Claudia Cardinale
Born April 15, 1938 (Age: 88)
•
Tunis, Tunisia
Biography
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.
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.
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Filmography
We Are Cinema
2021
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as Self (archive footage)
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Age: 83
Gina, Sophia, Claudia, trois symboles de la féminité à l'italienne
2019
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as Self
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Age: 80
No Image
Dios de monoambiente
2018
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as Self (archive footage)
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Age: 79
The Blind and the Cardinal
2016
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as 'La Cardinale'
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Age: 78
Twice Upon a Time in the West
2015
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as Claudia
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Age: 77
No Image
Marcello Mastroianni, latin lover
2015
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as Self
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Age: 76
Effie Gray
2014
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as Viscountess
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Age: 75
Le Mystère Bardot
2012
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as
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Age: 73
Hollywood Invasion
2011
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as Self (archive footage)
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Age: 73
Father
2011
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as Elvira
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Age: 72
No Image
Il giorno della Shoah
2010
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as Ester
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Age: 71
Pietro Germi - The Good, The Beautiful and The Bad
2009
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as Self
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Age: 71
Hollywood sul Tevere
2009
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as
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Age: 71
La Traversée du désir
2009
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as Self
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Age: 70
Marcello, una vita dolce
2006
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as Self
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Age: 68
Sergio Leone: The Way I See Things
2006
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as Self
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Age: 67
A Dying Breed: The Making of 'The Leopard'
2004
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as Self
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Age: 66
Por un puñado de sueños
2004
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as Self - Interviewee
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Age: 65
Luchino Visconti
2002
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as Self
•
Age: 64
And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen...
2002
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as Madame Falconetti
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Age: 64
The Magic of Fellini
2002
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as Self (archive footage)
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Age: 63
Once Upon a Time: Sergio Leone
2000
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as Self
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Age: 61
My Best Fiend
1999
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as Self
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Age: 61
Riches, belles, etc.
1998
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as Baroness Mitsy
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Age: 59
Stupor Mundi
1997
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as Costanza d'Altavilla / d'Aragona
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Age: 59
The Man with the Cigar in His Mouth
1997
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as Self
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Age: 59
Desert of Fire
1997
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as Leila
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Age: 58
A Summer in La Goulette
1996
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as Self
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Age: 58
Elles ne pensent qu'à ça...
1994
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as Margaux
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Age: 55
No Image
Alex et Marie
1994
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as Narrator (voice)
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Age: 55
No Image
Il gattopardo: Viaggio della memoria
1994
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as Self
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Age: 55
Son of the Pink Panther
1993
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as Maria Gambrelli
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Age: 55
588 rue Paradis
1992
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as Araxi (Mayrig) Zakarian
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Age: 53
Mother
1991
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as Araxi (Mayrig) Zakarian
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Age: 53
Drums of Fire
1990
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as Roxelane
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Age: 52
Act of Sorrow
1990
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as Elena
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Age: 52
Hiver 54, l'abbé Pierre
1989
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as Hélène Larmier
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Age: 51
The French Revolution
1989
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as Duchesse de Polignac
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Age: 51
A Man in Love
1987
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as Julia Steiner
•
Age: 49
Woman of Wonders
1985
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as Maura
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Age: 47
Night of 100 Stars II
1985
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as Self
•
Age: 46
Next Summer
1985
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as Jeanne
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Age: 46
The Skin
1981
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as Principessa Consuelo Caracciolo
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Age: 43
The Salamander
1981
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as Elena Leporello
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Age: 43
Si salvi chi vuole
1980
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as Luisa
•
Age: 41
Corleone
1978
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as Rosa Accordino
•
Age: 40
The Gun
1978
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as Marta Compagna
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Age: 40
Little Girl in Blue Velvet
1978
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as Francesca Modigliani
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Age: 40
Fire's Share
1978
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as Catherine Hansen
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Age: 39
Kolossal - The Magnificent Macisti
1977
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as Pauline Bonaparte
•
Age: 38
Conversation Piece
1974
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as Professor's Wife (uncredited)
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Age: 36
Blood Brothers
1974
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as Lucia Esposito
•
Age: 35
One Russian Summer
1973
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as Anya
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Age: 34
The Pariah
1972
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as Georgia Saratov
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Age: 34
The Audience
1972
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as Aiche
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Age: 33
The Red Tent
1969
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as Valeria
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Age: 31
Diary of a Telephone Operator
1969
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as Marta Chiaretti
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Age: 31
The Conspirators
1969
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as Giuditta Di Castro
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Age: 31
Once Upon a Time in the West
1968
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as Jill
•
Age: 30
Sandra
1965
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as Sandra Dawson
•
Age: 27
The Magnificent Cuckold
1964
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as Maria Grazia
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Age: 26
Time of Indifference
1964
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as Carla
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Age: 26
Circus World
1964
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as Toni Alfredo
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Age: 26
Bebo's Girl
1964
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as Mara
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Age: 25
The Pink Panther
1963
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as The Princess Dala
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Age: 25
The Leopard
1963
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as Angelica Sedara / Bastiana
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Age: 24
8½
1963
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as Claudia
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Age: 24
Careless
1962
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as Angiolina Zarri
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Age: 23
Cartouche
1962
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as Vénus
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Age: 23
Auguste
1961
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as Cameo Appearance (uncredited)
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Age: 23
The Lions Are Loose
1961
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as Albertine Ferran
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Age: 23
The Lovemakers
1961
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as Bianca
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Age: 23
Girl with a Suitcase
1961
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as Aida Zepponi
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Age: 22
Rocco and His Brothers
1960
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as Ginetta
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Age: 22
The Dolphins
1960
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as Fedora Santini
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Age: 22
The Battle of Austerlitz
1960
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as Pauline Bonaparte
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Age: 22
Il bell'Antonio
1960
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as Barbara Puglisi
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Age: 21
Fiasco in Milan
1959
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as Carmelina Nicosia
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Age: 21
Upstairs and Downstairs
1959
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as Maria
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Age: 21
The Facts of Murder
1959
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as La servetta, Assuntina
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Age: 21
The Magistrate
1959
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as Maria
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Age: 21
Goha
1959
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as Amina
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Age: 21
Venetian Honeymoon
1959
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as Angelica
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Age: 20
South Wind
1959
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as Grazia Macri
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Age: 20
3 Strangers in Rome
1958
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as Marisa
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Age: 20
Big Deal on Madonna Street
1958
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as Carmelina
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Age: 20
Algeria in Flames
1958
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as Self - Arab woman (uncredited)
•
Age: 19
Les Anneaux d'Or
1956
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as A young woman
•
Age: 17