NICHE style Summer 2016

y Josie Joy Saldat
SOPHIA
LOREN
SENSUOUS STRUT TO STARDOM
Born as Sofia Scicolone in Rome, Italy in
1934, Loren was raised by mostly her
mother in the small fishing town of
Pozzuoli. Experiencing much sadness
in her childhood, alongside her sister, Loren grew
up during the second World War with no support
from her father. Loren’s life changed when she
entered a beauty contest at age fourteen and was
ranked a finalist. Film Producer and judge of one
of the multiple beauty contests Loren went on to
partake in, Carlo Ponti caught Loren’s eye and
wed in 1957. Ponti took Loren under his wings
and acted as not only a partner, but of somewhat
a father figure that Loren never experienced.
The launch of Loren’s career began as most do – as
an extra. After playing an extra in ten films in the
1950’s, Loren made her way up to supporting roles.
Diving into the industry, in her late teens,
Loren started playing lead roles, with her
move into American film with Boy on a
Dolphin, Legend of the Lost and The Pride and
the Passion - all in 1957. Loren’s co-star Cary
Grant was drawn towards Loren’s alluring aura
of mystery and Italian beauty and proposed
during the short split she had with Ponti. Loren
rejected the proposal and remarried Ponti.
Loren signed a contract with Paramount
Pictures and starred in many American movies
throughout the sixties, then returned to Italy to
star as Cesira in Two Women, from which she
received international acclaim and was honoured
with an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1962.
Loren was now the first actress to win an Academy
Award for a non-English-speaking performance.
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