Claudia Cardinale

Claude Joséphine Rose "Claudia" Cardinale (born 15 April 1938) is an Italian actress. She is considered one of the most beautiful and popular actresses of all time. Cardinale was born in La Goulette, a neighbourhood of Tunis. After winning the "Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia" competition in 1957, she quickly began receiving film contracts, thanks in part to the involvement of Franco Cristaldi, who acted as her mentor for a number of years. After making her debut in a minor role with the Egyptian star Omar Sharif in Goha (1958), she quickly 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 Fellini's 8½ (1963). From 1963, Cardinale starred in The Pink Panther opposite David Niven. She went on to appear in the Hollywood films Blindfold (1965), Lost Command (1966), The Professionals (1966), Don't Make Waves (1967) with Tony Curtis, The Hell with Heroes (1968), and the Sergio Leone Western Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), a joint US-Italian production, in which she was praised for her role as a former prostitute opposite Jason Robards, Charles Bronson, and Henry Fonda. Jaded with the Hollywood film industry 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 Il giorno della civetta (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, and she frequently featured in his films, including I guappi (1974), Corleone (1978) and Claretta (1984), the last of which won her the Nastro d'Argento Award for Best Actress. In 1982, she starred in Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo as the love interest of Klaus Kinski, who raises the funds to buy a steamship in Peru. 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. Outspoken on women's rights causes over the years, Cardinale has been a UNESCO goodwill ambassador for the Defense of Women's Rights since March 2000. In February 2011, the Los Angeles Times Magazine named Cardinale among the 50 most beautiful women in film history. Claudia Cardinale is an Italian actress and fashion model who is considered one of the most beautiful and popular actresses of all time. She has starred in a wide variety of films, often playing strong female characters in roles opposite leading men. She has twice won the David di Donatello Award for Best Actress, for her roles in Il giorno della civetta (1968) and as a prostitute alongside Alberto Sordi in A Girl in Australia (1971). Cardinale was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in The Leopard (1963).