From Poverty to Prominence – 15 Things You Never Knew About Sophia Loren

Sophia Loren is an Italian actress and icon who is known as one of Italy’s most beautiful women. She was able to fight through many hardships and excel in life. From poverty to prominence, here are 15 things you never knew about Sophia Loren.

1. She was born in a charity ward for unwed mothers in Rome.

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2. She used names “Sofia Lazzaro” and “Sofia Scicolone” before the screen. Her last name was from her father who refused to marry her mother, Romilda Villani.

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3. She grew up in poverty and shared a bed with about 3 family members.

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4. Loren spent her first movie earnings to buy her father’s name for her sister as he would not allow her to take his name.

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5. She is an amazing cook and wrote three cookbooks.

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6. She served  17 days of a 30-day jail term in 1982 for tax evasion.

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7. She had two miscarriages and later found out that she has a hormonal imbalance.

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8. She writes a diary and burns it at the end of each year.

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9. She won an Oscar Award for Best Actress in Two Women which was the first time an Academy Award was given to an actress in a foreign-language film.

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10. At 14 her mother entered her into a beauty contest. Her grandmother sewed her dress from pink curtains. Nevertheless, she was selected as one of the 12 princesses.

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11. She almost died from gas fumes while staying in a hotel when she was filming Legend of the Lost.

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12. Loren won a Grammy in 2003 for Best Spoken World Album for Children.

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13. When she was six, a piece of shrapnel cut her chin during a World War II bombing. She is left with a small scar.

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14. She was nicknamed “toothpick” as a child because she was so thin due to poverty. However, later in life she naturally developed a shape known as the “hourglass” that actresses pay to have.

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15. She was told that her nose was too long and her lips were too wide. She was often told to surgically change her features for a better chance to make it in Hollywood. Nevertheless, Sophia refused and is recognized for her natural beauty.

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