Sophia Loren is a legendary Hollywood star known for her beauty and glamorous lifestyle. However, her road to fame was difficult. Born Sofia Villani Scicolone in Rome in 1934 into poverty, Loren faced numerous problems, including criticism of her appearance, when she entered the entertainment industry. Despite these hurdles, she is now celebrated as one of the most beautiful women of all time and still shines at 90 years old.
Loren’s early life was marked by difficulties. Her mother, a piano teacher and aspiring actress, had to support the family alone, as Loren’s father was absent and neither she nor her younger sister Maria acknowledged him. “I only saw my father six times”, she once said, expressing the pain and humiliation his absence caused.
She grew up in cramped conditions, sharing a room with eight others in her grandparents’ house. Conditions were so bad that her mother sometimes had to bail water out of the family car to make a living.
Loren endured the traumas of World War II, including a horrific experience in which she was injured by shrapnel during an air raid, which left a scar on her chin, bullied at school for her thinness, and suffered from lice and mites.
Despite these challenges, Loren persevered and entered the Miss Italia beauty pageant in 1950, which opened doors for her in the film industry. However, she was criticized for her appearance, particularly her nose, which she preferred to accept rather than change. “Sometimes you have to wait for nature to shape your face”, she noted. Loren’s breakthrough came at 19, when she played an Ethiopian slave in Aida , which earned her critical acclaim.
Four years later, she starred alongside Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra in The Pride and the Passion . In 1960, she won an Oscar for her portrayal of a mother in Two Women in Wartime Rome, making her the first actress to win an Oscar for a foreign language film. Her awards include not only the Oscar, but also five special Golden Globes, a Grammy, an honorary Oscar, and the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement.
Loren’s personal life was full of challenges, particularly regarding her marriage to Italian film producer Carlo Ponti. They met when she was just 16, and he became her mentor, helping her become a star in Italy by her mid-20s. They married in 1957, but their union was plagued with legal problems due to Ponti’s previous marriage, leading to an annulment in 1962. The couple later took French citizenship to be able to marry legally, and had two children: Carlo Jr., a conductor, and Eduardo, a film director.
In 2020, Loren returned to the screen for the first time in over a decade, starring in the Italian-American drama The Life Ahead , directed by her son Edoardo Ponti. In the role, she plays Madame Rosa, drawing inspiration from her own wartime experiences in shaping her character.
Now the Oscar winner has ventured into business life: two restaurants in Italy are named after her. She lives out her love of food and says: “No director has ever managed to put me on a diet”, which underlines her passion for cooking and eating. Sophia Loren’s legacy lives on, combining her illustrious career with her ongoing commitment to family and food.
