Italian cinema icon and The Leopard star Claudia Cardinale DIES at 87

Claudia Cardinale Death: The Italian actress Claudia Cardinale, who was born in Tunisia and starred in The Leopard, 8 1/2, and Pink Panther, passed away at the age of 87. She was directed by greats like Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti and had a six-decade career, becoming well-known during the golden era of Italian film. According to her agent Laurent Savry, the actress passed away at Nemours in France while her kids were present.

"She leaves us the legacy of a free and inspired woman both as a woman and as an artiste," Savry told AFP news agency.

Cardinale was crowned as...

Cardinale, who was born in April 1938 to Sicilian parents in Tunisia, was crowned "the most beautiful Italian woman in Tunis" after winning a beauty pageant at the age of 16.

The reward was a trip to the Venice film festival, where producers and directors contacted her about being engaged in the film industry.

Cardinale's life struggles

She subsequently described about how reluctant she was to give up her dream of becoming a teacher in order to "give this cinema thing a go," as her father put it. She faced difficulties in her early career. When she was raped, she was a teenager taking on little roles. Upon discovering she was expecting, a mentor persuaded her to give birth covertly in London. She presented her son, Patrick, as her younger brother for a number of years.

She faced challenges for her accent

Her accent was deemed inappropriate due to her upbringing speaking French, Arabic, and her parents' Sicilian dialect; as a result, other Italian actors dubbed her voice. Her roles in Fellini's Oscar-winning 8 1/2 and the epic period drama The Leopard, which became a Visconti classic, rocketed her to stardom in 1963.

"Visconti wanted me brunette with long hair. Fellini wanted me blonde," Cardinale said.

Claudia Cardinale's works

In the 1960s, she worked in Hollywood, starring in Blake Edwards' The Pink Panther and Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time In the West, alongside Henry Fonda and Charles Bronson.