Actress Sophia Loren, 89, is recovering from a fall and hip surgery

Europe1 .fr with AFP/Photo credit: AA ARCHIVE / ANADOLU AGENCY / ANADOLU AGENCY VIA AFP 11:48 am, September 25, 2023

Italian actress Sophia Loren, 89, was recovering Monday from hip surgery for a fracture due to a fall the day before at her home in Geneva.

"Successfully operated, she will have to observe a brief period of convalescence and then rehabilitation sessions," said in a statement on Facebook the chain of restaurants she owns and which bears her name. "Fortunately everything went well and the Signora will soon be back with us."

A legend of the golden age of Italian cinema, Sophia Loren, who celebrated her 20th birthday on 89 September, has appeared in some 90 films, has won two Oscars and an acting award at Cannes.

Last film appearance in 2020

It was during a beauty contest in Rome, in September 1951, that the young actress met the producer Carlo Ponti, her 22-year-old who would become the man of her life and her pygmalion in the cinema. Her career then took off and she made films with international ambition, such as "Pain, love, so be it" by Dino Risi or "The Daughter of the River" by Mario Soldati, in 1955.

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From 1957, the voluptuous brunette with almond-eyed eyes played in Hollywood alongside the greatest actors of the time, from Anthony Queen to Clark Gable via Marlon Brando, Cary Grant, Peter Sellers, John Wayne or Frank Sinatra ...

"Sex appeal is 50% of what you have, and 50% of what people think you have," the actress likes to say. His last film appearance was in 2020 in "La vie devant soi", an adaptation of Romain Gary's novel directed by his son Edoardo Ponti. Thanks to this role, she won the award for Best Actress at the César Awards for Italian Cinema in 2021.