Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida dies aged 95
Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida has died at the age of 95, according to ANSA news agency.
She was one of the highest-profile European actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s, playing opposite Hollywood stars including Humphrey Bogart, Rock Hudson, Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis and Frank Sinatra.
Lollobrigida with Tony Curtis in Trapeze, in 1956. Pic: Snap/Shutterstock
Starting out from humble beginnings, she became one of the most recognisable faces of Italian post-war cinema.
An international sex symbol – rivalled only by fellow Italian actress Sophia Loren – Lollobrigida was one of the last of the last remaining stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
Her former lawyer, Giulia Citani, said she died at a clinic in Rome, but did not give her cause of death.
Affectionately known in her native Italy simply as “La Lollo”, she starred in films including The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Solomon and Sheba, Beautiful But Dangerous and The World’s Most Beautiful Woman during her five-decade acting career.
Eventually stepping away from the movie world, Lollobrigida found success as a photographer and sculptor in later life, also venturing into the world of politics.
In 1975, rumours swirled that she had had an affair with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, after she secured exclusive access to him for a documentary she produced.
She later made headlines in 2006, when aged 79, she announced she was marrying a man 34 years her junior. She later called off the wedding, blaming the media for spoiling it.
Lollobrigida with Yul Brynner in Solomon And Sheba, in 1959. Pic: Moviestore/Shutterstock
Just last September, she failed in a bid to win a seat in the Italian parliament for Sovereign and Popular Italy (ISP), a leftist political party at national elections, after they failed to reach the 3% electoral threshold.
In 1975, rumours swirled that she had had an affair with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, after she secured exclusive access to him for a documentary she produced.
She later made headlines in 2006, when aged 79, she announced she was marrying a man 34 years her junior. She went on to call off the wedding, blaming the media for spoiling it.
Lollobrigida with Anthony Quinn in Hunchback Of Notre Dame in 1957. Pic: Snap/Shutterstock
When she was 80, she said in an interview: “All my life I wanted a real love, an authentic love, but I have never had one. No one has ever truly loved me. I am a cumbersome woman”.
Born to a working-class family in Subiaco, a poor mountainous area east of Rome, Lollobrigida initially studied sculpture, but got her break in the film world after finishing third in the 1947 Miss Italia beauty contest.
One of her earliest screen roles was playing an adulteress in 1953 film The Wayward Wife. Leading roles in two Italian comedies directed by Luigi Comencini, Bread, Love and Dreams, and Bread, Love and Jealousy followed.
Lollobrigida at the Beverly Hills hotel in Los Angeles in 1959. Pic: AP
A role opposite Humphrey Bogart in John Huston’s 1954 film Beat the Devil added to her exposure, but it was the 1955 movie The World’s Most Beautiful Woman – which became one of her signature roles – which sealed her worldwide fame.
Despite making it in Hollywood, she preferred to work closer to home, making films throughout the 1960s with Italian directors such as Mario Bolognini.
Her last big well-known film, the 1968 farce Buona Sera, Mrs Campbell, which also starred American actor Telly Savalas, earned her several award nominations.
Born Luigia Lollobrigida on 4 July, 1927, she studied at Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, before working as a model under the stage name Diana Loris.
Tempestuous and impulsive by nature, her on-screen success was accompanied by intense interest from Italian paparazzi and gossip writers.
At one point, in a bid to guard her private life, she retreated to an isolated villa on Rome’s ancient Appian Way.
In 1950 she married the Yugoslavian doctor Milko Skofic, who later became her manager. The couple had one son, Milko Junior.
They separated after nearly 17 years, with Lollobrigida saying at the time she had no intention of remarrying.
Pic: Lollobrigida pictured in the 1980s. Baril Pascal/ABACA/Shutterstock
However, in 2006, she announced her she would be marring close friend Javier Rigau, a Spanish man 34 years her junior.
Months later, she called off the wedding, saying that the media coverage had ruined her life with “endless attacks, slander and violence”.
She later said in an interview with Reuters that she felt responsible for Rigau’s suffering, after the Spanish media labelled him an opportunist. In contrast, she said she was “more used to having falsehoods written about me”.
Entertainment
Snoop Dogg becomes co-owner and investor of Swansea football club saying it’s ‘an underdog just like me’
Police are taking no further action over Kneecap’s performance at Glastonbury.
Officers said they had investigated “comments about a forthcoming court case made during Kneecap’s performance” at the festival on 28 June.
However, after Crown Prosecution Service advice, they decided there is not enough evidence “to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence”.
The Avon & Somerset force started investigating the Irish group’s show last month, as well as comments by punk-rap duo Bob Vylan.
It said they were looking at a possible public order incident.
Police said on Friday that the investigation into Bob Vylan’s performance was ongoing.
The London duo were widely criticised – and caused a BBC crisis – after leading on-stage chants of “death to the IDF” (Israel Defence Forces).
Kneecap’s Liam Og O Hannaidh appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in June. Pic: PA
Kneecap posted a photograph on Instagram, which the group said was an email from police announcing the case was being dropped.
They said their packed Glastonbury gig was a “celebration of love and solidarity” and reporting used “wildly misleading headlines”.
Fears over what Kneecap might do or say during the performance had prompted the BBC not to show it live.
The group said: “Every single person who saw our set knew no law was broken, not even close… yet the police saw fit to publicly announce they were opening an investigation.”
“There is no public apology, they don’t send this to media or post it on police accounts,” they added.
The police statement on Friday said they had informed Kneecap of their decision to drop the case.
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One of the group’s members appeared in court in June charged with a terror offence.
Liam Og O hAnnaidh is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah, a proscribed organisation in the UK, at a gig last year.
He was released on unconditional bail ahead of a second court appearance in August.
Entertainment
Tomorrowland: ‘Devastating’ blaze destroys main stage at major festival – two days before it was due to begin
A huge fire has destroyed the main stage of a major festival in Belgium – two days before it was due to begin.
Tomorrowland is a dance music event as big as Glastonbury – and David Guetta was due to perform.
Footage showed flames and thick plumes of black smoke engulfing the stage and spreading to nearby woodland on Wednesday.
The fire gutted the main stage
Fire crews attempt to bring the blaze under control
The annual festival in the town of Boom, north of Brussels, is one of the biggest in Europe and attracts about 400,000 people over two consecutive weekends.
It is famous for its immersive and elaborate designs and attracts big names within dance music – including Guetta, best known for tracks When Love Takes Over and Titanium.
Dutch DJs Martin Garrix and Charlotte de Witte were also due to perform, along with the likes of Swedish House Mafia, Eric Prydz and Alok.
Black smoke could be seen rising into the sky
The festival’s website described the creative elements which went into the elaborate main stage.
The theme, described as Orbyz, was “set in a magical universe made entirely out of ice” and “full of mythical creatures”.
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Organisers said no one was injured in the blaze but confirmed “our beloved main stage has been severely damaged”, adding they were “devastated”.
Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen added: “We received some truly terrible news today. A fire broke out on the Tomorrowland site … and our main stage was essentially destroyed there, which is truly awful.
“That’s a stage that took years to build, with so much love and passion. So I think a lot of people are devastated.”
Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen told reporters ‘a lot of people are devastated’
Despite the fire, Tomorrowland organisers said they were still expecting 38,000 festivalgoers at DreamVille, the event’s campsite.
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