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Remembering legendary Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida, dead at 95

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Legendary Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida died yesterday in Rome. She was 95 years old. Nicknamed La Lollo, she made dozens of movies in the U.S. and Europe after World War II. NPR's Elizabeth Blair has more.

ELIZABETH BLAIR, BYLINE: Gina Lollobrigida melted the hearts of major stars in the 1950s and '60s - Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster. She was a voluptuous brunette with captivating brown eyes. In the 1968 comedy "Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell," Lollobrigida plays a woman who isn't sure which American soldier fathered her daughter during the war.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BUONA SERA, MRS. CAMPBELL")

NAOMI STEVENS: (As Rosa) Three fathers?

GINA LOLLOBRIGIDA: (As Carla Campbell) Yes, three fathers.

STEVENS: (As Rosa) How could such a thing happen?

LOLLOBRIGIDA: (As Carla Campbell) You weren't here during the war. You don't know how it was that last summer.

BLAIR: Before working in film, she studied painting and sculpture in Rome. She also took singing lessons and dreamt of being an opera singer. That didn't happen. But she did star as one in a movie and said it wasn't dubbed.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BEAUTIFUL BUT DANGEROUS")

LOLLOBRIGIDA: (As Lina Cavalieri, singing in Italian).

BLAIR: Lollobrigida embraced her role as a symbol of Italy, but she didn't think of acting as her life, as she told NPR in 1973.

LOLLOBRIGIDA: When I'm work, I'm work. When I'm out of the work, I want to feel like a normal person.

BLAIR: Later in life, Lollobrigida returned to visual arts, painting and photography, and she ran for political office. She recently told the Italian press she was determined to stay creative. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF BADBADNOTGOOD'S "BESIDE APRIL") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Elizabeth Blair is a Peabody Award-winning senior producer/reporter on the Arts Desk of NPR News.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.