Iconic Italian actress Claudia Cardinale, best known for her roles in legendary films like “Once Upon a Time in the West,” “The Pink Panther” and “The Leopard,” has died. She was 87.
According to French news agency AFP, Cardinale passed away in Paris with her children by her side. The Tunis-born Cadinale was regarded as one of the great European stars of the 1960s.
Her first break came in 1958 with “Goha” starring Omar Sharif and from there she exploded across screens, booking roles back-to-back with multiple Italian films like “Girl with a Suitcase,” “Cartouche,” “Rocco and his Brothers,” and “La Viaccia”.
In 1963 she was jumping between two productions at the same time, two films often cited amongst the greatest movies ever made – Luchino Visconti’s “The Leopard” and Federico Fellini’s “8 1/2”.
She made the jump to Hollywood with Blake Edwards’ “The Pink Panther” in 1963 which led to work in films like “The Professionals,” “Blindfold,” “Don’t Make Waves,” and “The Hell with Heroes”.
One of her most famous roles is that of widowed homesteader Jill McBain in Sergio Leone’s 1968 film “Once Upon a Time in the West,” a movie many critics and film historians (myself included) consider the greatest western ever made and one of the greatest films of all time.
She scored awards for her work in “The Day of the Owl” and “Claretta,” and worked steadily throughout the 1970s in films like “A Girl in Australia,” “Hit Man,” “Corleone,” “Escape To Athena,” “The Legend of Frenchie King,” “Blood Brothers” and more. She also scored praise for her work in Werner Herzog’s
“Fitzcarraldo”.
By the time of her last film, 2022’s “The Island of Forgiveness,” Cardinale had racked up over 128 works spanning films, TV series, documentaries and shorts. In 2002 she won a Career Golden Lion in Venice and an Honorary Golden Bear at Berlinale.
She was also an active feminist, and a UNESCO goodwill ambassador for the Defense of Women’s Rights from 2000.
Source: France24
