Claudia Cardinale

Lore & Background

Born and raised in La Goulette, a municipality in Tunisia near Tunis, Cardinale won the "Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia" competition in 1957, the prize being a trip to Italy, which quickly led to film contracts, due above all to the involvement of producer Franco Cristaldi, who acted as her mentor for a number of years and later married her. After making her debut in a minor role with Egyptian star Omar Sharif in Goha (1958), Cardinale became one of the best-known actresses in Italy, with roles in films such as Rocco and His Brothers (1960), Girl with a Suitcase (1961), Cartouche (1962), The Leopard (1963) and Federico Fellini's 8½ (1963). From 1963, Cardinale appeared in The Pink Panther opposite David Niven. She went on to appear in the Hollywood films Blindfold (1966), Lost Command (1966), The Professionals (1966), Don't Make Waves (1967) with Tony Curtis, The Hell with Heroes (1968), The Red Tent (1969), A Fine Pair (1968), The Salamander (1981), and the Sergio Leone Western Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), a joint U.S.–Italian production, in which she was praised for her role as a former prostitute opposite Jason Robards, Charles Bronson and Henry Fonda. Jaded with Hollywood and not wanting to become a cliché, Cardinale returned to Italian and French cinema and garnered the David di Donatello for Best Actress award for her roles in The Day of the Owl (1968) and as a prostitute alongside Alberto Sordi in A Girl in Australia (1971). In 1974, Cardinale met director Pasquale Squitieri, who would become her partner. She frequently featured in his films, including Blood Brothers (1974), Father of the Godfathers (1978) and Claretta (1984), the last of which won her the Nastro d'Argento Award for Best Actress. In 1982, she co-starred with Klaus Kinski in Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo. In 2010, Cardinale received the Best Actress Award at the 47th Antalya "Golden Orange" International Film Festival for her performance as an elderly Italian woman who takes in a young Turkish exchange student in Signora Enrica. Over the years, Cardinale was outspoken about women's rights and became a UNESCO goodwill ambassador for the Defence of Women's Rights beginning in March 2000. In February 2011, the Los Angeles Times Magazine named Cardinale among the 50 most beautiful women in film history.

Reader's Guide

Early life: Cardinale was born in La Goulette, a port municipality near Tunis, on 15 April 1938. Her father, Francesco Cardinale, was an Italian railway worker of French-Piedmontese and Sardianian-Sicilian origins. Her mother, Yolande Greco, was born in the then Italian Tripolitania to Sardinian-Ligurian parents. They later settled in La Goulette, which had a large Italian community. She grew up speaking only French language and Tunisian Arabic, and did not learn Italian until she started being cast in Italian films. Cardinale was educated at the Saint-Joseph-de-l'Apparition School of Carthage, which she attended along with her younger sister, Blanche. She then studied at the Paul Cambon School with the intention of becoming a teacher. As a teenager she was described as "silent, weird and wild" and like other young women of her generation was fascinated by Brigitte Bardot, who came to prominence in the 1956 film And God Created Woman, directed by Roger Vadim. Career 1950s: Cardinale's first film work was participating, along with classmates, in a short film by French director René Vautier, Anneaux d'or, successfully presented at the Berlin Film Festival. The film made her a minor local celebrity and led to her being spotted by Jacques Baratier, who offered her a small role in Goha. She accepted it reluctantly after Baratier explained he wanted a Tunisian actress rather than an Italian to star in the main role opposite Egyptian actor Omar Sharif. The appearance nonetheless marked her feature-film debut. The turning point came in 1957 during the Italian Cinema Week in Tunis, when she won a competition for the "Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia", with a trip to the Venice Film Festival as first prize. After being spotted by several film producers at the event, she was invited to study at the Experimental Cinematography Centre in Rome under Tina Lattanzi. She attended briefly as, despite her extremely photogenic looks, she had trouble with her acting assignments (partly owing to her difficulties with the Italian language). She left at the end of her first term and decided to return home, earning herself a cover story in the popular weekly Epoca triggered by her unexpected decision to turn her back on a career as a film star. Back in Tunis, however, Cardinale discovered unexpectedly that she was pregnant, the result of what she later described as a "terrible

Did You Know?

• Cardinale won the 'Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia' competition in 1957, with a trip to the Venice Film Festival as first prize.
• She was married to producer Franco Cristaldi from 1966 until 1975.
• Cardinale became a UNESCO goodwill ambassador for the Defence of Women's Rights beginning in March 2000.
• In February 2011, the Los Angeles Times Magazine named her among the 50 most beautiful women in film history.