{"id":157077,"date":"2025-09-24T07:21:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T07:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/157077\/"},"modified":"2025-09-24T07:21:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T07:21:18","slug":"italian-actress-and-star-of-the-pink-panther-dies-aged-87","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/157077\/","title":{"rendered":"Italian actress and star of The Pink Panther dies aged 87"},"content":{"rendered":"

Harry Sekulich and<\/p>\n

Clizia Sala<\/p>\n

\"GettyGetty Images<\/p>\n

Claudia Cardinale posing in Venice in 1958<\/p>\n

Claudia Cardinale, the Tunisian-born Italian star of The Leopard, 8 1\/2 and Pink Panther, has died at the age of 87.<\/p>\n

She had a six-decade long career, rising to fame during the golden age of Italian cinema, and was directed by greats such as Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti.<\/p>\n

The actress died at Nemours in France in the company of her children, according to her agent Laurent Savry.<\/p>\n

“She leaves us the legacy of a free and inspired woman both as a woman and as an artiste,” Savry told AFP news agency.<\/p>\n

Born in Tunisia to Sicilian parents in April 1938, Cardinale won a beauty contest at 16 that saw her declared “the most beautiful Italian woman in Tunis”.<\/p>\n

The prize was a trip to the Venice film festival, where she was approached by directors and producers to become involved in filmmaking.<\/p>\n

She later described her reluctance to abandon her hopes of becoming a teacher to “give this cinema thing a go”, in her father’s words. <\/p>\n

Her early career was marked by challenges. She was picking up small roles as a teenager when she was raped. When she learned that she was pregnant, a mentor convinced her to give birth in secret abroad in London. For several years, she introduced her son, Patrick, to people as her younger brother. <\/p>\n

Because she had grown up speaking French, Arabic, and her parents’ Sicilian dialect, her accent was seen as unacceptable, and her voice was dubbed by other Italian actors. <\/p>\n

She shot to fame in 1963 when she appeared in Fellini’s Oscar-winning 8 1\/2<\/a> and the epic period drama The Leopard, which became a Visconti classic.<\/p>\n

“Visconti wanted me brunette with long hair. Fellini wanted me blonde,” Cardinale said.<\/p>\n

She worked in Hollywood in the 1960s, starring in Blake Edwards’ The Pink Panther and Sergio Leone’s Once Upon A Time In the West, and appearing with actors including Henry Fonda and Charles Bronson.<\/p>\n

\"Cardinale<\/p>\n

Cardinale interviewed by the BBC European Services in 1962, after meeting Queen Elizabeth II at a Gala evening in the West End<\/p>\n

\"GettyGetty Images<\/p>\n

Cardinale (C) alongside actor Burt Lancaster (L) in a presentation of the Visconti’s The Leopard, 1963<\/p>\n

Critics praised her as the “embodiment of postwar European glamour”.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on her career later, Cardinale recalled: “The best compliment I ever got was from actor David Niven while filming The Pink Panther.<\/p>\n

“He said: ‘Claudia, along with spaghetti, you’re Italy’s greatest invention.'”<\/p>\n

After separating from film producer Franco Cristaldi in the early 70s, she began a life-long relationship with Neapolitan director Pasquale Squitieri, with whom she had a daughter, also named Claudia.<\/p>\n

She performed into her 80s, appearing in the Swiss TV Series Bulle in 2020.<\/p>\n

\"GettyGetty Images<\/p>\n

Cardinale (right) at Cannes Film Festival 2010, with French actor Alain Delon (left)<\/p>\n

In 2000 Cardinale was named Unesco Goodwill Ambassador in recognition of her advocacy for women’s rights.<\/p>\n

In 2002, she was awarded a lifetime achievement at the Berlin Film Festival.<\/p>\n

“I’ve lived more than 150 lives: prostitute, saint, romantic, every kind of woman, and that is marvellous to have this opportunity to change yourself,” she said. <\/p>\n

Italy’s Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli called her “one of the greatest Italian actresses of all time”, embodying “Italian grace”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Harry Sekulich and Clizia Sala Getty Images Claudia Cardinale posing in Venice in 1958 Claudia Cardinale, the Tunisian-born…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":157078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-157077","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}