“Forgotten Hollywood”- La Lollo…
Manny P. here… 
“`Gina Lollobrigida shot to fame in the 1950s as a Mediterranean sex symbol, and then became a photographer and sculptor after stepping away from cinema. She co-starred opposite Humphrey Bogart, Rock Hudson, Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis and Frank Sinatra, becoming one of the most recognizable cinema icons of the 1950s and 1960s.
“`Born to a working class family in a poor mountainous area east of Rome, Lollobrigida studied sculpture and got her break in the movie world after finishing third in the 1947 Miss Italia beauty contest. She was later sent to the Academy of Fine Arts in the capital to complete her education.
“`At the height of her fame, Lollobrigida, known simply as La Lollo, became an internationally recognized epitome of Italian post-war cinema, rivaled only by Sophia Loren. In 1950, Howard Hughes signed Lollobrigida on a preliminary seven-year contract to make three pictures a year. Despite selling RKO Pictures in 1955, Hughes retained her contract. The result, she remained in Europe to make movies, including Beat the Devil, Trapeze, Solomon and Sheba, Come September, Hotel Paradiso, Buona Sera Mrs. Campbell, and The Private Navy of Sgt. O’Farrell.
“`Considered the World’s Most Beautiful Woman (forgive me fans of Gene Tierney and Hedy Lamarr), she would accompany Bob Hope on his USO tours of military camps. In the 1970s, Lollobrigida embarked on a successful second career as a photographic journalist. Her list of photos included Paul Newman, Salvador Dalí, Henry Kissinger, David Cassidy, Ella Fitzgerald, Audrey Hepburn and the German national football team. She obtained an exclusive interview with Fidel Castro, leader of Communist Cuba.
“`In 1999, Lollobrigida unsuccessfully ran for election to European Parliament as a candidate for The Democrats. Later that year, she was a Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. In 2020, she endorsed Pope Francis’ view on LGBTQ rights.
“`Gina Lollobrigida (above right) was ninety-five.
Until next time> “never forget”
This entry was posted on Monday, January 16th, 2023 at 4:33 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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