(born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren, is an Italian actress. She was named by the American Film Institute as the 21st greatest female star of Classic Hollywood Cinema. She is currently the only living actress and highest-ranked living person mentioned on the list.
Encouraged to enroll in acting lessons after entering a beauty pageant, Loren began her film career at age 16 in 1950. She appeared in several bit parts and minor roles in the early part of the decade, until her five-picture contract with Paramount in 1956 launched her international career. Her film appearances around this time include The Pride and the Passion, Houseboat, and It Started in Naples.
Loren's performance as Cesira in the movie Two Women (1961) directed by Vittorio De Sica earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress, making her the first actor or actress to win an Oscar for a foreign-language performance. She holds the record for having earned seven David di Donatello Awards for Best Actress: Two Women; Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963); Marriage Italian Style (1964, for which she was nominated for a second Oscar); Sunflower (1970); The Voyage (1974); A Special Day (1977) and The Life Ahead (2020). After starting a family in the early 1970s, Loren chose to make rarer film appearances. Since then, she has appeared in films such as Grumpier Old Men (1995), Nine (2009) and Netflix movie The Life Ahead (2020).
She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming first winner for a non-English language performance, a Grammy Award, five special Golden Globes (including the Cecil B. DeMille Award), a BAFTA Award, a Laurel Award, the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival and the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1991, she received the Academy Honorary Award for lifetime achievements.
