Legendary Italian Film Actress Gina Lollobrigida Passes Away at 95

"We are all born to die. The difference is the intensity with which we choose to live.", said Gina Lollobrigida, who passed away on Monday. She was 95.

New Delhi: Legendary Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida, who was Internationally famous during the 1950s, died in Rome on Monday, news agency ANSA reported, citing members of her family. She was 95. Calling her 'one of the brightest stars of Italian cinematography and culture', Italian Minister of Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida, who happens to be her grandnephew, also tweeted the news of her death.

Expressing grief over her sudden death, Culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano also tweeted, "Farewell to a diva of the silver screen, the protagonist of more than half a century of Italian cinema history. Her charm will remain eternal."

At the time of her death, Lollobrigida was among the last living high-profile international actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.

About Gina Lollobrigida:

After a humble upbringing, Lollobrigida tried modelling in her youthful days and soon she began appearing in Italian films in minor roles. In 1945, at age 18, Lollobrigida played a part in the comedy 'Santarellina' by Eduardo Scarpetta at the Teatro della Concordia of Monte Castello di Vibio, the smallest theatre all'italiana in the world.

With time, she was cast opposite the biggest Hollywood stars of the time and shared screen space with Humphrey Bogart, Rock Hudson, Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis and Frank Sinatra, thereby becoming one of the most prominent personalities of the 1950s and 60s.

Following the war, she also worked with some of Italy's greatest directors, including Mario Monicelli, Luigi Comencini, Pietro Germi, and Vittorio De Sica. In Italy, two of her most popular films were 'Comencini's Pane Amore e Fantasia (Bread, Love, and Dreams)' in 1953 and the sequel, 'Pane Amore e Gelosia, a year later (Bread, Love and Jealousy)'. Her male counterpart was Vittorio Gassman, one of Italy's leading actors.

As A Photojournalist:

Lollobrigida was also a talented sculptor, painter, and photographer who shifted to photojournalism when her film career began to dwindle. She travelled the world with her camera, from what was then the Soviet Union to Australia. She shot Paul Newman, Salvador Dal, Henry Kissinger, David Cassidy, Audrey Hepburn, Ella Fitzgerald, and the German national football team, among others. She even got an exclusive interview with Fidel Castro, the leader of Communist Cuba, and a collection of her work was released in 1973 under the title 'Italia Mia'.