Claudia Cardinale: Here’s what the Italian film icon looks like at 86

Gaining traction in Hollywood, she starred alongside David Nivens in The Pink Panther and then shared the screen with legends like John Wayne and Rita Hayworth in 1964’s Circus World.

Lauded for her portrayal of a prostitute in the U.S.-Italian film Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), Cardinale co-starred with icons Henry Fonda, Jason Robards and Charles Bronson.

But audiences enjoyed seeing Cardinale, dubbed the Italian Brigitte Bardot, with the real Bardot–her friend and rival–in 1971’s The Legend of Frenchie King. What set her apart from Bardot? She said she never appeared nude in a film, “I always thought it was more erotic to leave some room to imagination, hinting at things rather than showing everything.”

Working in Hollywood was both successful and stressful. In a Life article, that referred to her as “the most admired international film star since Sophia Loren,” Cardinale revealed that she wanted out of the patriarchal Hollywood system. Speaking to the lower salary in Europe, If I have to give up the money, I give it up. I do not want to become a cliché.”

‘You cannot stop time’

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