Gina Lollobrigida

Gina Lollobrigida was born on July 4, 1927 in Subiaco, Italy. Destined to be called "The Most Beautiful Woman in the World", Gina possibly had St. Brigid as part of her surname. She was the daughter of a furniture manufacturer, and grew up in the pictorial mountain village. The young Gina did some modeling and, from there, went on to participate successfully in several beauty contests.

The winner was Lucia Bosè (born 1931), who would go on to appear in over 50 movies, and the first runner-up was Gianna Maria Canale (born 1927), who would appear in almost 50 films.

In 1947, she entered a beauty competition for Miss Italy, but came in third.

After appearing in a half-dozen films in Italy, it was rumored that, in 1947, film tycoon Howard Hughes had her flown to Hollywood; however, this did not result in her staying in America, and she returned to Italy (her Hollywood breakout movie would not come until six years later in the John Huston film Beat the Devil (1953)).

Back in Italy, in 1949, Gina married Milko Skofic, a Slovenian (at the time, "Yugoslavian") doctor, by whom she had a son, Milko Skofic Jr..

Humphrey Bogart, who played her husband in the adventure comedy Beat the Devil (1953), disliked her and nicknamed her "Frigidaire".

As her film roles and national popularity increased, Gina was tagged "The Most Beautiful Woman in the World", after her signature movie Beautiful But Dangerous (1955). Gina was nicknamed "La Lollo", as she embodied the prototype of Italian beauty. Her earthy looks and short "tossed salad" hairdo were especially influential and, in fact, there's a type of curly lettuce named "Lollo" in honor of her cute hairdo.

Gave birth to her first child at age 30, a son Milko Skofic Jr.. on July 28, 1957. Child's father is now ex-husband, Milko Skofic.

Her film Come September (1961), co-starring Rock Hudson, won the Golden Globe Award as the World's Film Favorite.

Was originally considered for one of the leading roles of Lady L (1965).

In the 1970s, Gina was seen in only a few films, as she took a break from acting and concentrated on another career: photography. Among her subjects were Paul Newman, Salvador Dalí and the German national soccer team.

They would be married for 22 years, until their divorce in 1971.

A skilled photographer, Gina had a collection of her work "Italia Mia", published in 1973.

Immersed in her other passions (sculpting and photography), it would be 1984 before Gina would grace American television on Falcon Crest (1981).

Was head of the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1986.

Although Gina was always active, she only appeared in a few films in the 1990s.

Was considered for the role of Asunción Olazábal in Más allá del horizonte (1994), which went to Luisa Kuliok.

She retired from acting in 1997 after 50 years in the motion picture industry.

In November 1998, £10,000 worth of her jewels was stolen from a bag. This happened at a hotel reception in Munich, Germany, while she was waiting for a taxi to the airport.

In June 1999, she turned to politics and ran, unsuccessfully, for one of Italy's 87 European Parliament seats, from her hometown of Subiaco. Gina was also a corporate executive for fashion and cosmetics companies.

The Croatian-Slovenian electropop band Lollobrigida, founded in the early 2000s, is named after her.

In October 2006, at age 79, she announced to Spain's ¡Hola! magazine her engagement to a 45-year-old Spanish businessman, Javier Rigau y Rafols. They had met at a party in Monte Carlo in 1984 and had since become companions. The engagement was called off on 6 December 2006, reportedly because of the strain of intense media interest. In January 2013, she started legal action against Javier Rigau y Rafols, claiming that her ex-boyfriend had staged a secret ceremony in which he "married" an imposter pretending to be her at a registry office in Barcelona. She said he intended to lay claim to her estate after her death. Lollobrigida accused Rigau of fraud, saying that he had earlier obtained the legal right to act on her behalf with a power of attorney, and carried out the plot to get extra power.

In May 2013, her diamond jewelry sold for more than $4.9 million in Geneva, setting an auction record for pearl earrings, according to Sotheby's. The earrings beat the $1.98 million figure set in 2011 from the sale of ones made by Bulgari for Elizabeth Taylor. Lollobrigida said was selling the jewelry to raise money for stem cell research.

She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6361 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 1, 2018.