Claudia Cardinale

Claude Joséphine Rose Claudia Cardinale born 15 April 1938 is an Italian actress She has starred in European films in the 1960s and 1970s acting in Italian French and English Born and raised in La Goulette a neighbourhood of 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 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 the egyptian star Omar Sharif in Goha 1958 Cardinale became one of the bestknown 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 Fellinis 8½ 1963 From 1963 Cardinale appeared in The Pink Panther opposite David Niven She went on to appear in the Hollywood films Blindfold 1965 Lost Command 1966 The Professionals 1966 Dont 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 USItalian 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 dArgento Award for Best Actress In 1982 she starred in Werner Herzogs 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 womens rights causes over the years Cardinale has been a UNESCO goodwill ambassador for the Defense of Womens Rights since 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 CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia