Sophia Loren ( born Sofia Villani Scicolone, 20 September 1934) is an Italian film actress. She began her career at age 14 after entering a beauty pageant in 1949. Encouraged to enroll in acting lessons, Loren appeared in several bit parts and minor roles until the late 1950s when Loren's five-picture contract with Paramount launched her international career. Notable film appearances around this time include Houseboat, That Kind of Woman, and It Started in Naples.

Her talents as an actress were not recognized until her performance as Cesira in Vittorio De Sica's Two Women; Loren's performance earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1962 and made her the first artist to win an Oscar for a foreign-language performance. She holds the record for having earned six David di Donatello Awards for Best Actress, the most ever received: Two Women, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Marriage Italian Style (for which she was nominated for a second Oscar), Sunflower, The Voyage, and A Special Day.

Aside from the Academy Award, she has won a Grammy Award, five special Golden Globes, a BAFTA Award, a Laurel Award, the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival, and the Honorary Academy Award in 1991.

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