Italian actress Claudia Cardinale, star of ‘8 1/2’, dies aged 87

Italian actress Claudia Cardinale, known for movies including 8 1/2 and The Pink Panther, has died aged 87.

Her agent Laurent Savry told AFP news agency that she died at her home in Nemours, France, with her children, Patrick and Claudia, there.

“She leaves us the legacy of a free and inspired woman both as a woman and as an artiste,” he added.

Italy’s Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli also paid tribute, calling her “one of the greatest Italian actresses of all time,” embodying “Italian grace”.

Cardinale had been in the film industry for almost seven decades, after the Tunis-born star won the “Most Beautiful Girl in Tunisia” competition in 1957. The prize was a trip to the Venice Film Festival, which led her to film contracts – her father convinced her to “give this cinema thing a go” – and saw her make her debut with a small role in 1958’s Goha alongside Omar Sharif.

In the 1960s, she became one of Italy’s best-known actresses with roles in films including The Leopard, 8 1/2 and The Day Of The Owl. After appearing in 1963’s The Pink Panther, which was filmed across Rome, Paris and Los Angeles, she starred in a series of Hollywood movies including Blindfold, Lost Command and The Hell With Heroes.

Later on, she recalled: “The best compliment I ever got was from actor David Niven while filming The Pink Panther. He said: ‘Claudia, along with spaghetti, you’re Italy’s greatest invention.’”

She continued acting into her eighties, appearing in the Swiss miniseries Bulle in 2020 and having a role in Netflix’s Rogue City later that year. Her final role was in the 2022 Italian-Tunisian drama The Island Of Forgiveness.

Throughout her life, Cardinale was outspoken about women’s rights, and had been a UNESCO goodwill ambassador for the Defence of Women’s Rights since March 2000. She was also awarded the Cavaliere di Gran Croce dell’OMRI (Order of Merit of the Italian Republic), the most senior Italian order of merit.

In 2002, she was given a lifetime achievement at the Berlin Film Festival, and said, “I’ve lived more than 150 lives: prostitute, saint, romantic, every kind of woman, and that is marvellous to have this opportunity to change yourself.”

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