We toss out words like icon and legend to describe all sorts of celebrities, but the Italian-born Gina Lollobrigida, now 91, is the real deal
Called the most beautiful woman in the world—Humphrey Bogart said she made “Marilyn Monroe look like Shirley Temple”—and often compared with rival Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida was one of Hollywood’s highest-profile actresses in the ’50s and ’60s. She was relentlessly pursued by Howard Hughes and Prince Rainier of Monaco (yes, while he was married to Princess Grace), and even into her 80s was courted by men decades her junior. In the end, she left Hollywood, becoming a photojournalist and sculptor. Yet one thing remained constant: her love of Bulgari. In this 1965 photo, La Lollo is wearing (and playing with) Bulgari gems at its Rome boutique. In 2013, she sold about $2 million of her Bulgari jewels at Sotheby’s, with proceeds benefiting stem cell research. “I’ve had many lovers and still have romances. I am very spoiled,” she told Parade in 2000. But Bulgari brand and heritage curator Lucia Boscaini has a different take: “The Sotheby’s sale provided the opportunity to remind us this star is a lady with a generous heart.”
(Jim Pringle/AP Photos)
