Claudia Cardinale was born in Tunis, in Tunisa occupied by France on April 15, 1938. Her parents came from Sicily. Initially, she spoke French, Arabic and in the Sicilian dialect.
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For the first time she appeared on the screen in the 1950s, together with her classmates in the short film French director Rene Vautier, who was noticed at the Berlin festival. Then she began to receive further role proposals.
Iconic productions. Thanks to them she conquered Hollywood
Jacques Baratier entrusted her with a small role in the French-Tutisian film “Goha”, where she appeared alongside Omar Sharif. It was her cinema debut in a feature feature film. When in 1957 Claudia Cardinale won the competition for the most beautiful Italian in Tunisia, she received a trip to the Film Festival in Venice. Shortly thereafter, she moved to Rome and started studying at the acting school.
In the early 1960s she was one of the most popular Italian actresses. Her career fell during the great flourishing of Italian cinema. In the 1960s she appeared in many of the most important films that went down in the history of Italian cinema. This is, among others, “Rocco and his brothers” (1960), “Lampart” (1963) Luchino Visconti, “Il Bell'Antonio” (1960) Mauro Bolognini, “8 and a half” by Federico Fellini (1963).
The actress also conquered Hollywood thanks to her roles in “Once upon a time in the Wild West” Sergio Leone or in Blake Edwards's “Pink Panther”.
Although the actress's beauty was widely admired by admirers and the press, her voice turned out to be a problem. In Italian productions a teacher was employed to voice a voice under Cardinale. Her color – low and slightly hoarse – contrasted with her ethereal characters, girlish heroes. It wasn't until “8 and a half” that she was allowed to speak in the film in her own voice.
In total, she starred in over 90 films
In 1993, during the Festival in Venice, she received the Golden Lion for the lifetime of the creative work and the Honorary Golden Bear at the Berlin festival. Since 1999, the actress was the ambassador of the good will UNESCO.
“I always thought that scandals and confessions are not necessary to be an actress. I never revealed my soul or body in films. Mysterity is very important” – she admitted in one of the interviews. Although she decided not to shake nudity, she gained a position of sex – a symbol of the 1960s.
A year ago, Claudia Cardinale said goodbye to Alain Delon, with whom she played in the iconic “leopard”. “Forever yours, Angelica” – emphasized the star of the golden times of cinema, referring to the character she reproduced in one of the most famous Italian films.
