Early roles "|244x244px Sofia was placed in a Neapolitan acting school by her mother who earned the money by teaching piano lessons. It was through the school's instructor, Pino Serpe, that Sophia obtained her first film roles. These were small, uncredited parts in films such as
Hearts at Sea (1950) and
The Vow (1950). Sophia and her mother relocated to Rome after learning that MGM was filming the epic film
Quo Vadis there and were looking for extras. She was noticed by
Michal Waszysnki, who promoted her and helped her get her first significant role. That same year, Loren appeared in the Italian film
Era lui... sì! sì!, in which she played an
odalisque, and was credited as
Sofia Lazzaro. In the early part of the decade, she played bit parts and had minor roles in several films, including
La Favorita (1952).
Carlo Ponti changed her name and public image to appeal to a wider audience as
Sophia Loren, being a twist on the name of the Swedish actress
Märta Torén and suggested by
Goffredo Lombardo. Her first starring role was in
Aida (1953), for which she received critical acclaim. '' (1957) After playing the lead role in
Two Nights with Cleopatra (1953), her breakthrough role was in
The Gold of Naples (1954), directed by
Vittorio De Sica. Among Loren's best-known films of this period are
Samuel Bronston's
epic production of
El Cid with
Charlton Heston,
The Millionairess (1960) with
Peter Sellers,
It Started in Naples (1960) with
Clark Gable, Vittorio De Sica's triptych
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963) with Marcello Mastroianni,
Peter Ustinov's
Lady L (1965) with
Paul Newman,
Arabesque (1966) with
Gregory Peck, and
Charlie Chaplin's final film,
A Countess from Hong Kong (1967) with
Marlon Brando. Loren received four
Golden Globe Awards between 1964 and 1977 as "World Film Favorite – Female". '' (1966)
Continued success Loren appeared in fewer movies after becoming a mother in 1968. During the next decade, most of her roles were in Italian features. During the 1970s, she was paired with
Richard Burton in the last De Sica-directed film,
The Voyage (1974), and a remake of the film
Brief Encounter (1974). The film had its premiere on US television on 12 November 1974 as part of the
Hallmark Hall of Fame series on NBC. In 1976, she starred in
The Cassandra Crossing. It fared extremely well internationally, and was a respectable box office success in the US market. She co-starred with
Marcello Mastroianni again in
Ettore Scola's
A Special Day (1977). This movie was nominated for 11 international awards such as two Oscars (best actor in leading role, best foreign picture). It won a Golden Globe Award and a César Award for best foreign movie. Loren's performance was awarded with a David di Donatello Award, the seventh in her career. The movie was extremely well received by American reviewers. Following this success, Loren starred in an American thriller
Brass Target. This movie received mixed reviews, although it was moderately successful in the United States and internationally. In 1978, she won her fourth Golden Globe for "world film favorite". Other movies of this decade were Academy Award nominee
Sunflower (1970), which was a critical success, and Arthur Hiller's
Man of La Mancha (1972), which was a critical and commercial failure despite being nominated for several awards, including two Golden Globes.
Peter O'Toole and
James Coco were nominated for two NBR awards, in addition the
NBR listed
Man of La Mancha in its best ten pictures of 1972 list. In 1981 she turned down the role of
Alexis Carrington in the television series
Dynasty. Although she was set to star in 13 episodes of CBS's
Falcon Crest in 1984 as Angela Channing's half-sister Francesca Gioberti, negotiations fell through at the last moment and the role went to
Gina Lollobrigida instead. She played the title role in the 1984 TV movie
Aurora, in which she acted alongside her 11-year-old real-life son
Edoardo Ponti. Loren has recorded more than two dozen songs throughout her career, including a best-selling album of comedic songs with
Peter Sellers; reportedly, she had to fend off his romantic advances. Partly owing to Sellers's infatuation with Loren, he split with his first wife, Anne Howe. Loren has made it clear to numerous biographers that Sellers's affections were reciprocated only
platonically. This collaboration was covered in
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers where actress
Sonia Aquino portrayed Loren. The song "
Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?" by
Peter Sarstedt was said to have been inspired by Loren.
Later career In 1991, Loren received an
Academy Honorary Award, which described her as "One of the genuine treasures of
world cinema who, in a career rich with memorable performances, has added permanent luster to our art form." In 1995, she received the
Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award, a similar honorary award, bestowed by the
Hollywood Foreign Press Association, for outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment. She presented
Federico Fellini with his honorary Oscar in April 1993. In 2009, Loren stated on
Larry King Live that Fellini had planned to direct her in a film shortly before his death in 1993. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Loren was selective about choosing her films and ventured into various areas of business, including cookbooks, eyewear, jewelry, and perfume. She received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in
Robert Altman's film
Ready to Wear (1994), co-starring
Julia Roberts. In 1994, a Golden Palm Star on the
Palm Springs, California,
Walk of Stars was dedicated to her. In
Grumpier Old Men (1995), Loren played a
femme fatale opposite
Walter Matthau,
Jack Lemmon, and
Ann-Margret. The film was a box-office success and became Loren's biggest US hit in years. In 1999, the
American Film Institute named Loren among the
greatest female stars of American film history. In 2001, Loren received a Special Grand Prix of the Americas Award at the
Montreal World Film Festival for her body of work. She filmed two projects in Canada during this time: the independent film
Between Strangers (2002), directed by her son Edoardo and co-starring
Mira Sorvino, and the television miniseries
Lives of the Saints (2004). In 2009, after five years off the set and 14 years since she starred in a prominent US theatrical film, Loren starred in
Rob Marshall's film version of
Nine, based on the
Broadway musical that tells the story of a director whose midlife crisis causes him to struggle to complete his latest film; he is forced to balance the influences of numerous formative women in his life, including his deceased mother. Loren was Marshall's first and only choice for the role. The film also stars
Daniel Day-Lewis,
Penélope Cruz,
Kate Hudson,
Marion Cotillard, and
Nicole Kidman. As a part of the cast, she received her first nomination for a
Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2010, Loren played her own mother in a two-part Italian television miniseries about her early life, directed by Vittorio Sindoni with
Margareth Madè as Loren, entitled
La mia casa è piena di specchi (''''), based on the memoir by her sister Maria. In July 2013 Loren made her film comeback in an Italian short-film adaptation of
Jean Cocteau's 1930 play
The Human Voice (
La voce umana), which charts the breakdown of a woman who is left by her lover – with her younger son,
Edoardo Ponti, as director. Filming took under a month during July in various locations in Italy, including Rome and Naples. It was Loren's first theatrical film since
Nine. She returned to feature-length film, as
Holocaust survivor Madame Rosa, in Ponti's 2020 feature film
The Life Ahead and the short film: What Would Sophia Do? In 2021. In 2021 she received
AARP Best Actress and
AWFJ Grand Dame awards for her role. After turning 90 in September 2024, despite having been inactive since the release of
The Life Ahead, Loren dismissed rumors about her retirement and expressed her hopes to star in new productions. On 16 November 2017, Loren received a star at
Almeria Walk of Fame in Spain for her work on
White Sister. She received the Almería Tierra de Cine award. == Personal life ==