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Sophia Loren was a celebrated actress for decades
Photo: Kevin Winter / Getty Images
"My best childhood memory is when I got a piece of bread to eat": the 86-year-old actress Sophia Loren told the magazine "Reader's Digest" about the poverty of her family.
"Back then everyone was poor. That was the time of war."
Loren grew up in Pozzuoli in the greater Naples area.
During the bombing raids in World War II, she spent the nights in a train tunnel - and has been afraid of the dark ever since.
Nevertheless, in retrospect, she did not wish for a carefree childhood, affirmed Loren: "If it is not a matter of course that you have food on the table every day, then you learn to appreciate life and to take it in hand."
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In 1950 Sophia Loren got an extra role in the monumental film "Quo vadis?"
and came second in the "Miss Rome" election.
This is where she became aware of the film producer Carlo Ponti, her future husband.
In 1960 she received an Oscar for her leading role in Vittorio De Sica's feature film "And yet they live" (1960).
In her long career, Loren made well over a hundred films, always at the side of colleagues with world fame - Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Richard Burton, Paul Newman and several other big screen stars.
As she said in an interview with "Reader's Digest", she is particularly proud of ten of her films - including "The Countess of Hong Kong" because she was able to work with Charlie Chaplin on this production.
After more than a decade, Loren is now back on the big screen.
From November 13th she can be seen in the Netflix production "You have life in front of you".
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