Gina Lollobrigida, an icon of Italian cinema who devoted her life to art, died Monday at the age of 95. She died in a clinic in Rome, her former lawyer Giulia Citani told Reuters.

A legendary actress — and sex symbol — who came to represent Italian postwar cinema, Lollobrigida brought many much-loved characters to life, from Adriana in Luigi Zampa’s Woman of Rome, to Esmeralda in the Hunchback of Notre Dame and the Queen of Sheba in Solomon and Sheba, alongside Yul Brynner. She was an idol and diva of a generation, alongside Sophia Loren, with whom she had a bitter rivalry that she reignited even on her 90th birthday. “I was not looking for any rivalry against anyone: I was the No. 1,” Lollobrigida told Corriere della Sera then.

Born in Subiaco, Italy on July 4, 1927 to a family of furniture manufacturers, Lollobrigida always felt a deep connection to the world of creativity. She moved to Rome in 1944 and enrolled at the Institute of Fine Arts, drawing caricatures with charcoal and posing for a few photostories under the pseudonym Diana Loris to support herself. After placing third in Miss Italy in 1947 behind Lucia Bosè and Gianna Maria Canale, she began her career in cinema first as an extra and stand-in, and then in increasingly prominent roles. She was quickly noticed for both her beauty and her expressive talent. Her role in the Most Beautiful Woman in the World, a biographical film about the life of soprano Lina Cavalieri, where Lollobrigida sang, opened doors for her. She went on to play in Zampa’s Campane a martello and Christian-Jaque’s Fanfan la Tulipe, which was extremely popular in France. 

Lollobrigida clutched her most iconic role in the 1950s: La Bersagliera, a beautiful, penniless woman, ready to fight off men with cunning wit, in Luigi Comencini's Bread, Love and Dreams, a role that earned her the Nastro d’Argento.

Her career also took her to Hollywood, where she played in John Huston’s The Treasure of Africa with Humphrey Bogart and Jennifer Jones; Carol Reed’s Trapeze alongside Tony Curtis; Back in September with Rock Hudson, a role for which she won a Golden Globe; and Jean Delannoy’s Imperial Venus, which won her a David di Donatello and a Silver Ribbon. 

Her personal life was messier, particularly later in life. She divorce from her first husband, a Slovenian doctor, and went on to date Javier Rigau, who was 34 years her junior. Despite calling off a brief engagement, Rigau went ahead with a marriage using an imposter, according the BBC, which began a legal battle that consumed much of her later life. She accused Rigau of fraud when he claimed they were legally married, and ultimately lost the court case, but her marriage was annulled in 2019. Amid the scandal, Lollobrigida's son attempted to seek legal control over her life, which she saw as an attempted power grab over her fortune. 

Despite the scandals, she led a rich career and will remain a pillar of cinematic history. She won seven David di Donatello awards and two Silver Ribbons, was appointed as a Knight of the Republic and Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Food and Agriculture. 

Original story from Vanity Fair Italia.