In a career spanning more than six decades, the enigmatic Claudia Cardinale lit up the screen with her breathtaking presence.<\/p>\n
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Not planning on becoming one of the greatest actors of the golden age, Cardinale followed the path to stardom, that was oftentimes paved by trauma.<\/p>\n
Outliving the now-deceased Hollywood giants that she once shared the screen, and still going strong at 86, she says \u201ccinema saved my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keep reading to learn more about this starlet and what she\u2019s doing today!<\/p>\n
As an iconic actress, Claudia Cardinale has left an indelible mark on Italian and international film. Her talent, beauty, and versatility allowed her to portray a wide range of complex and memorable characters throughout her career.<\/p>\n
The Tunisian-born Italian actor was studying to be a teacher when she was discovered at 18. The glossy-haired, French-speaking young woman was taken in by the pageantry of an Italian film festival, when she was pulled from the crowd and crowned Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was helping my mother and people from the Italian government organize an Italian film festival in Tunisia. I was looking at the girls on the stage and I wasn\u2019t supposed to be there. Someone pushed me out on the stage and I was named the Most Beautiful Girl in Tunisia,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The prize was a trip to the Venice film festival, a foretelling adventure for the young woman, who received many offers from producers.<\/p>\n
Initially turning down the offers, Cardinale explained in an interview, \u201cIt\u2019s like a man. When he\u2019s going after you, if you say yes immediately, after a little time he goes away. If you say no, he desires you for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The reason she rejected most offers, was because she was pregnant.<\/p>\n
But there was one producer whom she couldn\u2019t refuse. Franco Cristaldi, a prominent Italian producer, credited with feature films from the 1950s to the 1990s, captured the interest of the young Cardinale and signed her under an 18-year contract.<\/p>\n
There was also a personal contract, the pair married and Cristaldi, sculpting her into an Italian Brigitte Bardot, took full control, dictating her movie roles, hairstyle, weight, and social life.<\/p>\n
Her pregnancy, Cristaldi demanded, be kept a secret.<\/p>\n
As for her son, it was announced that he was her younger brother.<\/p>\n
Under Cristaldi\u2019s management, Cardinale had a few minor roles in Italian films, and noticed for her performances, she was referred to as \u201cItaly\u2019s sweetheart.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1958, she had her big break with a leading role in the romantic comedy, Three Strangers in Rome. Working seven months into her pregnancy\u2013which under Cristaldi\u2019s direction she continued to keep a secret\u2013Cardinale became depressed and had suicidal thoughts, pleading with her manager to terminate the contract.<\/p>\n
Instead, Cristaldi shipped her to London, away from the press, falsely saying she was away learning English for a role.<\/p>\n
In 1975, her baby Patrick was born, a child she said was fathered by an unidentified man, who raped her. Patrick\u2019s identity as her son, was kept a secret until he turned 19.
\n\u2018Violent truth\u2019<\/p>\n
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