Claudia Cardinale – Beautiful Italian Actress
Birth Name: Claude Joséphine Rose Cardinale
Date of Birth: April 15, 1938
Place of Birth: Tunis, Tunisia
Nationality: Tunisian by birth; Italian by origin
National Origin: Italian (both of her parents were Italian-Sicilian).
Occupation: Actress
Height: 5 feet 7 in; 1.73 m
Measurements: 37C-23-37 (1970s)
Cardinale in one sentence – Claudia was a mesmerizing beauty with class and style.
Quotes:
I’ve never revealed myself or even my body in films. Mystery is very important.
I had a wonderful life with many great experiences.
Interesting Facts:
In 1957 at age of 19 Claudia Cardinale won the Italian embassy’s “Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia” contest.
In 1958 she starred in an internationally successful Italian film Big Deal on Madonna Street (this movie is considered to be among the masterpieces of Italian cinema). Of course, this role made her famous across the Europe and beyond.
During her long and successful acting career she appeared in over 100 films including Rocco and His Brothers 1960, The Leopard, 1963, Philippe de Broca’s Cartouche (1963), Federico Fellini’s Otto e mezzo (8½ 1963), and Sergio Leone’s epic Once Upon a Time in the West (1968).
Aside from playing in many Italian and French movies, Claudia had also starred in a number of Hollywood films: The Pink Panther (1963), Circus World (1964); Blindfold (1965); The Professionals (1966); Don’t Make Waves(1967); and Son of the Pink Panther (1993).
She wasn’t speaking Italian until she was 18. They had to dub her voice in her first Italian picture.
She is a good friend with Brigitte Bardot.
Claudia and Brigitte Bardot starred in a French western comedy The Legend of Frenchie King. Their fight scene in that movie is one of the most famous “cat-fights” in the history of cinema.
Cardinale has been a UNESCO goodwill ambassador for the Defense of Women’s Rights since 1999.
She has two children, Patrizio and Claudia. Patrizio was born out of wedlock when Claudia was 19.
Claudia was given acting awards at nearly every major film festival and she received about a dozen of lifetime achievement awards.
She is fluent in French, Tunisian Arabic, Sicilian, Italian, Spanish and English.
In 2011, the Los Angeles Times readers voted Cardinale the seventh most beautiful woman in film history.
Go to Claudia Cardinale Gallery or to Beautiful Tunisian Women
Always remember that true beauty comes from within.