Claudia Cardinale, Iconic Italian Actress, Dies at 87

Acclaimed Italian actress Claudia Cardinale, star of 8½ and The Leopard, has died at age 87, AFP reported Tuesday. She died in Nemours, France, surrounded by her children, according to her longtime agent Laurent Savry.

Cardinale appeared in more than 100 films and television productions, but was best known for her work with Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti. In Fellini’s 8½ (1963), she embodied youthful purity opposite Marcello Mastroianni; in Visconti’s The Leopard (1963), she played Angelica Sedara; and in Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) she portrayed a reformed prostitute.

Born in Tunisia to Sicilian parents who emigrated to North Africa, Cardinale began her movie career at 17 after winning a beauty contest that drew attention at the Venice Film Festival. An early breakthrough came in the 1958 comedy Big Deal on Madonna Street.

Cardinale’s Hollywood run included Blindfold (1965) with Rock Hudson and Don’t Make Waves (1967) with Tony Curtis. She later cited The Professionals (1966), with Burt Lancaster, Jack Palance, Robert Ryan and Lee Marvin, as her best Hollywood film. She recounted in a 2002 Guardian interview that studios wanted her under exclusivity contracts, but she chose to remain a European actress.

Her career earned major honors, including a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival. In 2000 she was named a UNESCO goodwill ambassador for the defense of women’s rights. Cardinale had two children, one with film producer Franco Cristaldi and a second with director Pasquale Squitieri.

Her legacy endures in European cinema, where she is remembered for performances across more than a half-century of work. She once said she had lived more than 150 lives, totally different women.