Episode Details

Sophia Loren grew up so poor during World War II that her family made clothes from curtains. She was dismissed as just another Italian beauty until she delivered a performance in Two Women so devastating that she became the first actress to win an Academy Award for a foreign-language role.

This episode traces Loren from her childhood in the slums of Pozzuoli through her rise in Italian cinema, her partnership with Vittorio De Sica, and her decades as one of the most recognized faces on earth.

• She grew up in wartime poverty in Pozzuoli, near Naples, and her family made clothing from curtains
• She was the first actress to win an Academy Award for a performance in a foreign-language film
• Her professional and personal partnership with producer Carlo Ponti lasted over fifty years
• She continued acting into her eighties, winning critical praise for her late-career performances