Reproduced with a permission from Volume 6 of the World Who's Who in Jazz, Cabaret, Music and Entertainment, Published by FAMSPA, TimesSquarePress and Elite Associates. (Pages: 2750-2753)
SOPHIA LOREN
Photo
from L to R: Sophia Loren in “Boccaccio
'70”, 1962.
Sophia Loren (Born on September 20, 1934, Rome, Italy. Height: 5' 8'') loves the United States and she remains grateful to America’s for turning her into an international star. But there are two things she does not like about the United States: 1-Movie theaters, because “The popcorn is too noisy. I hate that", she explained. 2-David Letterman, because when Loren appeared on his show, Letterman kept on and on and on talking about her body and constantly steering at her breast and making inappropriate remarks. Loren begged him to stop looking at her breast and commenting about it. She said: “Would you please stop talking and looking at my breast…I am a grandmother now.” Loren always felt uncomfortable when cinema executives and producers focused their attention on her breast rather than on her talent. She has already encountered a déjà vu experience when Director Stanley Kramer on the set of his “The Pride & the Passion”, (starring Frank Sinatra as the rebel leader, Cary Grant as an ordnance officer from England and Sophia Loren in her first English-language role as a peasant girl in love with two men) said: “ Might I add I was not unimpressed with the heaving bosom of Ms. Loren, which was not so securely encased in a low-cut blouse that I doubt any peasant could have afforded in 1810.”
Photos:
Sophia Loren in 1960 and 1955 in Rome.
Academy award-winning, Sofia Loren, nee Sofia Villani Scicolone, rose above her poverty-stricken origins in Napoli, Italy, and up against formidable odds, to become one of the most famous women, actresses, socialites, beauties and influential artists -and possibly 50 wealthiest stars - in the world. She made 100 films. Once, she told Clark Gable “We were so poor; we ate meat, once a year.” At the very beginning of her career, her beauty was obviously the key and trampoline to her success as an actress. She started as an extra in the 1951 film “Quo Vadis?” starring Robert Taylor and Elizabeth Taylor. Before working in movies, Sophia Loren posed for magazines and revues under the name of Sofia Lazzaro. She got paid the equivalent of $15 per photo. Responding to a question by a reporter from La Corriere Della Sera about her success in movies, Loren sharply replied: “You are right, at the beginning, my looks helped me get noticed, but once the opportunity to act was given to me after so many struggles, my talent took over. I was born an actress, and my poverty taught it a lot…I just needed a break and a little fine-tuning. Few actresses in the world made it because they had talent. You pay your dues, and to start with, you compromise, you go along, you give up lots of your dignity and freedom, but once you show world what you can do, you set up your own rules and you stay firm without forgetting where you came from. Showbiz is the most difficult and unpredictable business in the world.” Thanks to the legendary producer Carlo Ponti (Loren’s future husband), the poor Sofia Scicolone, Sofia Lazzaro became the great Sophia Loren. She gor fer first break in the 1953 “Aida”, in which she lip-synched Renata Tebaldi. Ponto believed in her, so did Italy’s great Vittorio De Sica who gave the opportunity to star in the 1954 “L’Oro di Napoli”. Her performance in that film attracted the attention of Hollywood. And soon, Loren will take the lead in Hollywood’s major films opposite Clark Gable, Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra. Sophia Loren won an Oscar for best actress for her performance in the 1961Vittorio De Sica's “La Ciociara” (Two Women). She also received a Golden Lion from the Venice Film Festival in 1998, and a lifetime achievement Oscar in 1991.Continues next