On September 23, 2025, the world of European 7th art lost one of its icons. The actress Claudia Cardinale has passed away but her cinematographic work continues to fascinate.
Claudia Cardinale was born in La Goulette, a suburb of Tunis, in 1938, into a family of Sicilian origin. She grew up in a multicultural environment, speaking French, Sicilian (and to some extent Arabic). It is only as an adult, when she starts filming in Italy, that she learns Italian effectively. If she aspired to become a teacher or even an explorer in her teenage years, the doors of cinema almost open by chance.
From a beauty contest at the Italian cinema
It is through her beauty that the actress enters the cinematic universe. Claudia Cardinale wins in 1957 at a beauty contest in Tunisia and is elected ‘the most beautiful Italian of Tunis’. She is then spotted by the Italian 7th art industry. She goes to the Venice Film Festival and begins to associate with important personalities of the field.
Claudia Cardinale made her very first steps in cinema in 1958 in the film Goha, directed by Jacques Baratier, shot in Tunisia, with Omar Sharif in the lead role. She appears in a small role, but it was her real beginning on screen. Her first outstanding role in Italy comes the same year with I soliti ignoti (The Pigeon) by Mario Monicelli, where she begins to be noticed in Italian cinema.
She makes films by Italian authors, neorealists and social dramas, like Rocco and his brothers (1959) by Luchino Visconti, who made her known internationally. 1963 is a pivotal year: she plays in Fellini’s Huit et demi and Le Guépard (Il Gattopardo) by Visconti, reinforcing her cinematic stature. But the young actress does not intend to be trapped by certain critics, who focus on her beauty, in the roles of diva and seductress. However, Claudia Cardinale accepts ageing and refuses pretense with confidence and modesty, thumbing her nose at her detractors.
A diversification of roles coming to establish its reputation
She then plays in more diverse productions, such as the westerns of which Once Upon a Time in the West by Sergio Leone, but also comedies, adventure films and historical works. In the 70s, his professional/personal separation with the producer Franco Cristaldi plays a role in the trajectory of his career. Some media believe that this may have created obstacles for him. She toured in 1975 with Mauro Bolognini in Libera, My Love, and Werner Herzog in Fitzcarraldo in 1982. Even though her roles are becoming rarer, the actress continues to act, especially in more mature roles. She also turns to television, the theater, as in 2000 when she goes on stage for the first time in Venus with fur. Two years later, she can be seen in And Now… Ladies and Gentlemen by Claude Lelouch.
Building on this long and successful career, Claudia Cardinale received a Golden Lion from Venice in 1993, then a Golden Bear in Berlin in 2002. In parallel, she becomes a UNESCO goodwill ambassador for the defense of women’s rights, and is increasingly involved in social causes. The actress is also celebrated in retrospectives at major museums like the MoMA in New York.
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Claudia Cardinale is as much the embodiment of Mediterranean sensuality as of a free and committed woman. She is recognized for a style of play that is both natural and magnetic, and attracts attention by her ability to embody complex women, to convey deep emotions without dramatic excess. Authentic, independent and charismatic, this cinema icon passed away on September 23, 2025, at the age of 87 near Paris, surrounded by her family.
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Featured photo : © DR
