Claudia Cardinale, star of The Leopard and 8½, dies at 87

Claudia Cardinale, the Italian film icon known for The Leopard and 8½, has died at age 87 in Nemours, France, her representative said on Tuesday. The star appeared in more than 100 films and television productions across a career that spanned several decades, earning widespread acclaim for her presence in European cinema.

Cardinale was born in Tunis to Sicilian parents who had emigrated to North Africa. She rose to prominence after winning a Tunisian beauty contest that led to a debut at the Venice Film Festival, where she drew the attention of Italian and European filmmakers. She has said the move into cinema was almost accidental: "The fact I’m making movies is just an accident. When they asked me, do you want to be in the movies? I said no and they insisted for six months." Her voice was often dubbed in her early films because she spoke Italian with a heavy French accent.

Her breakthrough came in 1963 with Federico Fellini’s 8½, where she co-starred with Marcello Mastroianni, and Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard, in which she played Angelica Sedara. Earlier that same year she appeared in the Sicilian-set comedy Big Deal on Madonna Street. Cardinale would go on to star in Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), further cementing her status as a leading European actress.

Her Hollywood years included the 1965 thriller Blindfold, opposite Rock Hudson, and the 1967 comedy Don’t Make Waves with Tony Curtis. She later said The Professionals (1966), directed by Richard Brooks and pairing her with Burt Lancaster, Jack Palance, Robert Ryan and Lee Marvin, represented one of her best American films. Cardinale has also said she declined an exclusivity contract with a studio, choosing instead to pursue a European-focused career. She was honored with a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at Venice, nearly 40 years after her first screen appearance.

In 2000 Cardinale was named a UNESCO goodwill ambassador for the defense of women’s rights. She had two children—one with Franco Cristaldi, who managed her early career and whom she married from 1966 to 1975, and a second with Italian director Pasquale Squitieri.

Cardinale’s legacy endures in European cinema, where she has often been described as Italy’s answer to Brigitte Bardot and celebrated for bringing warmth, intensity and modernity to the heroines she portrayed. Her death prompted reflections on a career that helped redefine women’s presence on screen and across international film collaborations.

Her life and work left an indelible mark on generations of filmmakers and audiences alike. In recalling her enduring impact, colleagues noted a rare combination of beauty, resilience and artistry that transcended borders and genres. Cardinale’s death marks the loss of a quintessential European star whose roles remain touchstones of 1960s and 1970s cinema.