SOPHIA LOREN BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
Sophia Loren was born on September 20th, 1934 in Rome, Lazio Italy with the birth name Sofia Villani Scicolone. Her father was a man by the name of Ricardo and he was already married to another woman, refusing to marry Loren's mother, Romilda even though she also gave birth to his other child too, Maria Scicolone.
She grew up poverty stricken during World War II and had a very rough childhood. When she was fourteen years old she entered a beauty contest and placed in the top finalists. She then caught the eye of a film producer, Carlo Ponti who was twenty two years older then her. Surprisingly, they married and he took her under his wing and gave her guidance. She enrolled in acting classes and soon she was getting small parts in a variety of films such as, "La Favorita" (1953) and "Aida" (1953) .
Sophia soon relocated to the United States at an attempt to get involved in American made films. She debuted in, "The Pride and the Passion" (1957) co-starring Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra, soon followed by, "Houseboat" (1958) starring Cary Grant, Martha Hyer, Paul Petersen, Charles Herbert, Harry Guardino, Werner Klemperer, John Litel and Mimi Gibson. She was working films in both America and in Europe and returned overseas to star in the film, "Two Women" (1960) co-starring Jean-Paul Belmondo, Eleonora Brown, Carlo Ninchi and Andrea Checchi, which was highly successful and earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress. This was the first time a Best Actress Oscar had been awarded for a non American film.
She starred in "Legend of the Lost" (1957) with John Wayne along with Rossano Brazzi.
Her career continued to take her to a whole new level of stardom. She was an international movie star and did not limit herself to only American made films. Some of her more well known Italian films were, "Marriage Italian Style" (1964) with Marcello Mastroianni and "A Special Day" (1977). While her more well known American films were, "El Cid" (1961) co-starring Charlton Heston, "The Fall of the Roman Empire" (1964) starring alongside Stephen Boyd, James Mason, Christopher Plummer, Alec Guinness, Mel Ferrer, John Ireland and Omar Sharif, "Arabesque" (1966) also starring Gregory Peck, a musical called, "Man of La Mancha" (1972) starring with Peter O'Toole and "The Priest's Wife" (1971) with Marcello Mastroianni.
As her career entered the 1980's, Loren chose not to do so many roles and instead chose to focus on her family. She also decided to try something different with her career status and launch her own fragrance and designed eye wear.
She did make a comeback to the film industry first with a role on, "Prêt-à-Porter (1994) ("Ready to Wear") followed by what turned out to be her biggest US box-office hit, "Grumpier Old Men" (1995) also starring Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ann Margret, Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Katie Sagona and Ann Morgan Guilbert.
On occasion she would appear in some more films overseas such as, "Between Strangers" (2002) starring with Mira Sorvino, Deborah Kara Unger, Pete Postlethwaite, Julian Richings, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Malcolm McDowell and Corey Sevier, "Lives of the Saints" (2004) sharring the spotlight with Nick Mancuso, Kris Kristofferson, Jessica Paré, Fab Filippo and Sabrina Ferilli, a television movie and "Nine" (2009).
Sophia remained married to the love of her life, Carlo Ponti from 1966 through 2007 when he passed away and they had two children together, Carlo Ponti Jr. and Edoardo Ponti. Today, she spends most of her time between Switzerland and Los Angeles with her family.
Throughout her career, Loren received a total of two Oscar nominations and won five Golden Globe Award. She was also chosen in 1991, by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World and Empire magazine voted her as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history in 1995.
There is a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in honor of the contributions made by Sophia Loren to the Motion Picture Industry.
Filmography
2010 My House Is Full of Mirrors
2009 Nine
2004 Too Much Romance... It's Time for Stuffed Peppers
2004 Lives of the Saints
2002 Between Strangers
2001 Francesca and Nunziata
1997 Soleil
1995 Grumpier Old Men
1994 Prêt-à-Porter
1991 Sabato, domenica e lunedì
1988 The Fortunate Pilgrim
1988 Running Away
1986 Courage
1985 Qualcosa di biondo
1980 Sophia Loren: Her Own Story
1979 Firepower
1978 Brass Target
1978 Blood Feud
1978 Angela
1977 A Special Day
1976 The Cassandra Crossing
1975 La pupa del gangster
1974 Hallmark Hall of Fame
1974 Brief Encounter
1974 Verdict
1974 The Voyage
1972 Man of La Mancha
1972 Lady Liberty
1972 The Sin
1971 The Priest's Wife
1970 Sunflower
1967 Ghosts - Italian Style
1967 More Than a Miracle
1967 A Countess from Hong Kong
1966 Arabesque
1966 Judith
1965 Lady L
1965 Operation Crossbow
1964 Marriage Italian Style
1964 The Fall of the Roman Empire
1963 Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
1962 Five Miles to Midnight
1962 The Condemned of Altona
1962 Boccaccio '70
1961 Madame
1961 El Cid
1960 Two Women
1960 The Millionairess
1960 It Started in Naples
1960 A Breath of Scandal
1960 Heller in Pink Tights
1959 That Kind of Woman
1958 Houseboat
1958 The Black Orchid
1958 The Key
1958 Desire Under the Elms
1957 Legend of the Lost
1957 The Pride and the Passion
1957 Boy on a Dolphin
1957 Ci troviamo in galleria
1956 Un giorno in pretura
1955 Lucky to Be a Woman
1955 Scandal in Sorrento
1955 The Miller's Beautiful Wife
1955 Il segno di Venere
1954 The River Girl
1954 Too Bad She's Bad
1954 Attila
1954 The Gold of Naples
1954 Neapolitan Carousel
1954 Poverty and Nobility
1954 The Anatomy of Love
1954 The Country of the Campanelli
1953 Aida
1953 La favorita
1953 Africa sotto i mari
1953 La domenica della buona gente
1953 Pilgrim of Love
1953 Two Nights with Cleopatra
1952 Le sei mogli di Barbablù
1952 Il sogno di Zorro
1952 The Piano Tuner Has Arrived
1951 Anna
1951 Il padrone del vapore
1951 Era lui... sì! sì!
1951 Il mago per forza
1951 Quo Vadis
1951 Milano miliardaria
1951 Io sono il capataz
1951 Lebbra bianca
1950 Cuori sul mare
1950 Totò Tarzan
1950 Il voto
