Claudia Cardinale turns 85

The Italian star was originally discovered at a beauty pageant held in 1957 by production company Unitalia. The “most beautiful Italian woman in Tunis” later won a trip to the Venice Film Festival, which would become a decisive turning point in her life. The sensual young woman was born on April 15, 1938, in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. Her mother was French and her father Italian.

In 1958, Cardinale, known as CC, played her first role in “Goha”, opposite Omar Sharif, before training as an actress at the Italian Film Academy in Rome. Her talents as an actress, known for her fearless indiscipline, gained fame and her eye for the camera became legendary.

The famous director Luchino Visconti gave her minor roles in “Rocco and his brothers” (1960), as well as in the historical drama “The Leopard” (1962) with Alain Delon. As she later recounted in a biographical interview, she rejected all of her famous film partners, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Marcello Mastroianni, Alain Delon and Burt Lancaster.

A beauty queen turned into a movie diva

Cardinale is Brigitte Bardot’s Italian counterpart. But unlike Bardot, Cardinale has never appeared nude in a film: “I’ve always found it more erotic to leave a little room for the imagination, to hint at things rather than showing everything,” she told the German magazine. stern in 2014.

CC achieved her breakthrough with her performance in the popular Italo western “Once Upon a Time in the West” (1969). The classic western directed by Sergio Leone and starring Henry Fonda and Charles Bronson was filmed at Cinecittà Studios in Rome and Spain, with some scenes set in Utah’s Monument Valley. The film that flopped in the US only acquired cult status in Europe.

CC’s career already took a decline in the 1970s. She then turned to television movies, especially entertainment films, where she showed some talent as a comedian. She landed her last leading film role in 1971, when she starred alongside her main rival, Brigitte Bardot, in the western comedy “Frenchie King”.

Spending Time in the Jungle with Werner Herzog

Ten years later, CC starred in German director Werner Herzog’s historical film “Fitzcarraldo” (1981). Although Claudia Cardinale had a hard time putting up with her eccentric film partner Klaus Kinski’s tantrums, she thoroughly enjoyed filming and working with director Werner Herzog: “Being in the middle of the jungle with bugs all around me and nothing to eat was one of my most wonderful adventures,” he later said.

In 1993, CC received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival, followed in 2002 by an “honorary bear” at the Berlinale. The spirited actress has starred in over 100 films.

In 2017, CC again drew attention at an international film festival. A photo depicting her as a young actress graced a poster at Cannes, where she had often been invited as a guest of honour. On April 15th, Claudia Cardinale will be 80 years old. Congratulations!

This article was originally published on April 15, 2018 and has been updated.