Gina Lollobrigida, film star who conquered Italy, Hollywood and the world, dies at 95

There she is, waving from the backseat of a convertible on the eve of the Cannes Film Festival. “She represented something iconic, far more important than the actual talent she often displayed in her work as an actress,” wrote author Peter Bondanella in his book “Italian Cinema.” Never out of the headlines for long and with a life captured in film and an endless burst of celebrity photographs — squeezed up next to Mick Jagger, Andy Warhol or David Bowie — Lollobrigida remained planted firmly in public view until her death Monday. “Howard Hughes taught me the swear words.” After 2½ months of fending off his advances and tolerating his erratic behavior, Lollobrigida said she signed a seven-year contract just so that she could go home. Lollobrigida quickly became a star in Europe, appearing in nearly a dozen movies before her role in “Bread, Love and Dreams” earned her a BAFTA award for best foreign actress. As the Hollywood movie offers slowed, Lollobrigida returned to Italian cinema, though she did pick up a role in 1984 on the prime-time soap opera “Falcon Crest” and made an obligatory appearance on “The Love Boat.” For all of her courtships and friendships and all the tabloid fodder that drifted in her wake, the person who became known as “the most beautiful woman in the world” was married just once, a union that ended in 1971.