Italian film legend Gina Lollobrigida passes away at age 95: Gina Lollobrigida, a legendary figure in Italian cinema, died at the age of 95. She was the diva who, in the 1950s, came to symbolise Italy’s vibrant recovery from World War Two. She was dubbed as “the most beautiful woman in the world” after the title of one of her movies. Born to a working class family in a poor mountainous area east of Rome, she studied sculpture then got her break in the film world after finishing third in the 1947 Miss Italia beauty contest. (The winner that year was Lucia Bose.)
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Besides “The World’s Most Beautiful Woman” in 1955, career highlights included Golden Globe-winner “Come September,” with Rock Hudson; “Trapeze;” “Beat the Devil,” a 1953 John Huston film starring Humphrey Bogart and Jennifer Jones; and “Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell,” which won Lollobrigida Italy’s top movie award, a David di Donatello, as best actress in 1969. Following the war, she collaborated with several of Italy’s greatest filmmakers, including Vittorio De Sica, Mario Monicelli, Luigi Comencini, and Pietro Germi.