Claudia Cardinale
Acting
Biography
Claude Joséphine Rose "Claudia" Cardinale (15 April 1938 – 23 September 2025) was an Italian actress. Regarded as one of the leading figures of Italian cinema, alongside Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida, she achieved international recognition during a career spanning more than six decades. Celebrated in the 1960s as "the most beautiful woman in the world" and widely considered a sex symbol of the era, Cardinale appeared in more than 175 films, primarily in Italy and France, across genres including comedy, drama, spaghetti westerns, and historical epics. She collaborated with acclaimed directors such as Federico Fellini, Sergio Leone, and Werner Herzog, and several of her films are regarded as significant works in the history of cinema. At the time of her death, she was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of European cinema. Born and raised in La Goulette, a municipality in Tunisia near Tunis, Cardinale won the "Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia" competition in 1957, the prize being a trip to Italy, which quickly led to film contracts, due above all to the involvement of producer Franco Cristaldi, who acted as her mentor for a number of years and later married her. After making her debut in a minor role with Egyptian star Omar Sharif in Goha (1958), Cardinale became one of the best-known actresses in Italy, with roles in films such as Rocco and His Brothers (1960), Girl with a Suitcase (1961), Cartouche (1962), The Leopard (1963) and Federico Fellini's 8½ (1963). From 1963, Cardinale appeared in The Pink Panther opposite David Niven. She went on to appear in the Hollywood films Blindfold (1966), Lost Command (1966), The Professionals (1966), Don't Make Waves (1967) with Tony Curtis, The Hell with Heroes (1968), The Red Tent (1969), A Fine Pair (1968), The Salamander (1981), and the Sergio Leone Western Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), a joint U.S.–Italian production, in which she was praised for her role as a former prostitute opposite Jason Robards, Charles Bronson and Henry Fonda. Jaded with Hollywood and not wanting to become a cliché, Cardinale returned to Italian and French cinema and garnered the David di Donatello for Best Actress award for her roles in The Day of the Owl (1968) and as a prostitute alongside Alberto Sordi in A Girl in Australia (1971).[1] In 1974, Cardinale met director Pasquale Squitieri, who would become her partner. She frequently featured in his films, including Blood Brothers (1974), Father of the Godfathers (1978) and Claretta (1984), the last of which won her the Nastro d'Argento Award for Best Actress. In 1982, she starred in Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo as the love interest of Klaus Kinski, who raises the funds to buy a steamship in Peru. In 2010, Cardinale received the Best Actress Award at the 47th Antalya "Golden Orange" International Film Festival for her performance as an elderly Italian woman who takes in a young Turkish exchange student in Signora Enrica. Over the years, Cardinale was outspoken about women's rights and became a UNESCO goodwill ambassador for the Defence of Women's Rights beginning in March 2000. In February 2011, the Los Angeles Times Magazine named Cardinale among the 50 most beautiful women in film history. ... Description above from the Wikipedia article Claudia Cardinale, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Born: April 15, 1938
Place of Birth: Tunis, Tunisia
Known For
Filmography
as Agostina
as Self
as Self (archive footage)
as Self - Actress (archive footage)
as Catarina Bastiani
as Self (archive footage)
as Marthe
as Self (archive footage)
as Self (archive footage)
as Zia Rosa
as Irène Delamarche
as Marguerite
as Duchess
as Laura Banti
as Angela
as Self (archive footage)
as 'La Cardinale'
as Mary O'Sullivan
as Self (archive footage)
as Carmen
as Claudia
as Rosa
as Nuria Calzolari
as Viscountess
as Self
as Léa
as Doroteia
as Self
as Self (archive footage)
as Self (archive footage)
as Self
as Signora Enrica
as Elvira
as La mère de Marc
as Sara
as Self
as Self (archive footage)
as Cécile Deschamps
as Elisabeth
as Self
as Claudia Cardinale
as Self - Interviewee
as Self - Actress
as Self - Actress
as Self - Actress
as Self
as Claudia (archive footage) (uncredited)
as Self
as Madame Falconetti
as Self (archive footage)
as Donna Assunta
as Self
as Self
as Baroness Mitsy
as Leila
as Costanza d'Altavilla / d'Aragona
as Teresa Viola
as Leila
as Self
as Margaux
as Maria Gambrelli
as Araxi (Mayrig) Zakarian
as Araxi (Mayrig) Zakarian
as Roxelane
as Self
as Elena
as Hélène Larmier
as Yolande-Gabrielle de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac (segment "Années Lumière, Les")
as Duchesse de Polignac
as Self
as Self
as Julia Steiner
as Laura
as Ida Mancuso
as Maura
as Self
as Jeanne
as Miriam Petacci
as Matilda
as Annabelle de Fourdemont Valensky
as La 'baronne'
as Self - Actress
as Antonella Dufour
as Molly
as Self
as (archive footage)
as Principessa Consuelo Caracciolo
as Elena Leporello
as Luisa
as Eleana
as Rosa Accordino
as Marta Compagna
as Francesca Modigliani
as Catherine Hansen
as Aliki
as Anna
as The Adulteress
as Pauline Bonaparte
as Armida Ballarin
as Claudia
as Self
as Self - Host
as Libera Valente
as Gabriella Sansoni
as Self
as Self
as Professor's Wife (uncredited)
as Self
as Lucia Esposito
as Anya
as Georgia Saratov
as Aiche
as Carmela
as Marie Sarrazin
as Popsy Pop
as Teresa, Countess of Morales
as Valeria
as Marta Chiaretti
as Giuditta Di Castro
as Jill
as Esmeralda Marini
as Elena
as Rosa Nicolosi
as Laura
as Rosa
as Maria
as Vicky Vicenti
as Aisha
as Armenia ("Fata Armenia")
as Sandra Dawson
as Maria Grazia
as Carla
as Toni Alfredo
as Mara
as The Princess Dala
as Angelica Sedara / Bastiana
as Claudia
as Self
as Angiolina Zarri
as Vénus
as Cameo Appearance (uncredited)
as Albertine Ferran
as Bianca
as Aida Zepponi
as Ginetta
as Fedora Santini
as Pauline Bonaparte
as Barbara Puglisi
as Carmelina Nicosia
as Maria
as La servetta, Assuntina
as Maria
as Amina
as Angelica
as Grazia Macri
as Marisa
as Carmelina
as Self
as A young woman
as Self
as Self
as Self
as Self - Festival Actress