She Was a Hollywood Beauty in the 60s — You’ll Be Amazed at 86
Producers quickly took notice of the radiant newcomer, but behind Claudia Cardinale’s poised image was a painful secret—she was pregnant after a violent assault by an older man. She declined most roles until producer Franco Cristaldi offered her fame and protection, In 2017,Cardinale spoke candidly about the sexual assault she had endured as a teenager. Rather than being broken by the experience, she chose to raise her child and pursue her career,even while being silenced by an industry that preferred its stars flawless and uncomplicated. “It was terrible,” she said,“but the most beautiful thing is that my wonderful Patrick was born from that violence.
Who is Claudia Cardinale?
Claudia Cardinale is a timeless icon of cinema. Recognized worldwide for her exceptional career, she has starred in many masterpieces of world cinema. Having worked for the greatest directors of her time, she has embodied dozens of characters and played roles that all correspond in a certain way to her multiple facets. If we have chosen her as the muse of THE CAPRICIOUS QUEEN, it is because she perfectly embodies the authenticity, simplicity and exceptional strength of self-affirmation that have allowed her to reach heights in the field she had chosen.
Her biography
Claudia Cardinale was born on April 15, 1938 in Tunis, Tunisia. Coming from a modest background, she is the eldest of four children (Blanche, Bruno and Adrien). Her mother tongue is Sicilian because her paternal and maternal grandparents are from Sicily. If Sicilian is the language that Claudia speaks at home, she quickly learns French during her schooling. Thus, although of Italian nationality, she only learns to speak Italian at the age of twenty when she begins to act in films.
A tomboy, often called “Claude” rather than Claudia, she was fascinated during her adolescence by the women’s liberation movement led by idols like Brigitte Bardot, four years her senior.
Her life changed when she became a mother at the age of 20, following a tragedy whose violence would haunt her for the rest of her life. She gave birth to her first child, Patrick, on October 19, 1958, in London. Her producer at the time, Franco Cristaldi, advised her to pass her son off as her little brother so as not to harm her reputation and career. It was only seven years later that she revealed this heavy secret to a journalist.
After a first marriage with Franco Cristaldi, her producer, which lasted from 1966 to 1975, the director Pasquale Squitieri became her companion. Pasquale was the great love of her life, with whom she would have a second child, her daughter Claudia.
The actress
A large part of her biography obviously concerns her passion for cinema, which she quickly made her profession by becoming an actress. Her dazzling career began at the intersection of modeling and cinema. Indeed, she entered the world of cinema for the first time in 1955. She was then 17 years old and went to Venice, during the Biennale, on the occasion of a trip offered as a reward for her first prize in the election of a beauty contest organized by the Italian film office, where she won the prize for “the most beautiful Italian in Tunis”. However, she initially refused all the role offers made to her, making only one appearance in the short film by René Vautier, Gold rings (1956).
It is especially in Goha by Jacques Baratier (1957) and The Pigeon by Mario Monicelli in 1958 that she revealed herself to the public. This was followed by her role in The girl with the suitcase by Valerio Zurlini in 1960, which truly marked the beginning of her career. She thus became “the little fiancée of Italy” according to the expression of Olivier Rajchman (“Claudia Cardinale, belle du seigneur” (l’Express, March 12, 2016).
Systematically dubbed in her first roles because of her voice being too hoarse and her Italian still imperfect, it is for example Solvejg D’Assunta who dubs her character in the original Italian version of the film. The Leopard (1963) by Luchino Visconti. The public discovered his voice in cinema for the first time only with Eight and a half by Federico Fellini (1963).
Adored by Luchino Visconti, her presence alongside Alain Delon in the film Rocco and his brothers (1960) and his appearance with Jean-Paul Belmondo in Cartridge (1962), a Franco-Italian adventure film directed by Philippe de Broca, made her known to the French public. Her international success gradually grew in the 1960s and peaked in 1968 with the release of Sergio Leone’s film Once Upon a Time in the West, which confirms his status as a world star.
During the 1970s, Claudia Cardinale attempted a step outside the world of cinema by offering a discography, which earned her great success in Europe but also in Japan. She was widely broadcast on the airwaves in France, with her titles such as Love affair And Sun…I love you, both ranked in the hit parade.
In the 2000s, Claudia Cardinale reduced the number of film shoots to devote herself more to theater or writing. She notably went on stage in Paris in 2000, performing The Venetian, Then Sweet birds of youth by Tennessee Williams in 2005.
Awards and distinctions
Her international filmography, which reaches about one hundred and thirty films, has earned her numerous prizes and awards such as the prestigious Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1993, recognizing her contribution to the world cinematographic heritage. This award marks the beginning of a succession of awards recognizing her entire film career. During that same year, she was also a member of the jury of the official selection at the Cannes Film Festival. She is adored in Italy, receiving successively the David di Donatello Prize in 1997, the Flaiano Prize in 1998, the Silver Ribbon of Honor of the National Union of Italian Film Journalists in 2000.
In 2002, Claudia Cardinale received the Honorary Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and the Platinum Award of the Viareggio Europa Cinema. In 2003, she won the European Actors Award at the Ludwigsburg Film Festival. Then France took over: in 2006, she won the Henri-Langlois Prize, and in 2008 was appointed to the rank of Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honor. In 2013, she received the Lumières Award for her entire career. Finally, in 2009, her home country awarded her the insignia of the Grand Cordon of the National Order of Merit (Tunisia).
Until 2015, she received around ten other awards at international festivals around the world.
The woman
A true idol of the 1960s, Claudia Cardinale exudes a natural charm and a singular beauty that did not leave the greatest directors of the golden age of Italian cinema with whom she worked indifferent. Highlighted for her beauty that is both delicate and incisive, solar and nocturnal, enigmatic and disturbing, she was often described by the international press as the most beautiful woman in the world during this decade.
The singularity in her expression and facial features attract the eye, hold the attention. She is a simple beauty, who does not need superfluous things to show herself in full light.
Claudia Cardinale embodies the image of a strong woman, who has managed to make a place for herself in a world of cinema still dominated by men. Her personality has made her memorable and has made her a symbol, following Brigitte Bardot, of women’s liberation. In 2004, the current president Jacques Chirac appointed her president of the committee planned for the entry into the Pantheon of the writer George Sand on the occasion of the bicentenary of her birth (a Pantheonization which ultimately did not take place). She also received a Women’s World Award in Vienna in 2009.
Throughout her life, Claudia has been involved in the defense of women’s rights. She has also been involved in the fight against AIDS and the recognition of rights for homosexuals. Furthermore, her commitment to several humanitarian causes led her to receive the title of “goodwill ambassador” awarded by UNESCO in 1999. The Claudia Cardinale Foundation created in 2022 with the support of her daughter aims precisely to perpetuate this tradition of strong commitment that characterizes her.