| Claudia Cardinale | ||
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CATEGORIES OF SWINGIN’ CHICK: Movie Star BIRTH: Claudia was born in '39, so she was a white-hot 21 as the decade began. Her exotic birthplace: Tunis, Tunisia. Her moniker at birth: Claude Josephine Rose Cardin. IMPACT ON THE '60s: Her impact was strong but not legendary. Claudia was similar to other classy well-tanned European babes such as Gina Lollabrigida, Claudine Auger and Sophia Loren, so she wasn't as distinctive as she might've been. Still, she was a huge international star, as verified by all the awards she won during the '60s: the David di Donatello Award in '62, the Grolla d'Oro in '64, the European Prix Orange for popularity in '64, the Victorie of French Cinema as the Best Foreign Actress in '64 and '65, and the Nastro d'Argento in '65. CAREER IN THE '60s: She had a long career, but she needed more good English-language movies to be fully established with American audiences. Among her highlights during the decade were Fellini's 8 ˝ ('63), The Pink Panther ('64), and Once Upon a Time in the West ('68), with lots of sultry Italian flicks enhancing her international appeal. CAREER OUTSIDE THE '60s: She started her career making lots of Italian movies in the late '50s, then more Italian movies from '70s onward. She did a couple of Pink Panther sequels and some TV mini-series roles like "Princess Daisy"; none of it was overwhelmingly great, but at least she was working.
HER '60s LOOK: Mama mia -- her dark, sultry sexiness has never gone out of style. Claudia was voted the Most Beautiful Girl in Tunisia, 1957. At almost 5' 7" tall, she's got a slinky model’s body perfect for St. Tropez beaches or the Monte Carlo casino. In '63's Movie Life Yearbook her stats were given as 126 pounds, 37-22-36. LIFESTYLE: During the sixties Claudia had a son, Patrick, who was born in '58, but the father was never named, as the child was the product of a rape. For years Claudia presented Patrick as her brother. Claudia was married to producer Franco Cristaldi -- who was fifteen years her senior -- in Atlanta in '66. This marriage ended in divorce in '75, and Cristaldi died in '92. After her divorce in '75, she soon took up with, but didn't marry, Italian film director Pasquale Squitieri, and had a daughter -- Claudia Jr. -- with him in '79. EXTRAS: Her father was Sicilian, her mother was French/Italian, Claudia has one sis and two bros ... Alberto Moravia, one of Italy's most prominent writers and the novelist whose book was the basis of a Brigitte Bardot film, Godard's Contempt in '63, wrote a biography of Claudia in the '60s, the equivalent of a great American novelist like Thomas Wolfe writing a biography of a starlet in this decade ... from 1958 to '98 she appeared on 682 magazine covers around the world, from countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Uruguay, and the USA ... 499 of these 682 magazine covers came from '60-'69 ... she appeared in the foldout -- not on the cover -- of the first edition of Bob Dylan's classic Blonde on Blonde record album in the mid-'60s, she's not identified and is surrounded by eight photos of Dylan; in subsequent editions of this album her image was removed; it was never explained why she was in there in the first place or why she was taken out ... Claudia also created waves in the '60s when she was wearing a miniskirt for a meeting with the Pope! Now THAT'S swingin'! ... some of the info on this page was contributed by Claudia Cardinale expert and photo archivist Ernest Farino. Claudia's got a bio in the new book Swingin' Chicks of the '60s, published by Cedco Publishing: http://www.cedco.com. Click on the linkage in the Table o' Contents on the left to select another Swingin' Chick of the '60s, baby.
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HER SWINGIN’ '60s CREDENTIALS:The Italian version of 
TALENT: Beautiful, earthy, and ... did we mention beautiful? Plus, she can
speak four languages: French, Italian, English, and Spanish, not to
mention a little Arabic. In honor of her long career, Italy gave her the
Rudolph Valentino Lifetime Achievement Award in '99.