Early Life
Loren was born in the Clinica Regina Margherita in Rome, Italy, daughter of Romilda Villani (1914–1991) and Riccardo Scicolone, a construction engineer of Sicilian and Venetian origins. Scicolone refused to marry Villani, leaving Romilda, a piano teacher and aspiring actress, without support. Loren's parents had another child together, her sister Anna Maria Villani Scicolone, in 1938. Loren has two younger paternal half-brothers, Giuliano and Giuseppe. Romilda, Loren, and Maria lived with Loren's grandmother in Pozzuoli, near Naples, to survive.
During World War II, the harbour and munitions plant in Pozzuoli was a frequent bombing target of the Allies. During one raid, as Loren ran to the shelter, she was struck by shrapnel and wounded in the chin. After that, the family moved to Naples, where they were taken in by distant relatives.
After the war, Loren and her family returned to Pozzuoli. Grandmother Luisa opened a pub in their living room, selling homemade cherry liquor. Villani played the piano, Maria sang and Loren waited on tables and washed dishes. The place was very popular with the American GIs stationed nearby.
When she was 14 years old, Loren entered a beauty contest in Naples and, while not winning, was selected as one of the finalists. Later she enrolled in acting class and was selected as an extra in Mervyn LeRoy's 1951 film Quo Vadis, launching her career as a motion picture actress.
Read more about this topic: Sophia Loren
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