Sophia Loren: A Biography [Hardcover]

Warren G. Harris (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 1998

The most revealing portrait yet of one of the most glamorous and enduring international film stars of all time.

Born Sofia Scicolone, an illegitimate child in Fascist Italy, Sophia Loren grew up a sickly and undernourished girl who blossomed into one of the world's great beauties.

After her screen debut as a teenager, she made several movies in Italy, impressing directors with her stunning looks and range of emotion. But it was her Oscar "RM" -winning performance in Two Women in 1960 -- under the tutelage of the great Italian director Vittorio DeSica -- that made Sophia Loren an international star.

Skillfully blending first-rate research and the light, deft touch that distinguished his earlier celebrity biographies -- Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant, among others -- Warren Harris gives us a multidimensional portrait of this legendary actress.

Whether he is describing her impoverished childhood; discussing the making of such early films as The Pride and the Passion (when costar Cary Grant was smitten with her) or the hilarious romp Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (with Marcello Mastroianni); or examining her enduring love affair with Italian producer Carlo Ponti, to whom she has been married for nearly 40 years, Harris gives depth to his portrait, with many new facts about Loren's personal life.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Screen legend Sophia Loren has led a colorful life, and Harris's (Audrey Hepburn, LJ 4/15/94) presentation of it makes for entertaining reading. She was born Sofia Scicolone, an illegitimate child in Fascist Italy, and eventually overcame poverty and malnourishment and developed into a beautiful teenager. Sophia's mother, a frustrated actress, began to push Sophia into the spotlight, and eventually Sophia caught the attention of producer Carlo Ponti, who recognized her potential. Sophia's beauty and physical attributes brought her immediate success in films but she proved that she could act as well and eventually won an Academy AwardR. On the personal side, her marriage to Ponti in 1957 was not recognized by Italian law because of Ponti's previous Mexican divorce, and shady financial dealings resulted in Sophia herself spending 30 days in jail. Harris covers all of this with considerable ease, for the most part avoiding gossip. An assessment of her appeal and talents would have made this a better biography, but it is one that will be enjoyed by fans and is recommended for public libraries.?Phillip Oliver, Univ. of North Alabama Lib., Florence
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Harris's account of the life of the star of such semi-memorable movies as Two Women and El Cid is a few shades more perceptive and readable than the average show-biz bio. The star cycle of female sex symbols is all too short. For 10 years, 15 if they're lucky, they reign as pinnacles of beauty and desirability. Then, they are gone. If they're lucky, they might reappear when they have reached the age to play grannies. Loren's career is an almost archetypal illustration of this sad, inevitable trajectory. Raised in utter poverty in Naples, she came of star-age at 19, in the heady days when tax breaks and tax restrictions created the multinational film and the multinational star. It was a time when foreign meant racy, and under the guise of the ``art film'' European movies thrilled American audiences with the kind of titillation they would never have countenanced in an American film. With her bold, fleshy beauty (and willingness to show cleavage), Loren quickly attracted general attention, as well as the attentions of producer Carlo Ponti. With his guidance and support, her career took off. Italy forbade divorce, but the married Ponti and Loren were soon living together. Through any number of infidelities and purported infidelities--all round--they have stayed together, eventually marrying as laws were liberalized. Harris (Audrey Hepburn, 1994, etc.) capably chronicles all these colorful goings-on without neglecting the movies themselves, of which some were great successes, while many more sank. Ultimately, these bad movie choices, conjoined with age, reduced Loren to semi-retirement. However, as Harris documents, she has enjoyed a second career as pitchwoman for her own brands of perfume and eyeglasses. And now the grandmother roles are just around the corner. For those still fascinated by the Academy Awardwinning Italian actress, here are all the essentials and a little bit more. (40 b&w photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1St Edition edition (January 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684802732
• ISBN-13: 978-0684802732
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,092,996 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The essentials, October 29, 2002

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sophia Loren: A Biography (Hardcover)

There aren't many Sophia Loren biographies out there, and so fans often can't afford to be picky. So Warren G. Harris's "Sophia Loren" is an interesting read, if a somewhat plain vanilla one. Good photos, some amusing anecdotes and a basic summary of Sophia's life are what readers will find.

It traces her life from a scrawny illegitimate baby (whom a wet nurse described as looking like a rat, and who was later nicknamed "Toothpick"), whose mother was abandoned by her father, leaving her alone with two children. But Sophia Scicolone (later Sophia Lazzaro, and then Sophia Loren) rapidly bloomed into a beautiful woman, becoming a beauty contest champ and then an actress. Despite a string of flops and a controversial relationship with a divorced man, Sophia became one of the most beautiful and women in the world, and the first Oscar winner of a performance in a foreign-language film.

The best description of this book is "adequate." It's not amazingly written, researched or presented. Rather it presents the basics of Sophia's life up the 1990s, which seems to have been a fairly straightforward, open one. There isn't really much that is new in this, but what is there is usually presented in an entertaining manner. Between the "battle of the bosoms" and Frank Sinatra teaching Sophia some obscene questions in English, we hear some funny events as well as a few bittersweet ones. And unlike many biographies, this one gives detailed summaries of her various movies.

Sophia herself is presented as a warm and sweet person, who cabled flowers to Clark Gable's widow and befriended nearly every costar (entrancing a few as well). The pictures are not well-chosen, as there aren't as many as there could have been, and quite a few seem to focus on Sophia in various stages of undress (ranging from her see-through prostitute gown to her merry widow to her topless dance number in "It's Him -- Yes Yes!"). Carlos Ponti, her husband, is a nebulous figure -- we don't learn much about him. Sophia's family and friends are better defined, such as her never-say-die mother Romilda, her commitmentphobe father, and the extremely emotional Cary Grant.

It's not outstanding, but it's a big plus for fans of the amazing Sophia Loren. For the basics on her life, this is a good place to start.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very informative, April 26, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Sophia Loren: A Biography (Hardcover)

I am only a sophomore in High School but I did read this book for a biography project I had to do and it was very informative for a biography paper. It had its moments of boredom but overall i dont consider it a "Bad" book like some have in the past. There are not that many things written on Sophia that can be compared. So overall I think it was a pretty good book and packed full of in formation. Its a biography what more do you want and wild crazy fantasy romance story?

4.0 out of 5 stars I liked it!, January 5, 2011

By 

John B. Goode "JBG" (Earth) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Sophia Loren: A Biography (Hardcover)

She's a little bit before my time, but I picked it up on a whim.

It's very easy to read and get through and it does a very decent job. It lists all the movies she did, who she starred with, the basics behind the movie, i.e. the producers, directors, background and whether it was a hit or not. It has the good and the bad, it's not a total fan book and discusses her legal problems with the Italian government and also touches on the robberies and (attempted) kidnappings. All in all it was a very good read for me. In fact, I liked the author's work so much that I will be checking out his other bios.