female icons
His consecration comes thanks to French cinema, with ‘Fanfán el invincible’ or ‘Mujeres soñadas’, but above all with the enormous success of ‘Pan, amor y fantasy’, a film in which his erotic myth is definitively established
Luigina (Gina) Lollobrigida was born in Subiaco (Italy) on July 4, 1927. After the Second World War the family moved to Rome and there she began her art studies, especially painting and sculpture. She dreams of becoming an opera singer, but the economic difficulties that her family was going through caused her to work on fotonovelas, very popular at the time and as an extra in the Cinecittá studios.
The ‘Lollo’, as she was popularly known, as a teenager worked as a model in fashion shows, and successfully participated in various beauty contests. By then he was beginning to appear in small roles in Italian films. In the year 1947 she achieved the third position in the Miss Italy contest. The contest was won by Lucia Bosé. This event was very important for the actress’s career since it gave her a reputation that would open the doors of success.
From ‘Elisir de amor’ (1946) she began to rise, from extra, to starlet and from there to dramatic roles, where she was able to demonstrate her incipient mother of an actress. But his consecration came thanks to French cinema, with ‘Fanfán el invincible’ or ‘Mujeres soñadas’ (1952), but above all with the enormous success of ‘Pan, amor y fantasy’ (1953), a film in which his erotic myth is definitely fixed.
In those years it was rumored that, after seeing her in an Italian film, the billionaire Howard Hughes flew from Hollywood to see her, but this visit did not make her move to the United States. Gina remained in Italy and in 1949 she married a Slovenian doctor with whom she would have a son, but the couple ended up divorcing. Finally, a few years later, Gina arrived in Hollywood hired by Hughes, but she barely spoke English and after six weeks she returned home feeling “permanently watched.”
His fame in Italy was consolidated with ‘La provinciale’ and once again drew the attention of Hollywood and caused him to finally shoot his first American film, ‘The Devil’s Mockery’ in 1953, alongside Humphrey Bogart directed by John Huston. He returned to Europe to shoot ‘The Great Game’, ‘Crossed Swords’ or ‘La Romana’, all in 1954. After ‘The Most Beautiful Woman in the World’ (1956), he returned to Hollywood to work on ‘Trapeze’ with Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis that same year, and in ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ also in 1956, giving life to Esmeralda, alongside Anthony Quinn. In 1959 he co-starred with Frank Sinatra in ‘When blood boils’ and filmed in Spain ‘Salomón y la Reina de Saba’; and in 1961 he made two of his most popular films, ‘When September arrives’ and ‘Naked in front of the world’.
In the 1970s, his film career suffered and he made only a few appearances, such as in ‘I didn’t find roses for my mother’, under the orders of the Spanish Rovira Beleta, to retire from the cinema and embark on what would become a successful career. as a photographer, portraying Paul Newman or Salvador Dalí, and conducting an exclusive interview with Fidel Castro.
It is in 1984 when Gina returns to television screens as part of some episodes of ‘Falcon Crest’. She makes some minor appearances in the 1990s and in 1999 she makes a foray into politics, running as a candidate in the European Parliament elections, but failing to win a seat. Gina will be hired as a manager in cosmetic and fashion companies. Retired from the screen since 1997, he has been seen in the video clip ‘Mercurzio: Fatto di Te’ (2001) and in a brief appearance in the documentary ‘Box Office 3D: Il film dei film’ (2011).
In 2006 at the age of 79, Gina announces her romance with the Catalan businessman Javier Rigau y Rafols, 45, and although the wedding was set for December 6, it never took place and the relationship was broken, according to them because of the journalistic harassment. Currently, at 94 years old, Gina enjoys a peaceful old age surrounded by her family.
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