She is the illegitimate child of Romilda Villani and Riccardo Scicolone. Sophia grew up in the slums of Pozzuoli, just outside Naples. After insignificant parts in Variety Lights and Quo Vadis, she met movie-director Carlo Ponti, some 22 years her senior, whom she later married. Perhaps he was the father figure she never experienced as a child. In 1961, she received an Academy Award for Two Women ("Two Women"). This beautiful lady became one of the major sex symbol of the sixties, competing with Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot and Jane Fonda. She was a very close friend of Cary Grant.

She gained wider respect with her later movies like The Cassandra Crossing, A Special Day and Prêt-à-Porter. A lot of her movies were produced by her husband. In many of her movies, she played together with Marcello Mastroianni.



Man of La Mancha (1972): $750,000
The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964): $1,000,000
El Cid (1961): $750,000
The Pride and the Passion (1957): $200,000

As a child, she also had the nickname, "Toothpick". Mother of Carlo Ponti Jr. (b. 1969) and Edoardo Ponti (b. 1973). Father is Carlo Ponti. Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world (1991). She served 18 days in prison in Italy in 1982 for tax evasion. Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#25) (1995). She didn't get along with Marlon Brando during the shooting of A Countess from Hong Kong (1967), especially after the day they were doing a love scene and he commented, "Did you know you have hairs up your nostrils?". Carlo Ponti obtained a Mexican divorce from his first wife and married Sophia by proxy, while she was in Hollywood, filming Houseboat (1958) - and dating co-star Cary Grant (17 September 1957). Her sister Maria Scicolone (born Anna Maria Scicolone) was married to dictator Benito Mussolini's son, Romano Mussolini. Measurements: 38C-24-38 (self-described - 1955, and from Edith Head- 1957), 36D-24-37 3/4 (at age 50 - 1985) (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine) Her mother won an all-Italy Greta Garbo lookalike contest run by MGM in 1932; but, being only 17 years old, her mother wouldn't allow her to pursue her Hollywood dream. Soon after, she became pregnant with Sofia. Her mother named her after her paternal grandmother, so when Sofia's father abandoned her, her maternal grandmother began calling her 'Lella'. Was named #21 Actress, The American Film Institutes 50 Greatest Screen Legends At times, male actors have been hesitant to appear with her, due to the fact that she stands nearly 5' 9" and wears towering heels and tall hair that can make her look over 6 feet tall. Her "Best Actress" Academy Award was the first Oscar ever given for a performance in a "foreign-language" film. President of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1966. One of eight women, also among them Susan Sarandon and author Isabel Allende, carrying the Olympic flag at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games' opening ceremony in Turin (10 February 2006). Cited as one of Drew Barrymore's early role models. Loren was a close friend of Drew's godmother, Anna Strasberg (wife of famed acting coach Lee Strasberg.) Anna would bring young Drew - from age 8 until she was 12-to Sophia's ranch outside Los Angeles where Drew would spend summers with Loren's two sons. (Jane magazine interview March 2007). Appeared in the 2007 edition of the famous Pirelli Calendar at the age of 72, making her the oldest model in its history. Mentioned in Bob Dylan's song "I Shall Be Free". Being one of the contestants at the 1950 Miss Italia competition, she earned the 2nd place and was awarded "Miss Eleganza". Is one of five performers to win an Oscar playing a character that spoke mostly in a foreign language. The other are Marion Cotillard, Robert De Niro, Roberto Benigni and Benicio Del Toro. Godmother of Drew Barrymore. Grandmother of Lucia Ponti (b. 2006) and Vittorio Ponti (b. 2007).