Gina Lollobrigida is a former Italian actress that rose to prominence in both American and Italian film productions before retiring from acting and venturing into a career as a photojournalist. Today, at the age of 94, Gina seems to be making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Gina can’t seem to find peace from the tabloids in her old age! Join Facts Verse as we take a look at Gina Lollobrigida. Your jaw will drop when you see her today!
Gina Lollobrigida was born in Italy on July 4, 1927. The young future star’s striking good looks became apparent from an early age. She would grow up to be considered one of the most beautiful women on the entire planet. It was during Gina’s young adulthood that she decided that she wanted to pursue a career as a model. And she found herself performing quite successfully in the profession before long. As is often the case, Gina’s success as a model led to her getting offers for film roles. And she began appearing in Italian features by the time she was of age.
Although Gina Lollobrigida found quite a bit of success in her home country of Italy during the early days of her career. Her entry into American cinemas ended up being delayed as a result of a contract dispute with Howard Hughes. Howard had been the first American film executive to catch sight of Gina. And subsequently swept her up into a contract with his production studio. The deal occurred while Gina was still living overseas. And she ended up deciding that she didn’t like the terms of her contract with Howard before officially making the move to Hollywood. Because of this, Gina decided to wait out the contract in her home country while continuing to film Italian features.
Gina’s Contract with Howard Hughes
She signed her contract with Howard Hughes in 1950, and the contract came to an end in 1953. Gina never ended up filming any pictures with Howard over the time period. With her refusing the terms of her contract the entire time despite being technically bound to them. In 1953, Gina was finally free from Howard’s grasp and found herself able to make her official American debut. The feature that first introduced the Italian starlet to mainstream American audiences was a film by the name of Beat the Devil.
After making her debut in American cinemas, Gina Lollobrigida continued acting in both American and Italian features over the course of the remaining 1950s. As well as the majority of her remaining career as an actress. One of the actress’s biggest critical successes came in 1961. When she received a Golden Globe Award for her performance alongside actor Rock Hudson in the film Come September. The film also featured Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee, though no star shown quite so bright as Gina herself.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Gina wasn’t quite as big of a star as she had been before. The Italian starlet made a successful segue into television, with her biggest success coming thanks to her role on the series Falcon Crest. She performed a five-episode stint on the series in 1984. Gina and Sophia have had a long-standing feud since the early days of both of their careers.
Gina Lollobrigida Acting Career
As her acting career began becoming less lucrative than ever, Gina Lollobrigida decided that it was time for a career change. The actress had always had a passion for photography. And she decided that it was time for her to explore that passion by becoming a photojournalist. At first, Gina’s success in the arena of photojournalism came from her snapping pictures of her former coworkers in the entertainment industry. Gina became known as a celebrity photographer of note, but that didn’t satisfy her.
After a few years of making a living taking snapshots of her celebrity friends; Gina decided to use her celebrity clout to secure an interview with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. In addition to the fact that she was a famous celebrity; Gina claims that she was able to get on the dictator’s side and secure the interview by telling him that it would remain political.
Gina Lollobrigida Interview the Cuban Dictator Fidel Castro
After getting on the good side of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Gina Lollobrigida was able to secure an extraordinarily in-depth interview with the controversial political figure. The two spent 12 days together in Cuba, during which time Gina learned quite a bit about the man. This interview helped Gina make a name for herself as a photojournalist.
Gina also continues to pop up in headlines in modern times thanks to various minor, though bizarre, controversies. The actress officially got married for once during her lifetime (depending on who you ask). She has had many, many lovers, and a few of these lovers have turned against her. One lover that ended up turning against Gina was Javier Rigau y Rafols. Recently, Javier allegedly tricked the venerated Italian starlet into marrying him so that he could steal her money. Gina is still battling Javier over the case of this supposedly fraudulent marriage.
This supposedly fraudulent marriage occurred in 2015. With the help of an elderly stand-in to take the place of Gina Lollobrigida, whom Javier claimed couldn’t be there physically for one reason or another. Though this may sound like sketchy business, it seems that Javier was able to trick Gina into signing a contract that consented to the strange marriage. For her part, Gina claims that she didn’t even know what language Javier was speaking at the time. And she simply was doing whatever he wanted. Gina also claims that the relationship between her and Javier never truly blossomed into anything intimate. She wasn’t aware of their supposed marriage until stumbling upon the documents by chance and becoming incredibly angry.
Gina’s Legal Battle
Sadly, the ongoing legal battle with her supposed fake husband isn’t the only ongoing legal battle plaguing the elderly Gina Lollobrigida. She inches close and closer towards her tenth decade of living. There’s also the matter of the star being sued by her own son; whom she shares with first and only (official) husband, Milko Skofic. Gina and Milko were married from 1949 to 1971.
The reason Milko Skofic Jr. is suing his mother is because he feels that the elderly actress is being taken advantage of by her personal assistant. This personal assistant is a man by the name of Andrea Piazzolla. And he started out as Gino’s personal driver before slowly gaining the actress’s trust. Now, Andrea’s entire family lives with Gina and he functions not only as her personal assistant. But seemingly as the manager of her entire estate. It appears that Andrea takes funds from Gina to buy gifts for himself at his leisure.
Milko Skofic Jr. has successfully managed to have his mother’s largest assets frozen until the authorities can figure out whether or not Andrea is being taken advantage of by the aging Italian starlet, In the meantime, 94-year-old Gina is publicly crying out for the authorities to simply let the aging actress be during what will likely turn out to be the final years of her life.
Gina says that she is fully aware of the funds that Andrea has taken. And that their close, personal relationship has come as a result of her own wishes. It seems that Andrea has become somewhat of a surrogate son for Gina in the wake of Milko Skofic Jr.’s estrangement, which is perhaps why Milko is so angry! While Milko Skofic Jr. may have a point that Andrea doesn’t truly have his mother’s best wishes at heart, it’s hard to deny that the estranged son is likely only concerned about the matter due to the money.
Gina’s Feud with Sophia Loren
Gina’s various legal battles are still ongoing. And so is the actress’s feud with fellow Golden Age Italian starlet Sophia Loren! Gina still claims to be the better of the two Italian starlets. Not only because she’s the eldest but because she got her start in the industry much more independently. Sophia is now 87 years old, and the two stars are some of the last remaining remnants of Old Hollywood sexuality.
Despite her numerous controversies, there are still things that Gina Lollobrigida does to keep the public on her side. The actress known for her exuberant jewelry collection, but she ended up selling this massive collection for charity in 2015. The collection sold for $5 million, and the profits from the sale furthered stem cell research. In 2018, she gave her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Looking at Gina Lollobrigida now, it’s hard to believe that the 94-year-old former Italian starlet was once considered to be one of the most beautiful women on the entire planet! Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren’s long-standing feud is still going on to this day, and that Gina is currently involved in two similarly ongoing legal battles?
