco Cristaldi in Atlanta, but Claudia called this wedding "pure props", because the marriage contracted in the USA was not legally valid in Italy.

In addition, in her opinion, Kristaldi thus simply wanted to bind her with another obligation - it was like another contract between a producer and an actress. According to her, "there was no question of love there." She said: "".

Temptations on the set

On the set, Claudia Cardinale met with the most beautiful actors of that time, but she did not have office romances. Marcello Mastroianni made a lot of efforts to seduce the actress, but she resisted his onslaught. According to her, he was "too chic" and well aware of his own attractiveness. Claudia was sure that if she gave up, she would become just another trophy on the list of his victories, and he would immediately lose interest in her. As a result, Mastroianni became her friend for many years.

In Luchino Visconti's The Leopard, Cardinale's partner was Alain Delon himself. The director wanted genuine passions in the frame, and he did everything to ensure that the actors and in life had an affair. In the kissing scenes, he made sure they were kissing for real, and filmed dozens of takes of this episode. Delon was a famous heartthrob and even made a bet with the director that he would be able to conquer the Cardinal. He lost this bet.

Long-awaited freedom

The actress learned about what true love is only at the age of 37, after meeting the director Pasquale Squitieri. Once he invited her to star in his film, and soon both realized that they were united not only by work. Only with him did Claudia finally find real freedom, while being in a relationship. For a long time, Kristaldi did not want to let her go, he even blackmailed her by committing suicide and once tried to open his veins, but the actress took it as another props. At that time, she had already made a decision to part with him and was not going to change him. Kristaldi then obstructed the career of both his ex-wife and her new chosen one, but all his efforts were in vain.

But strong feelings did not change her attitude towards marriage. At 41, Cardinale became a mother for the second time - they had a daughter with Pasquale. When she grew up and decided to settle in France, Claudia moved in after her, while Pasquale remained in Rome. For more than 20 years they lived in different countries, but at the same time they remained a family. On this occasion, the actress said: "".

Claudia Cardinale also starred in the USSR. In the film "The Red Tent", another famous foreign actor became her filming partner: Why Soviet viewers twice ignored Sean Connery's visit.