Sophia Loren Biography

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Born: September 20, 1934 Sophia Loren (born Sofia Scicolone),
actress, writer, designer

Sophia Loren biography – childhood

Sophia was born in the Clinica Regina Margherita in Rome, in a charity ward for unmarried women, in 1934. The name entered in the hospital records was Sofia Scicolone. Her father Riccardo Scicolone officially recognized the child, but refused to marry the mother of Sophia, Romilda Villani. Her birth brought a disgrace and humiliation to the family of Villanis in the little town of Pozzuoli, located about twenty-five kilometer from Naples. Having illegitimate baby was one of the severest sins at that time. But according to her own words, Romilda Villani was a fighter. "…I fought for myself and my baby. And my family stood by me. That is what saved us, the way the Villanis embraced us."

When Sophia was six, war came to Pozzuoli with the German occupation. Loren still has vivid memories of these years.

"When I was a child, fear was common to my life – fear of having nothing to eat, fear of the other children taunting me at school because I was illegitimate, and particularly fear of the big bombers appearing overhead and dropping their lethal burst from the sky." ("Sophia. Living and Loving. Her Own Story" by
A. E. Hotchner). She carried the feeling of being "little, shy, illegitimate, fatherless girl" inside her for a long time.

Her Grandmother Luisa (Sophia called her "mamma", and her mother – "mammina") shaped her personality. When they were alone in the kitchen, grandma Luisa changed from a busy housewife overburdened with worries, to someone very funny and carefree. She made up stories about how wonderful the life of Sophia would be: full of the dream objects and beauty. She created in the mind of a girl the fairyland of tomorrow…

Sophia Loren Biography – years at school

At school Sophia was known by the unflattering nickname "Stuzzicadenti" (Toothpick). Someone who saw Sophia at the age of nine, wrote in his diary: "Unfortunately she’ll never have her mother’s look." The girl was painfully shy, very quiet, serious and introvert. At the age of thirteen she began to blossom slowly and naturally into a long-legged full-breasted beautiful swan.

Sophia was a teenager, when she first saw the movies, and the opened the world of Hollywood films for herself. This is how she describes it: "I was suffused with the feeling that that’s what I was put on earth to do, to act, to express myself, to let out whatever feelings I had inside; and perhaps a need to escape anonymity." (Sophia. Living and Loving. Her Own Story)

Sophia Loren Biography. Beginning of her acting career

Encouraged by her mother, Sophia entered the Queen of the Sea beauty contest in Naples. She was chosen one of the Queen’s twelve Princesses. Her prize included a train ticket to Rome. The mother and daughter took this chance and went to Roma to look for work as film extras.

The courage of her mother Romilda Villani had a great influence on the career of Sophia. Romilda herself was glamorous and almost discomfortingly beautiful. Her struggle for independence and identity in the earlier years of her life provided that she acquired a great determination for her elder daughter to become an actress. Loren always referred to her mother as a fulcrum of her life.

Sophia started supporting her family by working as an extra, posing for "fumetti" (photoplays) and postcards. She met the successful producer Carlo Ponti through her participation in a beauty contest. Carlo Ponti immediately felt the magic of her personality, what he later described as "a kind of illumination" about her. However it took a long time before Sophia was offered her first role in a film. She failed screen tests one after the other, and it seemed as if there was no way for her to become an actress. According to the cameramen, she was not a classical beauty: with her nose too long, her mouth too large, her chin and her hips too broad. What they could not see at first, was that the total of all her face parts, her body language and her inner beauty made her stunning. Remembering the difficulties of the early days of her career, Sophia said:

"I was so boldly confident about myself… I have never sold myself short. I have never judged myself by other people’s standards… At sixteen I already knew certain self-truths: I was a survivor; I relied on myself and no one else; I would get to wherever I was destined to go and it was futile to try to alter my fate." ("Sophia. Living and Loving. Her Own Story" by A. E. Hotchner)

In 1952 at the age of eighteen Sophia finally got her first role in a film "Africa Under the Seas". She entered the film under the name Sofia Lazzaro (the producer did not like her original last name). The film did not make a sensation, but did make a good start for her acting career. The roles in other films followed and kept her permanently busy. Sophia became the head of the family, working hard every day to provide enough money for her family. The dream of a skinny little girl, sitting in a dark movie house, finally came true.

Sophia Loren biography – marriage to Carlo Ponti

"I met him at fifteen, got seriously involved with him at nineteen, and now at forty-four he means as much to me as he ever did," remembers Sophia in a book "Sophia. Living and Loving. Her own story." Ponti played a very important role in her life and her career. He was her friend who understood her without words, her lover, her career consultant, her protector and husband.

In 1957 Ponti obtained a Mexican divorce from his first wife Giuliana and married Sophia by proxy. Italy did not recognize divorce at that time, but Mexican divorces were common. In the case of Carlo Ponti, however, the Catholic Church publicly denounced his divorce and called him a bigamist. This was a drama for both Ponti and Loren, who truly loved each other.

The legal solution was found by Giuliana, the first wife of Ponti, who arranged for them to move to France to become French citizens. France allowed the divorce and subsequent marriage of Ponti and Loren in 1965.

Sophia Loren has two children: Carlo Ponti, Jr., and Edoardo Ponti.

Sophia Loren biography. International celebrity

Sophia Loren lived in Hollywood for two years (1958-1959). She won public admiration and in 1962 won the first best actress Oscar ever given for a performance in a foreign film. This award elevated her to the rank of international celebrities. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association gave her the Golden Globe for World Film Favorite in 1964, 1965 and 1969. Among her numerous awards is an honorary Cesar (France’s Oscar) for lifetime achievement and an honorary Oscar as "one of the genuine treasures of world cinema." She graced numerous magazine covers and television specials.

Sophia Loren Biography. Style icon

Throughout her acting career she developed the image of a sex symbol. As an international celebrity Sophia had been associated with the House of Dior, Valentino and Giorgio Armani. Her name itself has become a brand of her Italian beauty, glamour and taste. She seems to have a natural ability to enhance every dress she wears. In one of her biographies her schoolmate says: "No matter what she wore she always made it seem as if it had come from a boutique." Her understanding of what suits her body best is impeccable. According to Gianfranco Ferre, Loren is "a woman any designer would love dressing, also because she has a perfect grasp of what makes the most of her figure and thus is able to choose her clothes with great confidence."

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Sophia Loren Biography – ventures

In 1980 Sophia launched the perfume bearing her name. She also launched her signature line of eyeglasses, promoting them as a fashion item. They became a permanent part of her look.

Sophia Loren Biography – charity

Sophia Loren has received recognition not only for her films, but also for her devotion to various charity causes. For her generosity she received in 1996 a NATO/ShoWest award for lifetime achievement. This award is a recognition of her work on behalf of the National Alliance for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Maltreatment, and her long service to the United Nations as a goodwill ambassador and spokesperson.

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