Italian acting icon Claudia Cardinale dead at 87
Tunisian-born Italian actor Claudia Cardinale has passed away at the age of 87.
According to her agent, Laurent Savry, Cardinale passed away surrounded by her children at Nemours in France. “She leaves us the legacy of a free and inspired woman both as a woman and as an artiste,” Savry added.
Cardinale has been a powerful icon for many women in the industry. When she was young, her dream was to be a teacher. She won a beauty contest at 16, the prize of which was a trip to the Venice Film Festival, where the young girl was approached by many directors and producers.
In her early career, Cardinale was tragically raped while picking up small roles and was convinced to give birth in secret in London. She took to introducing her son, Patrick, as her younger brother.
She eventually rose to fame in 1963 after starring in the Oscar-winning Federico Fellini film 8 1/2, as well as the epic period drama The Leopard, directed by Luchino Visconti.
Though Cardinale became a well-known symbol of Italian cinema, she struggled to find her feet. Most notably, she knew “not a word” of the language, speaking only French, Arabic, and her parents’ Sicilian dialect. Her voice was dubbed by other Italian speakers for many years.
She went on to star in Hollywood pictures such as Blake Edwards’ The Pink Panther and Sergio Leone’s Once Upon A Time In the West.
Cardinale once reflected on her career and shared humorously: “The best compliment I ever got was from actor David Niven while filming The Pink Panther. He said: ‘Claudia, along with spaghetti, you’re Italy’s greatest invention.'”
In 2002, she was awarded a lifetime achievement at the Berlin Film Festival. When accepting the honour, she stated: “I’ve lived more than 150 lives: prostitute, saint, romantic, every kind of woman, and that is marvellous to have this opportunity to change yourself.”
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