Legendary Actress Claudia Cardinale Has Passed Away

Fellini’s Muse

Italian actress Claudia Cardinale has died at the age of 87, surrounded by her children in the French town of Nemours, near Paris. The news was confirmed on Tuesday evening by her agent, Laurent Saubry, to AFP.

Claudia Cardinale was born on April 15, 1938, in La Goulette, near Tunis. At the age of 17, she won a beauty contest, earning the title of «the most beautiful Italian girl in Tunisia» and a trip to the Venice Film Festival, where she immediately attracted the attention of several directors.

She rose to fame in 1963 after starring in Federico Fellini’s film 8½, which went on to win an Academy Award.

Luchino Visconti cast Cardinale in Rocco and His Brothers and The Leopard. She also secured her place in cinema history with her role in Sergio Leone’s classic 1969 western Once Upon a Time in the West. For American audiences, she was best known for her appearance in The Pink Panther.

Claudia Cardinale was awarded the Golden Lion in Venice in 1993 and the Golden Bear in Berlin in 2002.