Gina Lollobrigida dies; actor touted as ‘most beautiful woman in the world’

ROME (AP) — Italian actor Gina Lollobrigida, who achieved international film stardom during the 1950s and was dubbed “the most beautiful woman in the world,” died in Rome on Monday, her agent said. She was 95.

The agent, Paola Comin, didn’t provide a cause of death.

Lollobrigida had surgery in September to repair a thigh bone broken in a fall. She returned home and said she had quickly resumed walking.

“Lollo,” as she was nicknamed by Italians, began making movies in Italy just after the end of World War II, as the country began to promote on the big screen a stereotypical concept of Mediterranean beauty as buxom and brunette.

A drawn portrait of the diva graced a 1954 cover of Time magazine, which in an article about Italian movie-making likened her to a “goddess.” More than a half-century later, Lollobrigida still turned heads with her curly auburn hair and her statuesque figure.

Besides “The World’s Most Beautiful Woman” in 1955 — the movie that gave her a tagline — career highlights included Golden Globe winner “Come September,” with Rock Hudson; “Beat the Devil,” a 1953 John Huston film starring Humphrey Bogart and Jennifer Jones; and “Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell,” which won Lollobrigida Italy’s top movie award, a David di Donatello, as best actress in 1969.

Two of her more popular films at home were Comencini’s “Pane Amore Fantasia” (Bread Love Fantasy) in 1953, and the sequel a year later, “Pane Amore Gelosia” (Bread Love Jealousy). In each of them, her male foil was Vittorio Gassman, one of Italy’s most popular leading men.

While Lollobrigida played some dramatic roles, her characters were most popular in lighthearted comedies, like the “Bread Love” movies.

Lollobrigida also was an accomplished sculptor, painter and photographer, and eventually essentially dropped film for the fine arts in the 1970s. With her camera, she roamed the world from what was then the Soviet Union to Australia. In 1974, Fidel Castro hosted her as a guest in Cuba for 12 days as she worked on a photo project.

Her smattering of roles in later years included guest star stints on the U.S. television series “The Love Boat” and “Falcon Crest.”

She was born on July 4, 1927, in Subiaco, a picturesque hill town near Rome, where her father was a furniture maker. She began her career in beauty pageants.

ROME (AP) — Italian actor Gina Lollobrigida, who achieved international film stardom during the 1950s and was dubbed “the most beautiful woman in the world,” died in Rome on Monday, her agent said. She was 95.

The agent, Paola Comin, didn’t provide a cause of death.

Lollobrigida had surgery in September to repair a thigh bone broken in a fall. She returned home and said she had quickly resumed walking.

“Lollo,” as she was nicknamed by Italians, began making movies in Italy just after the end of World War II, as the country began to promote on the big screen a stereotypical concept of Mediterranean beauty as buxom and brunette.

A drawn portrait of the diva graced a 1954 cover of Time magazine, which in an article about Italian movie-making likened her to a “goddess.” More than a half-century later, Lollobrigida still turned heads with her curly auburn hair and her statuesque figure.

Besides “The World’s Most Beautiful Woman” in 1955 — the movie that gave her a tagline — career highlights included Golden Globe winner “Come September,” with Rock Hudson; “Beat the Devil,” a 1953 John Huston film starring Humphrey Bogart and Jennifer Jones; and “Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell,” which won Lollobrigida Italy’s top movie award, a David di Donatello, as best actress in 1969.

Two of her more popular films at home were Comencini’s “Pane Amore Fantasia” (Bread Love Fantasy) in 1953, and the sequel a year later, “Pane Amore Gelosia” (Bread Love Jealousy). In each of them, her male foil was Vittorio Gassman, one of Italy’s most popular leading men.

While Lollobrigida played some dramatic roles, her characters were most popular in lighthearted comedies, like the “Bread Love” movies.

Lollobrigida also was an accomplished sculptor, painter and photographer, and eventually essentially dropped film for the fine arts in the 1970s. With her camera, she roamed the world from what was then the Soviet Union to Australia. In 1974, Fidel Castro hosted her as a guest in Cuba for 12 days as she worked on a photo project.

Her smattering of roles in later years included guest star stints on the U.S. television series “The Love Boat” and “Falcon Crest.”

She was born on July 4, 1927, in Subiaco, a picturesque hill town near Rome, where her father was a furniture maker. She began her career in beauty pageants.