Italian Cinema Queen Claudia Cardinale Dies At 87

Italian Cinema Queen Claudia Cardinale Dies At 87

Claudia Cardinale, the renowned sixties screen siren, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 87.

Paris:

Legendary actress Claudia Cardinale, who captivated global audiences with her sultry gaze, died Tuesday at 87. The iconic beauty became the muse of celebrated Italian directors Luchino Visconti and Federico Fellini during her illustrious career.

With her striking beauty and distinctive husky voice, Cardinale not only inspired Italy's greatest filmmakers but also starred alongside many of the era's most prominent leading men, including Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, and Henry Fonda.

She passed away in Nemours near Paris with her children by her side, according to her agent who informed AFP. The details regarding her burial arrangements remain undetermined.

"She leaves behind the legacy of a free and inspired woman, both personally and professionally," her agent Laurent Savry stated.

Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli honored her as "one of the greatest Italian actresses of all time," noting that Cardinale epitomized "Italian grace."

Cardinale's remarkable rise to stardom emerged from tragedy. As a teenager, she was raped by a film producer and became pregnant. In those restrictive times, she courageously decided to raise her son Patrick while pursuing a career in cinema to support them, despite never having aspired to be an actress.

"I did it for Patrick, the child I chose to keep despite the circumstances and the enormous scandal," she revealed in a 2017 interview with French newspaper Le Monde.

"I was extremely young, shy, prudish, almost wild. And without any desire to expose myself on film sets."

Born to Sicilian parents in La Goulette, near Tunis, on April 15, 1938, Cardinale's life transformed dramatically when, at 16, she was spontaneously selected as the winner of a beauty contest.

After being crowned "The most beautiful Italian woman in Tunis," she won a trip to the Venice film festival where she immediately attracted attention, reluctantly abandoning her plans to become a teacher.

"All the directors and producers wanted me for films, but I repeatedly refused," she recalled.

Eventually, her father persuaded her to "give this cinema thing a try."

As she began securing minor film roles, she experienced sexual assault. A mentor convinced her to secretly give birth in London and entrust her child to her family.

Patrick was officially presented as her younger brother until she revealed the truth seven years later.

"I was forced to maintain this deception to avoid scandal and protect my career," she explained.

From that point forward, her career flourished during the golden age of Italian cinema, despite initially not speaking "a word" of Italian – she spoke only French, Arabic, and her parents' Sicilian dialect.

At 20, "I suddenly became the heroine of a fairytale, the symbol of a country whose language I barely spoke," she wrote in her 2005 autobiography "My Stars."

Her voice required dubbing in Italian films until she starred in Fellini's Oscar-winning "8 1/2" in 1963, when the visionary director insisted she use her natural voice.

That same year, at 25, Cardinale simultaneously filmed both Visconti's epic "The Leopard" and Fellini's surrealist masterpiece "8 1/2."

"Visconti wanted me brunette with long hair. Fellini preferred me blonde," she recalled.

Critics hailed her as the "embodiment of postwar European glamour," and she was marketed accordingly, both on and off screen.

"It's almost as if sexiness was imposed upon her," Britain's The Guardian observed in 2013.

Though embraced by Hollywood, she declined to settle there permanently. Cardinale starred in Blake Edwards' hit "The Pink Panther" with Peter Sellers, followed by Henry Hathaway's "Circus World" alongside Rita Hayworth and John Wayne.

"The finest compliment I ever received came from actor David Niven during 'The Pink Panther' filming," Cardinale remembered.

He told her: "Claudia, along with spaghetti, you're Italy's greatest invention."

Refusing cosmetic surgery, she continued performing into her 80s, including in "La Strana Coppia," a female adaptation of Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple" at Naples' Teatro Augusteo.

Though desired by many, she maintained that her "only love" was blue-eyed Neapolitan director Pasquale Squitieri, father of her daughter Claudia, with whom she collaborated on numerous films over four decades until his death in 2017.

Throughout her remarkable career spanning 175 films, she received honorary awards from both the Venice and Berlin film festivals.

In 2017, she was featured on the official Cannes Film Festival poster, sparking controversy when her thighs appeared to have been digitally altered to look thinner.

A steadfast advocate for women's rights, Cardinale was appointed UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in 2000, recognizing her commitment to women's and girls' causes.

"I've been extremely fortunate. This profession has given me countless lives and the opportunity to use my fame to support many important causes," she said.