Claudia Cardinale
Claude Joséphine Rose "Claudia" Cardinale (15 April 1938 – 23 September 2025) was an Italian actress. Regarded as one of the leading figures of Italian cinema, alongside Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida, she achieved international recognition during a career spanning more than six decades. Celebrated in the 1960s as "the most beautiful woman in the world" and widely considered a sex symbol of the era, Cardinale appeared in more than 175 films, primarily in Italy and France, across genres including comedy, drama, spaghetti westerns, and historical epics. She collaborated with acclaimed directors such as Federico Fellini, Sergio Leone, and Werner Herzog, and several of her films are regarded as significant works in the history of cinema. At the time of her death, she was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of European cinema.
Born and raised in La Goulette, a municipality in Tunisia near Tunis, Cardinale won the "Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia" competition in 1957, the prize being a trip to Italy, which quickly led to film contracts, due above all to the involvement of producer Franco Cristaldi, who acted as her mentor for a number of years and later married her. After making her debut in a minor role with Egyptian star Omar Sharif in Goha (1958), Cardinale became one of the best-known actresses in Italy, with roles in films such as Rocco and His Brothers (1960), Girl with a Suitcase (1961), Cartouche (1962), The Leopard (1963) and Federico Fellini's 8½ (1963).
From 1963, Cardinale appeared in The Pink Panther opposite David Niven. She went on to appear in the Hollywood films Blindfold (1966), Lost Command (1966), The Professionals (1966), Don't Make Waves (1967) with Tony Curtis, The Hell with Heroes (1968), The Red Tent (1969), A Fine Pair (1968), The Salamander (1981), and the Sergio Leone Western Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), a joint U.S.–Italian production, in which she was praised for her role as a former prostitute opposite Jason Robards, Charles Bronson and Henry Fonda.
Jaded with Hollywood and not wanting to become a cliché, Cardinale returned to Italian and French cinema and garnered the David di Donatello for Best Actress award for her roles in The Day of the Owl (1968) and as a prostitute alongside Alberto Sordi in A Girl in Australia (1971).[1] In 1974, Cardinale met director Pasquale Squitieri, who would become her partner. She frequently featured in his films, including Blood Brothers (1974), Father of the Godfathers (1978) and Claretta (1984), the last of which won her the Nastro d'Argento Award for Best Actress. In 1982, she starred in Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo as the love interest of Klaus Kinski, who raises the funds to buy a steamship in Peru. In 2010, Cardinale received the Best Actress Award at the 47th Antalya "Golden Orange" International Film Festival for her performance as an elderly Italian woman who takes in a young Turkish exchange student in Signora Enrica.
Over the years, Cardinale was outspoken about women's rights and became a UNESCO goodwill ambassador for the Defence of Women's Rights beginning in March 2000. In February 2011, the Los Angeles Times Magazine named Cardinale among the 50 most beautiful women in film history. ...
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Known for
Bambi
Self
Midi Première
Self
The Audience
Aiche
Once Upon a Time in the West
Jill
The Oscars
Self
The Salamander
Elena Leporello
Numéro un
Self
Numéro un
Self - Host
The Leopard
Angelica Sedara / Bastiana
The Magistrate
Maria
Midi trente
Self
Fitzcarraldo
Molly
Bankers Also Have Souls
Antonella Dufour
Escape to Athena
Eleana
Blonde in Black Leather
Claudia
The Facts of Murder
La servetta, Assuntina
Blood Brothers
Lucia Esposito
Fiasco in Milan
Carmelina Nicosia
Ulisse - Il piacere della scoperta
Self
Goodbye & Amen
Aliki
The Skin
Principessa Consuelo Caracciolo
The Dolphins
Fedora Santini
Corleone
Rosa Accordino
Jesus of Nazareth
The Adulteress
Blindfold
Vicky Vicenti
Big Deal on Madonna Street
Carmelina
The Ruffian
La 'baronne'
Cartouche
Vénus
Diary of a Telephone Operator
Marta Chiaretti
The Wages of Sin
Self - Actress
The Queens
Armenia ("Fata Armenia")
One Russian Summer
Anya
8½
Claudia
Rocco and His Brothers
Ginetta
Careless
Angiolina Zarri
The Adventures of Gerard
Teresa, Countess of Morales
Rogue City
Catarina Bastiani
Téléthon
Self
Drums of Fire
Roxelane
Lost Command
Aisha
A Summer in La Goulette
Self
Fellinopolis
Self - Actress (archive footage)
Conversation Piece
Professor's Wife (uncredited)
Circus World
Toni Alfredo
The Magnificent Cuckold
Maria Grazia
La Storia
Ida Mancuso
Stars 90
Self
A Fine Pair
Esmeralda Marini
A Dying Breed: The Making of 'The Leopard'
Self
Kolossal - The Magnificent Macisti
Pauline Bonaparte
The Conspirators
Giuditta Di Castro
Don't Make Waves
Laura
Time of Indifference
Carla
Il falso bugiardo
Self (archive footage)
The String
Sara
Il bell'Antonio
Barbara Puglisi
The Pink Panther
The Princess Dala
Burden of Dreams
Self - Actress
Sandra
Sandra Dawson
Act of Sorrow
Elena
The Red Tent
Valeria
A View of Love
La mère de Marc
A Man in Love
Julia Steiner
The Life of Mirrors
The Gun
Marta Compagna
Son of the Pink Panther
Maria Gambrelli
588 rue Paradis
Araxi (Mayrig) Zakarian
Mother
Araxi (Mayrig) Zakarian
The Silent Mountain
Nuria Calzolari
The Pariah
Georgia Saratov
All Roads Lead to Rome
Carmen
Gebo and the Shadow
Doroteia
Once Upon a Time: Sergio Leone
Self
Rudy Valentino
Zia Rosa
The Hell with Heroes
Elena
Stupor Mundi
Costanza d'Altavilla / d'Aragona
Alberto il grande
Self
My Best Fiend
Self
Girl with a Suitcase
Aida Zepponi
The Story of Film: An Odyssey
Self
An Opera of Violence
Self - Actress
Marcello, una vita dolce
Self
Belmondo by Belmondo
Self (archive footage)
La Traversée du désir
Self
The Professionals
Maria
Nonnas on the Run
Angela
Libera, My Love
Libera Valente
Luchino Visconti: Between Truth and Passion
Self (archive footage)
The Legend of Frenchie King
Marie Sarrazin
A Common Sense of Modesty
Armida Ballarin
I Am the Law
Anna
Something to Do with Death
Self - Actress
Nobili bugie
Duchess
Fire's Share
Catherine Hansen
Little Girl in Blue Velvet
Francesca Modigliani
The Day of the Owl
Rosa Nicolosi
We Are Cinema
Self (archive footage)
Cherche fiancé tous frais payés
Elisabeth
Midnight Pleasures
Gabriella Sansoni
Famous T & A
(archive footage)
Bebo's Girl
Mara
Una gita a Roma
Marguerite
Venetian Honeymoon
Angelica
Desert of Fire
Leila
A Rose for Everyone
Rosa
Next Summer
Jeanne
Monicelli: La versione di Mario
Self (archive footage)
The Magic of Fellini
Self (archive footage)
3 Strangers in Rome
Marisa
Woman of Wonders
Maura
Hiver 54, l'abbé Pierre
Hélène Larmier
Reflets de Cannes
Self
Li chiamarono... briganti!
Donna Assunta
Pietro Germi - The Good, The Beautiful and The Bad
Self
The Battle of Austerlitz
Pauline Bonaparte
Si salvi chi vuole
Luisa
The Demon Stirs
Claudia Cardinale
Auguste
Cameo Appearance (uncredited)
Belmondo, itinéraire...
Self
Piccolina bella
The Artist and the Model
Léa
The Last Sequence
Self
Upstairs and Downstairs
Maria
Becoming Italian with Signora Enrica
Signora Enrica
Les Anneaux d'Or
A young woman
Princess Daisy
Annabelle de Fourdemont Valensky
Sergio Leone, une Amérique de légende
Self (archive footage)
A Girl in Australia
Carmela
Claretta
Miriam Petacci
Naso di cane
Laura
Alex et Marie
Narrator (voice)
Last Stop
Rosa
Visconti: La verdad del melodrama
Self
Dios de monoambiente
Self (archive footage)
The Lions Are Loose
Albertine Ferran
The Island of Forgiveness
Agostina
The Man with the Cigar in His Mouth
Self
The Blind and the Cardinal
'La Cardinale'
Il bello delle donne... alcuni anni dopo
Laura Banti
And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen...
Madame Falconetti
The French Revolution
Duchesse de Polignac
Popsy Pop
Popsy Pop
Nostromo
Teresa Viola
Fellini: I'm a Born Liar
Claudia (archive footage) (uncredited)
Il gattopardo: Viaggio della memoria
Self
Twice Upon a Time in the West
Claudia
Hollywood Invasion
Self (archive footage)
Night of 100 Stars II
Self
Sergio Leone: The Way I See Things
Self
Desert of Fire
Leila
Effie Gray
Viscountess
Joy de V.
Signora Morosini
Claudia Cardinale, la créature du secret
Self (archive footage)
The French Revolution
Yolande-Gabrielle de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac (segment "Années Lumière, Les")
Riches, belles, etc.
Baroness Mitsy
The Lovemakers
Bianca
Bulle
Marthe
La Folle Histoire de Jean-Paul Belmondo
Self
Marcello Mastroianni, latin lover
Self
Man & Wife, Cop & Crook
Cécile Deschamps
Cinéma Jacques Perrin
Self
Flash – Der Fotoreporter
Gilda Ricci / Monica Ricci
South Wind
Grazia Macri
10-07: L'affaire Zeus
Agent
The Years of Lost Images
Self
Goha
Amina
La Loi de Julien, Le bon fils
Irène Delamarche
History
Ida Mancuso
Luchino Visconti
Self
Henry IV
Matilda
Mia, Liebe meines Lebens
Mary O'Sullivan
Gina, Sophia, Claudia, trois symboles de la féminité à l'italienne
Self
Elles ne pensent qu'à ça...
Margaux
Nana Mouskouri, Momente ihres Lebens
Self (archive footage)
Rumore
Por un puñado de sueños
Self - Interviewee
Father
Elvira
Claudia la mystérieuse
Self
Il giorno della Shoah
Ester
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
Second to Nun
Self - Festival Actress
An Italian Indian: The Pink Panther Princess With Claudia Cardinale
Self
The Merv Griffin Show
Self
Vivement dimanche
Self
Champs-Elysées
Self
Sacrée Soirée
Self
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
Self
Spécial cinéma
Self
Cinépanorama
Self
Samedi soir
Self