Gina Lollobrigida facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gina Lollobrigida
Lollobrigida in the 1960s
Born	Luigia Lollobrigida (1927-07-04)4 July 1927 Subiaco, Kingdom of Italy
Died	16 January 2023(2023-01-16) (aged 95) Rome, Italy
Occupation	Actress, photojournalist
Years active	1946–1997
Spouse(s)	Milko Škofič ​ ​ (m. 1949; div. 1971)​
Partner(s)	Javier Rigau y Rafols (1984–2006)
Children	1
Awards	Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, Legion of Honour, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

Luigia "Gina" Lollobrigida (born July 4, 1927 – died January 16, 2023) was a very famous Italian actress. She also became a talented photojournalist and even a politician. Gina was one of the most well-known European actresses in the 1950s and early 1960s.

As her acting career slowed down, Gina started a new path as a photojournalist. In the 1970s, she got a big news story by interviewing Fidel Castro. She was the only one to get this interview!

Gina Lollobrigida always supported Italian and Italian American causes. She received an award for her life's work in 2008. In 2013, she sold her amazing jewelry collection. She gave almost $5 million from the sale to help research for stem-cell therapy.

Early Life and Beginnings

Gina Lollobrigida was born Luigia Lollobrigida in Subiaco, Lazio, Italy. Her father made furniture. She had three sisters: Giuliana, Maria, and Fernanda.

When she was young, Gina worked as a model. She also did very well in several beauty contests. Around this time, she started acting in small roles in Italian movies.

In 1945, at age 18, Gina acted in a comedy play called Santarellina. Two years later, in 1947, she entered the Miss Italia beauty pageant. She came in third place, which made her famous across Italy.

Becoming a Film Star

Early Movies

In 1950, a movie producer named Howard Hughes offered Gina a big contract. It was for seven years to make three movies each year. But Gina decided to stay in Europe. This caused a disagreement, and she could not work in American movies filmed in the U.S. until 1959. However, she could still work in American movies made in Europe.

Her role in the film Bread, Love and Dreams (1953) was a huge hit. She even received a nomination for a BAFTA award. She also won an award from Italian film journalists for her acting in this movie. Gina appeared in other important Italian films like The Wayward Wife (1953) and Woman of Rome (1954). She also starred in French films such as Fearless Little Soldier (1952) and Beauties of the Night (1952).

International Success

Lollobrigida in Solomon and Sheba (1959)

Gina's first English-language film that many people saw was Beat the Devil (1953). It was filmed in Italy. In this movie, she played the wife of Humphrey Bogart. She also starred with Errol Flynn in Crossed Swords (1954).

Her performance in The World's Most Beautiful Woman (1955) earned her the first David di Donatello for Best Actress award. In this film, she played an Italian singer named Lina Cavalieri. Gina even sang some songs from the opera Tosca herself!

She then took on the main female role in the circus movie Trapeze (1956). She starred alongside Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis. In The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1956), she played Esmeralda.

Gina appeared in the French movie The Law (1959). She also starred with Frank Sinatra in Never So Few (1959). Then, she acted with Yul Brynner in Solomon and Sheba (1959).

In the romantic comedy Come September (1961), Gina had a leading role with Rock Hudson. She won a Golden Globe Award for this movie. She also appeared in the drama Go Naked in the World (1961).

Lollobrigida as The Fairy with Turquoise Hair in the TV series The Adventures of Pinocchio (1972)

She co-starred with Stephen Boyd in Venere Imperiale (1962). For this role, she won more awards, including the Nastro d'Argento and David di Donatello. She also acted with Sean Connery in Woman of Straw (1964). She worked with Rock Hudson again in Strange Bedfellows (1965).

Lollobrigida starred in Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell (1968). She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and won another David di Donatello award for this role. She also appeared with Bob Hope in The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell (1968). She even traveled with Bob Hope to visit military troops.

By the 1970s, Gina's film career became less busy. She appeared in King, Queen, Knave (1972). In 1973, she was part of the jury at the 8th Moscow International Film Festival.

Television Roles

In the mid-1980s, Gina starred in the TV series Falcon Crest. She played Francesca Gioberti. This role earned her a third Golden Globe nomination. She also had a part in the 1985 TV miniseries Deceptions. The next year, she was a guest star on the TV series The Love Boat.

Photojournalism Career

Gina Lollobrigida at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival

By the late 1970s, Gina Lollobrigida started a very successful second career. She became a photojournalist. She took pictures of many famous people. These included Paul Newman, Salvador Dalí, Henry Kissinger, and Audrey Hepburn. She even got an exclusive interview with Fidel Castro, the leader of Cuba.

In 1973, a collection of her photographs was published. It was called Italia Mia.

In Politics

In 1999, Gina Lollobrigida tried to be elected to the European Parliament. She ran as a candidate for a party called The Democrats. However, she was not successful.

In 2020, she publicly supported Pope Francis' views on LGBTQ rights. In the 2022 Italian general election, Gina, at 95 years old, tried to win a seat in the Italian Senate. She ran for a new group called Sovereign and Popular Italy. This group was against some European policies. She did not win, getting 1% of the votes. Before the election, she said she was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi.

Personal Life

In 1949, Gina Lollobrigida married a doctor named Milko Škofič. Their only child, Andrea Milko, was born in 1957. Milko Škofič stopped being a doctor to become Gina's manager. The couple divorced in 1971.

Gina Lollobrigida and her son Andrea Milko in Rome in 1962 at the Piazza Navona Christmas market

In 2006, at age 79, she announced her engagement to Javier Rigau y Rafols, a Spanish businessman. They had met in 1984. The engagement was later called off because of too much media attention.

Gina Lollobrigida stopped making films in 1997. She once said, "I studied painting and sculpting at school and became an actress by mistake." After retiring, she spent her time between her home in Rome and a villa in Monte Carlo.

In 2013, she sold her jewelry collection through Sotheby's. She gave almost $5 million to help stem-cell therapy research.

In 2021, an Italian court decided that Gina should have someone help manage her affairs. This was to make sure she was not taken advantage of. The court said she was not mentally unable, but that her understanding of reality was "weakening."

In 2022, it was noted that Olympic speed skater Francesca Lollobrigida is her grandniece. However, the two did not know each other.

Gina Lollobrigida passed away in Rome on January 16, 2023, at the age of 95.

Awards and Honors

Gina Lollobrigida won many awards for her acting. She won three David di Donatello awards, two Nastro d'Argento awards, and six Bambi awards. She was nominated three times for the Golden Globe Award and won once in 1961.

In 1985, she was honored by France for her achievements in photography and sculpture. She also received the Légion d'honneur from the French president.

On October 16, 1999, Gina Lollobrigida became a FAO Goodwill Ambassador. This means she helped the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

On February 1, 2018, Gina Lollobrigida received a star on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Books by Gina Lollobrigida

• Italia mia, 1973, a book of her photographs of Italy.
• The Philippines, 1976, a book of her photographs of the Philippines.
• Wonder of Innocence, 1994, another book of her photographs.
• Sculptures, 2003, a book about her sculptures.

In Popular Culture

• The English rock band Cardiacs had a song called "Gina Lollobrigida" on their 1984 album The Seaside.
• A Scottish TV show called Still Game had an episode about a character who thought he had a relationship with Gina Lollobrigida. It turned out he had met someone else with a similar name.

Filmography

Movies

Lollobrigida in 1979

Lollobrigida in 1980

Television Shows

See also

In Spanish: Gina Lollobrigida para niños