Claudia Cardinale’s captivating personality illuminated the screen for almost six decades.
Cardinale did not set out to become one of the finest performers of the golden era; instead, he pursued a route to popularity that was often paved with tragedy. Outliving the now-deceased Hollywood giants with whom she once shared the screen and still going strong at 86, she claims, “Cinema saved my life.”
She was pulled out of the crowd.
Claudia Cardinale, an iconic actress, has made an everlasting impression on Italian and worldwide cinema. Her brilliance, attractiveness, and versatility enabled her to play a diverse variety of nuanced and memorable roles throughout her career.
At the age of 18, the Italian actress, born in Tunisia, was pursuing a career in teaching. The glossy-haired, French-speaking young woman was swept away by the pomp of an Italian film festival, where she was chosen from the throng and awarded Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia.
“I was assisting my mother and Italian government officials plan an Italian film festival in Tunisia. I was staring at the females on stage, but I wasn’t allowed to be there.” Someone pushed me out on stage, and I was named the Most Beautiful Girl in Tunisia,” she explained.
The prize was a trip to the Venice Film Festival, which promised an exciting excursion for the young woman, who had gotten several offers from producers.
Initially declining the offers, Cardinale remarked in an interview, “It’s like a guy. If you accept his advances immediately, he will move on quickly. If you say no, he will desire you for a long time.
She declined most offers since she was pregnant.
But there was one producer who she couldn’t turn down. Franco Cristaldi, a notable Italian producer known for feature films from the 1950s to the 1990s, piqued the young Cardinale’s interest and signed her to an 18-year contract.
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There was also a personal contract; the couple married, and Cristaldi, who transformed her into an Italian Brigitte Bardot, gained complete control, dictating her movie roles, haircut, weight, and social life.
Cristaldi desired that her pregnancy remain a secret. She revealed her son to be her younger brother.
Cardinale had a few modest roles in Italian films under Cristaldi’s supervision, and her performances earned her the nickname “Italy’s sweetheart.”
In 1958, she secured a prominent role in the romantic comedy Three Strangers in Rome. Working seven months into her pregnancy, which she kept hidden per Cristaldi’s orders, Cardinale grew sad and suicidal, asking with her management to cancel the contract.
Instead, Cristaldi sent her to London, away from the paparazzi, under the pretense that she was temporarily learning English.
She claimed that an anonymous man who had raped her had fathered Patrick, her child, who was born in 1975. She kept Patrick’s status as her son a secret until he was 19.
‘Violent truth’
Cardinale spoke out to Enzo Biagi, an Italian journalist, in 2017 and told him the brutal reality about her pregnancy: “A man I didn’t know, considerably older than me, forced me to go up to his car and raped me. It was horrific, but the only positive outcome is that my wonderful Patrick was born despite the violence. I chose not to have an abortion, even though it was hard for a single mother.
She went on to say, “When that man found out I was pregnant, he came back and demanded an abortion. Not once did I consider getting rid of my monster!”
Cardinale stated about Cristaldi, who controlled her life, “With him, I was practically an employee, a subordinate who was paid a month for the four films I made in a year: I didn’t even call him by name, but by surname.” I felt like a hostage, and my parents were enraged. I wasn’t in love; therefore, he was the one with me. Cristaldi was a terrific producer, but on a private level, I preferred to keep my distance.
Her problematic relationship with Cristaldi, which she ended in 1975, did not hinder her career.
The natural beauty, who made her debut in the French-Tunisian film Goha alongside Omar Sharif, immediately established herself as one of Italy’s top performers.
She featured in Rocco and His Brothers (1960), 8½ with Marcello Mastroianni, and The Leopard with Burt Lancaster in 1963, earning her an Oscar. Both films, in which she played an apparently unreachable object of desire, have been lauded by award-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese as two of his top twelve favorites.
‘Italian Brigitte Bardot’
She rose to prominence in Hollywood, starring with David Niven in The Pink Panther and then among giants such as John Wayne and Rita Hayworth in 1964’s Circus World.
Cardinale was praised for her performance as a prostitute in the 1968 American-Italian film Once Upon a Time in the West, in which she costarred with legends Henry Fonda, Jason Robards, and Charles Bronson.
However, viewers appreciated watching Cardinale, often known as the Italian Brigitte Bardot, in 1971’s The Legend of Frenchie King alongside the actual Bardot, her friend and adversary. What distinguishes her from Bardot? She stated that she has never been naked in a film; “I always thought it was more erotic to leave some room for imagination, hinting at things rather than showing everything.”
Working in Hollywood was both rewarding and exhausting. Cardinale said in a Life story that she wants out of the patriarchal Hollywood system, describing herself as “the most admired international film star since Sophia Loren.” Cardinale commented on the lesser pay in Europe, saying, “If I had to give up the money, I would.” I would rather not become a cliché.”
‘You cannot halt time.’
Despite the fact that her career has stalled, Cardinale says she is relieved to be out of the sexualized limelight.
“When I was younger, I desired to travel the globe. And I achieved that dream. I was never nude, and I never did anything to alter my appearance. I don’t like that at all. “I like being who I am because you can’t stop time,” Cardinale explained.
She previously said in an interview, “I’ve never done—what do you call it?—lifting in the face.” Something like this. My mother used to say, ‘Wait until you are older; you will always be smiling.’ It is true. “So why would you hide it?”
Cardinale married Italian filmmaker Pasquale Squitieri in 1975, and they were together until his death in 2017. Claudia is the couple’s only daughter.
Cardinale responded to claims in 2022 that she had been hospitalized involuntarily. Living in France, she stated, “I am close to my family and in good health. And I wish everyone a wonderful summer.
As the goodwill ambassador for the Defense of Women’s Rights, Cardinale currently maintains strong ties with UNESCO.
Claudia Cardinale’s life was marked with both pain and accomplishment. It’s wonderful to see how her story is encouraging other women, and we hope she stays well. What is your favorite Cardinale film?