The epitome of beauty and a glitzy lifestyle, Sophia Loren is the ideal Hollywood movie star. She was raised in poverty and had difficulty rising to popularity; even when she did, people questioned her appearance. She is still attractive at 88 years old, making her the most beautiful woman ever to grace our screens.

It’s amazing to think that someone with the start she did could go on to inspire music, decline a marriage proposal from Cary Grant, and become the first actor to win an Oscar for a foreign-language picture.

Sophia’s lovely mother once won a Greta Garbi impersonator competition, but her conservative family forbade her from pursuing a career in film.

Instead, the mother would instruct her child and support Sophia in her destiny as a movie star.

Sophia’s father, the father of her younger sister Maria, did not support her as she grew up because he would not wed her and did not participate in family affairs.

In her life, she stated to People Magazine, “I saw my father only six times.” My mother, whom he seduced and left, my younger sister, Maria, suffered greatly because he would not reveal his name, and I all suffered greatly because of him.

Being raised by a single mom was financially challenging.

According to Direct Expose, she was raised in extreme poverty, residing with other family members and sharing her grandparents’ bedroom with eight other people. Conditions gradually deteriorated to the point where Loren’s mother occasionally gave her girls water straight from the automobile’s radiator.

Sophia experienced World War II; she was hit by shrapnel and knocked to the ground during one aerial raid, leaving her with a scar on her chin.

She once commented, “I was a young girl, but the war’s sound and sensations never leave you.

She had mites and lice, and because she was so thin, she experienced bullying at school.

But she eventually developed into the popular beauty we know today. She attended the National Film School in Italy after placing in the Miss Italia 1950 contest finals.

She was still made fun of for her appearance, told she needed to lose weight, and that her nose was crooked.

“I still haven’t changed my nose since it was unusual. When you are extremely young, you occasionally have to wait for nature to mold your face or your physique. She told the San Diego Union-Tribune that the nose was far finer than people initially realized.

Full-length portrait of Sophia Loren, an Italian actress, wearing a sheer black gown over black underwear, circa 1955. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)

When she was 19 years old, she got her big break by portraying an enslaved Ethiopian in the movie Aida, which brought her critical praise.

She co-starred in The Pride and the Passion with Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra four years later, and in 1960, she won an Oscar for her performance in Two Women as a mother who is desperately trying to provide for her daughter in a war-torn Rome.

The honors didn’t end there; Loren also received five additional Golden Globes for extraordinary performances, a Grammy Award, an Honorary Academy Award, and the Cecil B. DeMille Award from the Golden Globes for lifetime accomplishment, to name a few.

Marriage to Carlo Ponti

Despite rumors of relationships and bigamy in her personal life, she managed to maintain a 50-year marriage to Italian film producer Carlo Ponti until his passing in 2007.

When Sophia was just 16 years old, they first dated. Carlo gave her a job offer, took on her mentor role, and saw that Sophia became a household name in Italy before she turned 25.

“For both of us, it was love at first sight. When I was sixteen, we met in a Rome beauty pageant where he was on the jury. She claimed he sent me a message urging me to enter the competition after spotting me at a table with friends.

Sophia and Carlo were married in 1957, but because Carlo’s divorce from a previous marriage was not recognized in Italy, they were accused of bigamy. Carlo was 21 years older than her, and when they were first married, he was already a husband.

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As a result, the marriage of Sophias and Carlo was dissolved in 1962. The problem was resolved when the couple lawfully wed and became French citizens.

They later had two sons: Eduardo, a filmmaker, and Carol Jr., a conductor of orchestras. Sophia has four grandchildren as of right now.

Sophia Loren poses for a photo on May 30, 2001, in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Joe McNally/Getty Images)

Sophia’s romantic history has frequently made headlines; for instance, she previously declined a marriage proposal from Cary Grant.

She never paid attention to her gorgeous looks, remained true to herself, and ensured she gave her children the stable family environment she never had.

According to her, “My character is my best attribute,” the Telegraph reported. Because of my life with my family and having no father, I was a nobody, a young girl who was sad and desperate.

We still don’t know much about this screen diva because she burns her journal every year, but at 88 years old, she is still acting and committed to her family and career.

Sophia Loren in 2021 / Getty Images for Fashion Media

2020 marked Sophia Loren’s return to a leading role after more than a decade.

Sophia plays Madam Rosa, a Holocaust survivor and former sex worker, in her son Edoardo Ponti’s American-Italian drama The Life Ahead.

Sophia remarked, “By exploring my own, I [tapped] into my own experiences during the war and [discovered] Madame Rosa’s truth and honesty.

The Italian actress who won an Oscar is now a successful businesswoman. She is the name of two restaurants in Italy, one in Florence and one in Milan. The latter establishment began operations in 2022, and Sophia was present.

According to Loren, who is stated on the restaurant’s website, “In my life, I have had several hobbies, one of them is surely cuisine.”

No director has ever been able to convince me to go on a diet, and I’ve never forgone a satisfying plate of pasta to maintain my weight.

Sophia Loren was seen at the opening of her restaurant Sophia Loren Restaurant in Milan. (Photo by Mairo Cinquetti/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

It is inspiring how this movie diva overcome obstacles and a rough upbringing to forge a prosperous career for herself.