Italian film superstar Gina Lollobrigida dead at 95

Gina Lollobrigida, the award-winning Italian actress whose superstar status transcended continents, died Monday at age 95, her agent said.

A cause of death has not been released for the actress, who last September broke her thigh bone in a fall requiring surgery last September. Lollobrigida, who died in Rome, had resumed walking after leaving the hospital.

Lollobrigida broke into the Italian film industry during the 1940s, shortly after World War II. She rose to widespread fame the following decade with films such as “Pane Amore e Fantasia” (“Bread, Love and Dreams”) and “Pane Amore e Gelosia” (“Bread, Love and Jealousy”), both directed by Luigi Comencini.

She was a three-time best actress recipient at the David di Donatello Awards, Italy’s top film ceremony. Her first win came for the 1955 French-Italian comedy-drama “The World’s Most Beautiful Woman.” Lollobrigida famously adopted the film’s title as a nickname.

Lollobrigida’s other David di Donatello wins came for the 1963 French-Italian historical film “Venere Imperiale” (”Imperial Venus”) and the 1968 American comedy “Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell,” the latter of which earned her a Golden Globe nomination as well.

The actress known as Lollo was a standout of Hollywood’s Golden Age, too, starring opposite Humphrey Bogart in 1953′s “Beat the Devil”; Frank Sinatra in 1959′s “Never So Few”; Rock Hudson in 1961′s “Come September” and Sean Connery in 1964′s “Woman of Straw.”

Considered a sex symbol during her career, Lollobrigida was famously made to resemble a goddess on a 1954 Time magazine cover. Before her acting career took off, Lollobrigida placed third in 1947′s Miss Italia pageant.

Grandnephew Francesco Lollobrigida, Italy’s agriculture minister, paid tribute Monday, describing the actress in a tweet as an “icon of beauty and versatility” and “one of the brightest stars of Italian cinematography and culture.”

In 1961, Lollobrigida received the Golden Globes’ Henrietta Award, given to the world’s favorite film actress.

Lollobrigida continued acting regularly into the 1970s. She only made a few film appearances in the subsequent decades, turning her focus to art forms including painting, photography and sculpting.

The star was married to doctor Milko Škofič from 1949 to 1971 and had her only child with him. She also had a lengthy and heavily publicized relationship with businessman Javier Rigau.

With News Wire Services