Cardinale, Claudia

(1939-)

   Actress. Born in Tunisia of Italian parents, Cardinale moved to Italy in 1958 and studied briefly at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia before securing a long-term contract with producer Franco Cristaldi, whom she would later marry. After covering minor roles in Mario Monicelli's I soliti ignoti (Big Deal on Madonna Street, 1958) and Luchino Visconti's Rocco e i suoi fratelli (Rocco and His Brothers, 1960), she was able to display her acting abilities to the full in Valerio Zurlini's La ragazza con la valigia (Girl with a Suitcase, I960). Two years later her portrayal of Mara in Luigi Comencini's La ragazza di Bube (Bebo's Girl, 1963) earned her a Nastro d'argento. Federico Fellini perceptively cast her as the director's muse in his Otto e mezzo (8'A, 1963), but her most impressive appearance during this period was undoubtedly as the radiant Angelica in Luchino Visconti's Il gattopardo (The Leopard, 1963).

   Having achieved international status by this time, she began appearing in Hollywood films such as Blake Edwards's The Pink Panther (1963) and Henry Hathaway's Circus World(1964), although her talents continued to be better showcased in Italian films such as Francesco Maselli's Gli indifferenti (Time of Indifference, 1964) and Visconti's Vaghe stelle dell'orsa (Sandra of a Thousand Delights, 1965). After acquitting herself brilliantly in the only female role in Sergio Leone's Cera una volta il West (Once upon a Time in the West, 1968), her interpretation of Carmela, the proxy wife in Luigi Zampa's Bello, onesto, emigrato Australia sposerebbe compaesana illibata (A Girl in Australia, 1971), brought her her first David di Donatello award.

   In the 1970s she separated from Cristaldi and married director Pasquale Squitieri, with whom she worked extensively from then on. In 1982 she received her second Nastro d'argento for her supporting role in Liliana Cavani's wartime drama, Lapelle (The Skin, 1982), and two years later she was awarded the Pasinetti Prize and a third Nastro d'argento for her portrayal of Mussolini's mistress, Clara Petacci, in Squitieri's Claretta (Claretta Petacci, 1984). In subsequent years she continued to appear on the big screen, but she did some of her best work for television, as in her portrayal of Jewish schoolteacher Ida Ramado in Comencini's television adaptation of Elsa Morante's La storia (History, 1987). Still widely regarded as one of the finest actresses of her generation, in 1993 she was awarded a Golden Lion at Venice for lifetime achievement. She has subsequently published an autobiography, Io Claudia, tu Claudia (1999).