Claudia Cardinale passed away at the age of 87, in her home in Nemours, near Paris, "surrounded by her children," as her agent announced.
An iconic actress of Italian and international cinema, she will forever be linked to a scene that made history: the ball in The Leopard, when the young Angelica, played by her, dances with the Prince of Salina (Burt Lancaster), under the amorous gaze of Tancredi-Alain Delon.
Born in La Goulette, near Tunis, on April 15, 1938, to a Sicilian family who had emigrated to North Africa, her career was marked by destiny. At just 17, she won a beauty contest for which she hadn't even entered: the prize, a trip to the Venice Film Festival, changed her life. Three years later, at 22, she was already acting in Luchino Visconti's Rocco and His Brothers (1960).
Her filmography is immense: over a hundred titles, impossible to list them all. 1963 remains a defining year: that same year she starred in Visconti's The Leopard, Federico Fellini's 8 1/2, Blake Edwards's The Pink Panther, and Luigi Comencini's La ragazza di Bube.
A beauty unlike that of other Italian divas, Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida, made her the favorite muse of directors such as Mauro Bolognini, Mario Monicelli, Pietro Germi, Nanni Loy, Valerio Zurlini (The Girl with the Suitcase) and Luigi Zampa, who directed her alongside Alberto Sordi in Handsome, Onesting, Emigrant Australia Would Marry an Immaculate Fellow Countrywoman.
A longtime companion of director Pasquale Squitieri, Cardinale also worked in Hollywood with Edwards, Richard Brooks, and Sergio Leone in Once Upon a Time in America. In France , her adopted country along with Tunisia, she was directed by Henry Verneuil and Philippe de Broca; in Germany, she starred in Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo.
In the 1960s, the tabloids often contrasted her with Brigitte Bardot: the brunette “CC” and the blonde “BB”, who shared the set in Les Pistoleres (1971). Her career was crowned by countless awards: five David di Donatello Awards, as many Nastri d'Argento Awards, the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Venice (1993) and the Golden Bear in Berlin (2002).
With Claudia Cardinale, not only does one of the last great divas of the twentieth century disappear, but an icon who embodied the elegance, passion, and unmistakable charm of Italian cinema in its golden years.
Chronicles of Campania
The Social World Film Festival dedicated to Claudia Cardinale
A taste of the atmosphere in Vico Equense for the 16th edition of the Social World Film Festival, this year dedicated to Claudia...
Claudia Cardinale was a great actress and left an indelible mark on the world of cinema. Her career was long and successful, but I'm saddened that she's no longer with us. It's a real shame.