For an international icon, Gina Lollobrigida had a very modest start to life.
Born in 1927 in a hill town near Rome, her teenage years were spent staying safe during the war with her three sisters and parents.
Gina Lollobrigida swanned on to the hollywood scene in her early 20s, but it wasn’t an entirely gracious entrance.
The brunette beauty’s stardom began when was scouted outside Rome’s Academy of Fine Arts, where she was studying at the time.
Gina, who was dubbed ‘La Lollo’ wasn’t interested in attending an audition but recalls ‘they insisted’.
She initially refused her first role, as she didn’t care for the publicity.
However when the movie-makers agreed to pay her joke price of one million lire, she could’t help but change her mind.
Speaking to Vanity Fair, Gina said: “I was successful very early. I never had to ask for what I wanted. I just had to say yes, because they always offered me so much more.
“At one point, I had in my contract, in addition to 10 percent of the gross, approval of my co-star, the director, and the script.
“I had more publicity than anyone because I refused it I didn’t care about it.”
Gina’s fame catapulted when she was spotted by Howard Hughes, who became so besotted with her that he flew her out to Hollywood.
Humphrey Bogart famously said she made “Marilyn Munroe look like Shirley Temple”. The screen siren is best known for her parts in the like of Trapeze, Woman of Rome and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Gina splits her time between Rome mansion and a villa in Monte Carlo.
Her last film appearance was in XXL with Gerard Depardieu in 1997.
In recent years, she’s made headlines for more personal reasons – as scandals unfold regarding the younger me in her life and her fortune.
At 88 years of age, the screen icon certainly lives up to her glamorous reputation. There’s no question as to why Gina Lollobrigida earned such a remarkable place in Hollywood’s golden era.
