Key Takeaways

• Claudia Cardinale, a renowned Italian actress, has passed away at 87.
• She gained fame for her roles in iconic films such as The Pink Panther and Once Upon a Time in the West.
• Born in Tunisia, she spoke multiple languages before learning Italian as an adult.
• Cardinale’s career faced challenges, including a personal trauma that influenced her early life.

Claudia Cardinale, a beautiful talent of Italian cinema, is dead at the age of 87. She’s best known for playing Princess Dala in The Pink Panther and starring alongside Henry Fonda and Charles Bronson in Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West.

She’s also known for her leading roles in Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2 and Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard, which she shot back-to-back. “Visconti was precise and meticulous, spoke to me in French and wanted me to have long brown hair,” she told Le Monde in 2017. “Fellini was chaotic and didn’t have a script; he spoke Italian to me, cut my hair short and dyed it blond. Those were the two most important films of my life.“

Although Cardinale is best known for her work in Italian films, she was actually born in Tunisia and grew up speaking French, Arabic, and her parents’ native Sicilian dialect. She only learned Italian as an adult. She made her feature film debut in Goha alongside Omar Sharif and was later dubbed “The Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia.” Offers for movie roles soon followed, but she was reluctant to pursue them. Her father eventually convinced her to “give this cinema thing a go.“

However, just as her career was starting, she was raped and became pregnant. To avoid scandal, she went to London to give birth. “I gave birth in London because in those days it would have been a scandal,” she told Variety in 2017. “We pretended that my son was my little brother. I didn’t want to become an actress; I did it so I could be independent.” She later revealed the truth to her son seven years later.

Her role in Once Upon a Time in the West was special. “I was the only woman in that movie! The thing is … I love music. And that was the first time I worked on a film where the music was composed [by Ennio Morricone] before the cameras started rolling,” she said. “So before shooting my scenes, Sergio would play the music … which really helped me get into the part. Morricone recently invited me to his concert in Paris. I was sitting in the front row and he opened with the theme from Once Upon a Time in the West while looking straight at me.“

Cardinale also appeared in Big Deal on Madonna Street, Rocco and His Brothers, Circus World, The Professionals, The Hell With Heroes, Fitzcarraldo, and much more.