Hollywood Actress of ‘Solomon and Sheba’ Fame, Gina Lollobrigida Dies at 95
Vondigest reports that Italian screen legend, Gina Lollobrigida has died at the age of 95, news agency ANSA reported, citing members of her family. Often described as “the most beautiful woman in the world”, her films included Beat the Devil, Solomon and Sheba, the Hunchback of Notre Dame and Crossed Swords.
The movie, ‘Solomon and Sheba’ starring Gina Lollobrigida and Yul Brynner was one of the greatest Hollywood movies of the fifties and sixties.
Her grandnephew, Italian Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida, tweeted news of her death, calling her “one of the brightest stars of Italian cinematography and culture.” RAI state media also reported her death.
Her attorney says she passed away Monday in a Rome hospital. It’s been reported she’d been receiving treatment for some time, but it’s unclear for what.
Lollobrigida was a beloved and coveted movie star in the 1950s and ’60s — having costarred in films alongside Hollywood heavyweights like Humphrey Bogart, Rock Hudson, Anthony Quinn, Errol Flynn, Frank Sinatra, Yul Brynner and other leading men of the time.
Her career faded in the 1960s and she moved into photography and politics. As her film career slowed, Lollobrigida established a second career as a photojournalist. In the 1970s she achieved a scoop by gaining access to Fidel Castro for an exclusive interview.
Luigina Lollobrigida was born on 4 July, 1927. The daughter of a furniture manufacturer, Gina spent her teenage years avoiding wartime bombing raids before studying sculpture at Rome’s Academy of Fine Arts.
She died in a Rome clinic, her former lawyer Giulia Citani told the Reuters news agency.
See some of her pictures during her famous years in Hollywood:
Together with Sophia Loren, Lollobrigida came to symbolize the earthy sexuality of Italian actresses in the 1950s and 1960s. After training as a painter and sculptor, Lollobrigida became a successful beauty queen and model, before making her first film appearance in 1946, with a small role in the swashbuckling adventure “The Black Eagle.” By the early 1950s, she was a huge star in Europe. She made her English-language film debut in 1953, in John Huston’s “Beat the Devil,” alongside Humphrey Bogart and Jennifer Jones.
