Gina Lollobrigida

Actor

Name at birth: Luigina Lollobrigida

Gina Lollobrigida was one of the first European sex symbols to emerge from the rubble of World War II. "La Lollo" used a mix of voluptuous curves and intelligent sensuality to conquer Europe and then the world in movies and magazines in the 1950s. A former art student and model, Lollobrigida spent most of her career in Italy, where the title of her 1955 film The Most Beautiful Woman in the World (La Donna Piu Bella del Mondo) became her nickname. She also starred in a handful of American films, including Beat the Devil (1953, with Humphrey Bogart), Solomon and Sheba (1959, with La Lollo as the Queen of Sheba and Yul Brynner as Solomon), and the romantic comedy Come September (1961, with Rock Hudson). In later years Lollobrigida became both a sculptor and a photojournalist and published several books of photography.

Extra credit: Lollobrigida announced in October of 2006 that she would marry Spanish businessman Javier Rigau; he was age 45, La Lollo 79, and the couple said they had been dating since 1984... She was married once previously, to Yugoslavian doctor Milko Skofic, from 1949 until their divorce in 1971. They had one son, Milko Jr., born in 1957... Lollobrigida is often compared with another Italian sex symbol, Sophia Loren... Lollobrigida took third place in the Miss Italy pageant of 1947... She made a rare American TV appearance on Falcon Crest in 1981.

Other cinematic sex symbols include Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot and Bo Derek.