As emblematic—and as undulating—as the Seven Hills of Rome, Gina Lollobrigida, who died this week at the age of 95, was one of the first postwar maggiorata (curvaceous movie stars) to gain international attention. Unlike Sophia Loren and Claudia Cardinale, who came later, Lollobrigida did it without the patronage of a producer/Svengali. She had a tilt at Hollywood in the late 1950s, with mixed results, and became a fixture of the jet set in the 1960s. After more than 60 movies, she left acting behind in the 1990s to concentrate on photojournalism and sculpting. Dismissing recent headlines concerning a proxy marriage and a young handyman helping himself to her fortune, La Lollo ran for the Italian Senate in 2022, losing out to eventual prime minister Giorgia Meloni.
