On September 20, 1934, Sophia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone, a well-known Italian actress, was born.
According to the American Cinema Institute, she is one of the best actresses in the annals of Classical Hollywood cinema, and as of 2023, she is one of the few notable actresses from the Golden Age of Hollywood who is still living.
She is the only living person ranked number 21 on AFI’s list of the 50 best stars in American film history.
At sixteen in 1950, Loren started her film career after being encouraged to take acting classes after competing in a beauty pageant.
Early in the decade, she only had a few supporting roles to play, but in 1956, she signed a five-picture deal with Paramount, propelling her to prominence worldwide. During this time, she made major film appearances in It Began in Naples, The Pride and the Passion, and Houseboat.
In her films during the 1950s, Loren gained fame as a sexually liberated persona and was regarded as one of the most well-known sex icons of the time.
Sophia Loren Age
Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone was born at the Clinica Regina Margherita in Rome, Italy, on September 20, 1934. She is 88 years old.
Romilda Villani (1910–1991) and Riccardo Scicolone Murillo (1907-1976) were her parents. Her father did not have much success as an engineer. He was a temporary employee of the national railway Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane.
The fact that Loren’s father sprung from a noble family, as stated in her memoirs, gives her the right to refer to herself as “Marchioness of Licata Scicolone Murillo, Viscountess of Pozzuoli, Lady of Caserta, a title bestowed upon her by the House of Hohenstaufen.”
Sophia Loren’s Achievements As By Age
At 20, the role of Cesira in Vittorio De Sica’s Two Women (1961) garnered Sophia Loren the Academy Award for Best Actress, making her the first performer to receive the honor for a role in a language other than English.
She has received an astonishing seven David di Donatello nominations for best actress, winning for the roles of Two Ladies, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (1963), Marriage Italian Way (1964), Sunflower (1970), The Journey (1974), A Special Day (1977), and The Life Ahead (1979).
When Sophia was 23, she has also received recognition from the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival and the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival, in addition to five special Golden Globes (such as the Cecil B. DeMille Award), a BAFTA Award, a Laurel Award, a Grammy Award, and other awards.
She was given the Academy Honorary Award in 1991 for her lifetime accomplishments.
Since the 1980s, Loren has been picky about the roles she takes on in films, making appearances in Prêt-à-porter (1994), Grumpier Old Men (1995), Nine (2009), and The Life Ahead (2020).
At 25, Sofia Lazzaro (later Sophia Loren) competed in the Miss Italy 1950 beauty contest as Candidate No. 2 for the Lazio region.
When Anna Maria Bugliari was declared Miss Italia and Liliana Cardinale were named Miss Cinema, Loren was chosen as one of the last three finalists and was awarded the title of Miss Elegance 1950.
Later, in 2001, Loren presided over the pageant’s 61st edition jury; in 2010, she announced the winner of the 71st Miss Italia pageant.
Sofia Lazzaro attended the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Italy’s national film school. Using her birth name, she appeared as an odalisque in the Italian movie Era lui… s! s!. She made brief appearances in some movies in the early 1950s, including La Favorita (1952).
To appeal to a larger audience, Carlo Ponti, a film producer and Loren’s husband changed her name to Sophia Loren.
Goffredo Lombardo had chosen the name after Swedish actress Märta Torén. In 1953’s acclaimed production of Aida, Loren played his first significant role.