Updated on: Sept 24, 2025 09:30 am IST
Claudia Cardinale, the Italian actor who was a leading star of European films of 1960s and 70s, has died. She was 87.
Italian movie star Claudia Cardinale, who gained fame first as a sex symbol and later established herself as one of the leading stars of European cinema, has died at the age of 87.
Claudia Cardinale death
The actor died in Nemours, France, surrounded by her children, her agent Laurent Savry told AFP.
Claudia starred in some of the most celebrated European films of the 1960s and 1970s, and also broke through into Hollywood with some big hits. In a career that spanned 150 films across decades, she also earned terms like ‘Dream Girl’ and ‘Italy’s girlfriend’, signifying the craze for her in her homeland.
Perhaps best known for embodying youthful purity in Federico Fellini’s 8½, in which she co-starred with Marcello Mastroianni in 1963, Claudia Cardinale also won praise for her role as Angelica Sedara in Luchino Visconti’s award-winning screen adaptation of the historical novel The Leopard that same year. She gained fame outside Europe as a reformed prostitute in Sergio Leone’s spaghetti western Once Upon a Time in the West in 1968.
Claudia Cardinale career
Claudia Cardinale was born in Tunisia to Sicilian parents who had emigrated to North Africa. Her career in showbiz began at age 17 after she won a beauty contest in Tunisia. This brought her to the Venice Film Festival, where she came to the attention of the Italian movie industry.
Sophia Loren had already become a star globally, and French actor Brigitte Bardot was making waves as the new sex symbol. Amid this, Claudia was touted as Italy’s answer to Brigitte Bardot. Even though she never attained the level of success her French rival did, Claudia did become a star and was particularly popular in Italy.
Her career in Hollywood was only partially successful because she was not interested in giving up European film. In a 2002 interview with the Guardian, she explained that the Hollywood studio “wanted me to sign a contract of exclusivity, and I refused. Because I’m a European actress and I was going there for movies.”
She won the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival nearly 40 years after her initial appearance on screen. In 2000, Cardinale was named a goodwill ambassador for the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for the defense of women’s rights.
(With AP inputs)
