Pink Panther actress Claudia Cardinale dies aged 87

Claudia Cardinale – one of the ‘greatest Italian actresses of all time’ – has died aged 87 (Picture: Sunset Boulevard/ Corbis via Getty Images)

Italian actress Claudia Cardinale, best known for appearing in films including The Pink Panther and 8 1/2, has died aged 87.

Born and raised in Tunis, she rose to fame aged 16 after winning the ‘Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia’ competition in 1957. The prize included being flown to Italy for the Venice Film Festival, where she quickly caught the eye of producers.

She made her debut with a minor role alongside Egyptian star Omar Sharif in 1958’s Goha, going on to become one of the best-known actresses in Italy.

Other notable films she starred in included Rocco and His Brothers, Girl with a Suitcase, Cartouche and The Leopard.

Overnight Cardinale’s death was announced by her agent, who told AFP that she died in Nemours, near Paris.

‘She leaves us the legacy of a free and inspired woman both as a woman and as an artiste,’ Laurent Savry said in a statement.

She rose to fame after winning a beauty contest aged 16 (Picture: Earl Leaf/ Michael Ochs Archives/ Getty Images) One of her best known roles was in the 1963 film The Leopard (Picture: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Meanwhile Italy’s Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli called her ‘one of the greatest Italian actresses of all time’, who embodied ‘Italian grace’.

Born Claude Joséphine Rose Cardinale in Tunisia, her parents were both of Sicilian origin, however she only learnt their native language when she started being cast in Italian films.

Although she had intended to become a teacher, her acting career took off after the visit to Venice.

Despite only having a minor role in the 1958 comedy Big Deal on Madonna Street, she became known in the press as ‘Italy’s sweetheart’.

In a 1962 interview, Cardinale told a journalist who was asking about her sexuality and body image in films: ‘I used my body as a mask, as a representation of myself.’

The following year marked the most prolific of her career, starring alongside Burt Lancaster in Visconti’s The Leopard and played a film actress cast by a director in Federico Fellini’s 8½.

She was once called ‘Italy’s sweetheart’ (Picture: Silver Screen Collection/ Getty Images)

Both films were critically acclaimed and are often singled out as among the greatest films ever made.

The latter also marked the first time her own voice was used in an Italian film, as it had previously been considered too hoarse and insufficiently Italian due to her French accent.

‘When I arrived for my first movie, I couldn’t speak a word. I thought I was on the moon. I couldn’t understand what they were talking about. And I was speaking in French; in fact, I was dubbed,’ she once said.

‘And Federico Fellini was the first one who used my voice. I think I had a very strange voice.’

That same year she also appeared in Bebo’s Girl and in her first American film – The Pink Panther.

The actress then spent three years in the United States, where share starred in several Hollywood films including Blindfold alongside Rock Hudson, but eventually returned home.

Cardinale shunned a Hollywood career after starting to find success in the US (Picture: UPI/ Bettmann Archive/ Getty Images)

‘I don’t like the star system. I’m a normal person. I like to live in Europe. I mean, I’ve been going to Hollywood many, many times, but I didn’t want to sign a contract,’ she said.

She also expressed concerns about being exploited and decided to ‘give up the money’ to avoid ‘becoming a cliché’.

Cardinale continued acting in films throughout the following three decades, then also starting to appear in stage productions in the early 2000s.

In 2014 she spoke about choosing not to retire and work into her 70s. ‘I still continue to work, it’s 142 movies now. Usually when you are old you don’t work anymore, but I still work, which is good…I’ve been very lucky,’ she said.

Her last screen roles were in the Swiss mini-series Bulle in 2020 and the Tunisian Italian drama film The Island of Forgiveness two years later.

Throughout her six-decade long career, the actress won an honorary Golden Bear at the 2002 Berlin Film Festival, a career Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1993 and a career David at Italy’s David di Donatello Awards in 1997.

She continued working up until just a few years ago (Picture: Edward Berthelot/ GC Images)

While still a teenager Cardinale was raped and gave birth to her son Patrick, who was raised as her brother until the truth came out seven years later.

‘I was forced to accept this lie to avoid a scandal and protect my career,’ she once said.

She lived with Italian film director Pasquale Squitieri, for 42 years, from 1975 until his death in 2017, aged 78.

She is survived by two children – Patrick, and Claudia – whom she had with Squitieri.

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