Claudia Cardinale's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) Jesus of Nazareth The Adulter…

Main Movie Roles 2007 - Cherche fiancé tous frais payés 1993 - Son of the Pink Panther 1989 - La Révolution française 1982 - Burden of Dreams 1982 - Trail of the Pink Panther 1982 - Fitzcarraldo 1979 - Escape to Athena 1967 - Don't Make Waves 1966 - Lost Command 1966 - The Professionals 1964 - Circus World 1963 - The Pink Panther 1963 - 8½ 1959 - Un maledetto imbroglio

BIOGRAPHY:

Like many other female Italian film stars, Claudia Cardinale's entry into the business was by way of a beauty pageant. She was 17 years old and studying at the Centro Sperimentale in Rome when she entered a beauty contest, which resulted in her getting a succession of small film roles. Her earthy interpretations of Sicilian women got her noticed by Italian producers, and the combination of her beauty, dark, flashing eyes, explosive sexuality and genuine acting talent virtually guaranteed her stardom. After Senilità (1962) she rose to the front ranks of Italian cinema, and became an international star in Federico Fellini's classic 8½ (1963) with Marcello Mastroianni. American audiences may best remember her from her starring role in Sergio Leone (I)'s C'era una volta il West (1968).


TRIVIA:

• While her longtime companion lives in Rome, she calls Paris her home due to her popularity in Italy.
• Her father was an Italian railroad worker. Despite having an Italian father, she grew up speaking French after her French mother.
• 1965: Told a reporter she liked a dry martini before dinner, caviar for hors d'oeuvres, lobsters or oysters for seafood, or a steak alla Fiorentina. When it came to wine, her preference was for a rich, red wine.
• Speaks French, Italian, English, Spanish and Arabic (from having been raised in Tunisia).
• 1957: At the Italian Embassy in Tunis, she was voted the most beautiful Italian girl in Tunisia. Her prize was a trip to Venice during the Venice Film Festival. After the festival, she was offered movie roles, however she initially refused them and returned to Tunis. Six months later, a producer sold her on a career in movies, and she went to Rome with her parents, two brothers and sister, taking a home in Castel Giubileo, a small town outside the city.
• Has lived together with 'Pasquale Squitieri' (qv) since 1975.
• Preferred to be called by her initials: CC.
• She has two children: Patrizio, who was born out of wedlock to mysterious Frenchman when she was 17 and later adopted by her longtime companion 'Pasquale Squitieri' (qv), and Claudia, whose biological father is Squitieri.