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. ...
Description above from the Wikipedia article Claudia Cardinale, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known for
Bambi
Self
Midi Première
Self
The Oscars
Self
Once Upon a Time in the West
Jill
Jesus of Nazareth
The Adulteress
Numéro un
Self
Numéro un
Self - Host
The String
Sara
Bankers Also Have Souls
Antonella Dufour
Midi trente
Self
The Skin
Principessa Consuelo Caracciolo
The Pink Panther
The Princess Dala
Circus World
Toni Alfredo
Ulisse - Il piacere della scoperta
Self
Rudy Valentino
Zia Rosa
The Queens
Armenia ("Fata Armenia")
Rogue City
Catarina Bastiani
8½
Claudia
Stars 90
Self
The Story of Film: An Odyssey
Self
The Audience
Aiche
Fitzcarraldo
Molly
Time of Indifference
Carla
Blood Brothers
Lucia Esposito
A Girl in Australia
Carmela
The Salamander
Elena Leporello
Téléthon
Self
The Ruffian
La 'baronne'
Nobili bugie
Duchess
Careless
Angiolina Zarri
Il bell'Antonio
Barbara Puglisi
Blindfold
Vicky Vicenti
Cartouche
Vénus
The Professionals
Maria
Belmondo, itinéraire...
Self
The Battle of Austerlitz
Pauline Bonaparte
The Legend of Frenchie King
Marie Sarrazin
Reflets de Cannes
Self
Cherche fiancé tous frais payés
Elisabeth
Son of the Pink Panther
Maria Gambrelli
The Gun
Marta Compagna
Alberto il grande
Self
Big Deal on Madonna Street
Carmelina
The Conspirators
Giuditta Di Castro
Fellinopolis
Self - Actress (archive footage)
Auguste
Cameo Appearance (uncredited)
The Leopard
Angelica Sedara / Bastiana
The French Revolution
Yolande-Gabrielle de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac (« Les Années Lumière »)
Last Stop
Rosa
Gebo and the Shadow
Doroteia
588 rue Paradis
Araxi (Mayrig) Zakarian
Blonde in Black Leather
Claudia
Stupor Mundi
Costanza d'Altavilla / d'Aragona
Little Girl in Blue Velvet
Francesca Modigliani
Popsy Pop
Popsy Pop
Mother
Araxi (Mayrig) Zakarian
A View of Love
La mère de Marc
Escape to Athena
Eleana
The Red Tent
Valeria
Goha
Amina
The French Revolution
Duchesse de Polignac
Marcello Mastroianni, latin lover
Self
A Summer in La Goulette
Self
Rocco and His Brothers
Ginetta
The Dolphins
Fedora Santini
Hollywood Invasion
Self (archive footage)
Dios de monoambiente
Self (archive footage)
The Pariah
Georgia Saratov
Mia, Liebe meines Lebens
Mary O'Sullivan
A Fine Pair
Esmeralda Marini
Woman of Wonders
Maura
Riches, belles, etc.
Baroness Mitsy
Next Summer
Jeanne
Princess Daisy
Annabelle de Fourdemont Valensky
Sandra
Sandra Dawson
All Roads Lead to Rome
Carmen
A Man in Love
Julia Steiner
Father
Elvira
Hiver 54, l'abbé Pierre
Hélène Larmier
The Magnificent Cuckold
Maria Grazia
Piccolina bella
Il bello delle donne... alcuni anni dopo
Laura Banti
Claretta
Miriam Petacci
The Silent Mountain
Nuria Calzolari
The Facts of Murder
La servetta, Assuntina
Effie Gray
Viscountess
Lost Command
Aisha
Li chiamarono... briganti!
Donna Assunta
Famous T & A
(archive footage)
Les Anneaux d'Or
A young woman
Desert of Fire
Leila
Burden of Dreams
Self - Actress
Girl with a Suitcase
Aida Zepponi
Cinéma Jacques Perrin
Self
Conversation Piece
Professor's Wife (uncredited)
History
Ida Mancuso
Don't Make Waves
Laura
Nostromo
Teresa Viola
One Russian Summer
Anya
Nonnas on the Run
Angela
My Best Fiend
Self
Diary of a Telephone Operator
Marta Chiaretti
The Hell with Heroes
Elena
Libera, My Love
Libera Valente
La Traversée du désir
Self
Bebo's Girl
Mara
Night of 100 Stars II
Self
The Day of the Owl
Rosa Nicolosi
We Are Cinema
Self (archive footage)
Belmondo by Belmondo
Self (archive footage)
Becoming Italian with Signora Enrica
Signora Enrica
Fiasco in Milan
Carmelina Nicosia
The Artist and the Model
Léa
Rumore
Venetian Honeymoon
Angelica
Upstairs and Downstairs
Maria
The Lovemakers
Bianca
Midnight Pleasures
Gabriella Sansoni
Kolossal - The Magnificent Macisti
Pauline Bonaparte
Corleone
Rosa Accordino
Bulle
Marthe
3 Strangers in Rome
Marisa
I Am the Law
Anna
The Island of Forgiveness
Agostina
Luchino Visconti
Self
The Magistrate
Maria
Drums of Fire
Roxelane
The Last Sequence
Self
A Common Sense of Modesty
Armida Ballarin
South Wind
Grazia Macri
Flash – Der Fotoreporter
Gilda Ricci / Monica Ricci
The Life of Mirrors
The Adventures of Gerard
Teresa, Countess of Morales
And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen...
Madame Falconetti
Desert of Fire
Leila
Alex et Marie
Narrator (voice)
Fire's Share
Catherine Hansen
Once Upon a Time: Sergio Leone
Self
Goodbye & Amen
Aliki
Algeria in Flames
Self - Arab woman (uncredited)
The Lions Are Loose
Albertine Ferran
Naso di cane
Laura
Twice Upon a Time in the West
Claudia
Fellini: I'm a Born Liar
Claudia (archive footage) (uncredited)
La Loi de Julien, Le bon fils
Irène Delamarche
Gina, Sophia, Claudia, trois symboles de la féminité à l'italienne
Self
The Demon Stirs
Claudia Cardinale
Luchino Visconti: Between Truth and Passion
Self (archive footage)
The Blind and the Cardinal
'La Cardinale'
Monicelli: La versione di Mario
Self (archive footage)
Joy de V.
Signora Morosini
10-07: L'affaire Zeus
Agent
A Rose for Everyone
Rosa
Sergio Leone, une Amérique de légende
Self (archive footage)
Pietro Germi - The Good, The Beautiful and The Bad
Self
The Wages of Sin
Self - Actress
Sergio Leone: The Way I See Things
Self
Una gita a Roma
Marguerite
A Dying Breed: The Making of 'The Leopard'
Self
Something to Do with Death
Self - Actress
Elles ne pensent qu'à ça...
Margaux
Man & Wife, Cop & Crook
Cécile Deschamps
Henry IV
Matilda
An Opera of Violence
Self - Actress
Il falso bugiardo
Self (archive footage)
The Magic of Fellini
Self (archive footage)
Marcello, una vita dolce
Self
Si salvi chi vuole
Luisa
The Years of Lost Images
Self
Por un puñado de sueños
Self - Interviewee
Il gattopardo: Viaggio della memoria
Self
Nana Mouskouri, Momente ihres Lebens
Self (archive footage)
Claudia la mystérieuse
Self
Act of Sorrow
Elena
The Man with the Cigar in His Mouth
Self
Second to Nun
Self - Festival Actress
Claudia Cardinale, la créature du secret
Self (archive footage)
An Italian Indian: The Pink Panther Princess With Claudia Cardinale
Self
La Folle Histoire de Jean-Paul Belmondo
Self
Il giorno della Shoah
Ester
Visconti: La verdad del melodrama
Self
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
The Merv Griffin Show
Self
Champs-Elysées
Self
Sacrée Soirée
Self
Vivement dimanche
Self
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
Self
Spécial cinéma
Self
Samedi soir
Self
Cinépanorama
Self