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Claudia Cardinale

Claudia Cardinale

Acting · Crew

Born April 15, 1938, La Goulette, Protectorat français de Tunisie

Claude Joséphine Rose "Claudia" Cardinale (15 April 1938 – 23 September 2025) was an Italian actress. Regarded as one of the leading figures of Italian cinema, alongside Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida, she achieved international recognition during a career spanning more than six decades. Celebrated in the 1960s as "the most beautiful woman in the world" and widely considered a sex symbol of the era, Cardinale appeared in more than 175 films, primarily in Italy and France, across genres including comedy, drama, spaghetti westerns, and historical epics. She collaborated with acclaimed directors such as Federico Fellini, Sergio Leone, and Werner Herzog, and several of her films are regarded as significant works in the history of cinema. At the time of her death, she was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of European cinema. 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).[1] 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 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. 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. ... Description above from the Wikipedia article Claudia Cardinale, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Filmography

Appearances as themselves (62)
  • 2022Claudia la mystérieuse — Self
  • 2021Fellinopolis — Self - Actress (archive footage)
  • 2021We Are Cinema — Self (archive footage)
  • 2020Nana Mouskouri, Momente ihres Lebens — Self (archive footage)
  • 2019Claudia Cardinale, la créature du secret — Self (archive footage)
  • 2019Gina, Sophia, Claudia, trois symboles de la féminité à l'italienne — Self
  • 2018Dios de monoambiente — Self (archive footage)
  • 2018Sergio Leone, une Amérique de légende — Self (archive footage)
  • 2017An Italian Indian: The Pink Panther Princess With Claudia Cardinale — Self
  • 2017La Folle Histoire de Jean-Paul Belmondo — Self
  • 2016Belmondo by Belmondo — Self (archive footage)
  • 2016Luchino Visconti: Between Truth and Passion — Self (archive footage)
  • 2015Marcello Mastroianni, latin lover — Self
  • 2014Cinéma Jacques Perrin — Self
  • 2013Alberto il grande — Self
  • 2012Monicelli: La versione di Mario — Self (archive footage)
  • 2012The Years of Lost Images — Self
  • 2011Belmondo, itinéraire... — Self
  • 2011Hollywood Invasion — Self (archive footage)
  • The Story of Film: An Odyssey — Self
  • 2009La Traversée du désir — Self
  • 2009Pietro Germi - The Good, The Beautiful and The Bad — Self
  • 2008Il falso bugiardo — Self (archive footage)
  • 2006Marcello, una vita dolce — Self
  • 2006Sergio Leone: The Way I See Things — Self
  • 2004A Dying Breed: The Making of 'The Leopard' — Self
  • 2004Por un puñado de sueños — Self - Interviewee
  • 2003An Opera of Violence — Self - Actress
  • 2003Something to Do with Death — Self - Actress
  • 2003The Last Sequence — Self
  • 2003The Wages of Sin — Self - Actress
  • 2002Heart of the Festival — Self (archive footage)
  • 2002Luchino Visconti — Self
  • 2002The Magic of Fellini — Self (archive footage)
  • Ulisse - The Pleasure of Discovery — Self
  • 2001Visconti: La verdad del melodrama — Self
  • 2000Once Upon a Time: Sergio Leone — Self
  • 1999My Best Fiend — Self
  • Vivement dimanche — Self
  • 1997The Man with the Cigar in His Mouth — Self
  • 1994Il gattopardo: Viaggio della memoria — Self
  • Stars 90 — Self
  • Sacrée soirée — Self
  • Téléthon — Self
  • 1985Night of 100 Stars II — Self
  • 1982Burden of Dreams — Self - Actress
  • Champs-Elysées — Self
  • Ciné regards — Self
  • Les Rendez-vous du dimanche — Self
  • Midi Première — Self
  • Numéro un — Self, Self - Host
  • Spécial cinéma — Self
  • Midi trente — Self
  • Samedi soir — Self
  • The Merv Griffin Show — Self
  • The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson — Self
  • 1958Algeria in Flames — Self - Arab woman (uncredited)
  • Cinépanorama — Self
  • Reflets de Cannes — Self
  • The Oscars — Self
  • Bambi — Self
  • Second to Nun — Self - Festival Actress
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