Born Sofia Scicolone, on Sept. 20, 1934, in Rome. An illegitimate child of Romilda Villani and Riccardo Scicolone, she grew up in dire poverty, in the slums of Pozzuoli, just outside Naples during wartime. Her mother, a frustrated actress, instilled starring aspirations in the skinny little Sofia . Her first taste of glamour came at fourteen when she was crowned one of twelve Princesses of the Sea in a beauty contest ---- an honor for which she earned a railroad ticket to Rome, and 23,000 lira .

　　Sofia met producer and future husband Carlo Ponti while competing in another beauty contest. Though she placed second, Ponti gave her a screen test and he advanced her career in a succession of low-budget Italian productions. Sofia Lazzaro, as she was then known, became Sophia Loren in 1952. Sophia then came to Hollywood. She signed a contract with Paramount for her first English-speaking role. Once on the set, she fell in love with her co-star Cary Grant.

　　Though she had been involved romantically with Carlo Ponti from the age of eighteen, Sophia had suffered through years of frustration while he attempted to obtain an annulment from the church. Loren and Ponti, 24 years her senior, were married in 1957, following his Mexican divorce from his estranged wife. In 1961 she received an Academy Award for La Ciociara . This beautiful lady then became one of the major sex symbol of the sixties, competing with Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot and Jane Fonda.

　　Unfortunately the Italian law did not recognize the divorce and charged them with bigamy. They were forced to have their marriage annulled in 1962, and after four more years of frustration turned in their Italian passports and became citizens of France, where they were finally legally married in 1966. Sophia gained wider respect with her later movies like Cassandra Crossing , Una Giornata Particolare and Pret a Porter . A lot of her movies were produced by her husband.

　　Born Sofia Scicolone, on Sept. 20, 1934, in Rome. An illegitimate child of Romilda Villani and Riccardo Scicolone, she grew up in dire poverty, in the slums of Pozzuoli, just outside Naples during wartime. Her mother, a frustrated actress, instilled starring aspirations in the skinny little Sofia . Her first taste of glamour came at fourteen when she was crowned one of twelve Princesses of the Sea in a beauty contest ---- an honor for which she earned a railroad ticket to Rome, and 23,000 lira .

　　Sofia met producer and future husband Carlo Ponti while competing in another beauty contest. Though she placed second, Ponti gave her a screen test and he advanced her career in a succession of low-budget Italian productions. Sofia Lazzaro, as she was then known, became Sophia Loren in 1952. Sophia then came to Hollywood. She signed a contract with Paramount for her first English-speaking role. Once on the set, she fell in love with her co-star Cary Grant.

　　Though she had been involved romantically with Carlo Ponti from the age of eighteen, Sophia had suffered through years of frustration while he attempted to obtain an annulment from the church. Loren and Ponti, 24 years her senior, were married in 1957, following his Mexican divorce from his estranged wife. In 1961 she received an Academy Award for La Ciociara . This beautiful lady then became one of the major sex symbol of the sixties, competing with Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot and Jane Fonda.

　　Unfortunately the Italian law did not recognize the divorce and charged them with bigamy. They were forced to have their marriage annulled in 1962, and after four more years of frustration turned in their Italian passports and became citizens of France, where they were finally legally married in 1966. Sophia gained wider respect with her later movies like Cassandra Crossing , Una Giornata Particolare and Pret a Porter . A lot of her movies were produced by her husband.