Luigina “Gina” Lollobrigida was born on the 4th July 1927, in Subiaco, Lazio, Italy, and is an actress and photojournalist, still best known for her roles in such movies as “Beat the Devil” (1953), “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1956), “The Law” (1959), and “Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell” (1968). Lollobrigida won numerous awards including two Golden Globes nominations. Her acting career started in 1946 and ended in 1997.
Have you ever wondered how rich Gina Lollobrigida is, as of mid- 2016? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Lollobrigida’s net worth is as high as $20 million, earned through her successful career as an actress. In addition to being among the most famous Italian actresses of the time, Lollobrigida worked as a journalist too, which also improved her wealth.
Gina Lollobrigida Net Worth $20 Million
Gina Lollobrigida was one of four daughters of a furniture manufacturer father and his wife. She participated in beauty contests from an early age and also did some modelling that helped her start an acting career. In 1946, Gina had her big-screen debut in the movie called “Return of the Black Eagle”, and in 1947 Lollobrigida finished third in the Miss Italia pageant, so gaining national fame which secured her numerous roles in the future.
By the end of the ‘40s, Lollobrigida had parts in “Mad About Opera” (1948) and “Campane a Martello” (1949), and Howard Hughes even invited her to work in Hollywood, but she refused and decided to stay in Europe until 1959. In the meantime, Gina starred in more than 20 films including “Alina” (1950), “Vita da cani” (1950), “Four Ways Out” (1951), and “Attention! Bandits!” (1951), which helped her establish her net worth, but also boost her popularity. She also had roles in “Fan-Fan the Tulip” (1952), “Wife for a Night” (1952), “Beauties of the Night” (1952), “The Unfaithfuls” (1953), and “The Wayward Wife” (1953). Later, she began to play in American produced films, starting with John Huston’s “Beat the Devil” (1953) also starring Humphrey Bogart and Jennifer Jones.
Lollobrigida ended the ‘50’s with notable roles in “Trapeze” (1956) with Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1956) with Anthony Quinn, “Solomon and Sheba” (1959) starring Yul Brynner, and “Never So Few” (1959) with Frank Sinatra and Steve McQueen. Thanks to these roles, Lollobrigida gained international fame and her net worth significantly increased. She moved to Hollywood to work, and filmed many important movies such as “Come September” (1961) with Rock Hudson, “Woman of Straw” (1964) starring Sean Connery, “Strange Bedfellows” (1965), “Hotel Paradiso” (1966) with Alec Guinness, and Golden Globe-nominated “Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell” (1968).
Lollobrigida’s career slowed down in the ‘70s as she decided to switch to journalism. However, she filmed a few movies, including “King, Queen, Knave” (1972), “Deceptions” (1985), “One Hundred and One Nights” (1995), and her last one “XXL” (1997) with Michel Boujenah and Gérard Depardieu, which only increased her net worth.
She had a decent career as a photojournalist, and photographed many celebrities including Paul Newman, Salvador Dalí, Audrey Hepburn, Henry Kissinger, Ella Fitzgerald, David Cassidy, and the German national football team. Among other notable work, Lollobrigida interviewed the Cuban president Fidel Castro in Cuba.
Regarding her personal life, Gina Lollobrigida was married to Slovenian physician, Milko Škofič, from 1949 to 1971; he abandoned the practice to become her manager, but they divorced in 1971 after a series of her affairs including with Christiaan Barnard and George Kaufman in the ‘60s – they have one child together. In 2006, she was engaged to Javier Rigau Rafols, a Spanish businessman, but they called off the engagement later that year. Lollobrigida has been living on her ranch in Sicily since 1949.
Lollobrigida is a well-known philanthropist; she has donated nearly $5 million to the stem cell therapy research.
NIAF Lifetime Achievement Award at the Foundation's Anniversary Gala (2008), Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress (1953),Golden Globe Henrietta Award, World Film Favorite (1961), David di Donatello for Best Actress (1963)
Nominations
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (1968), for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film (1984)
Movies
“Trapeze” (1956), “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1956), “Solomon and Sheba” (1959), “Never So Few” (1959), “Come September” (1961), “Strange Bedfellows” (1965), “Hotel Paradiso” (1966), “Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell” (1968), “XXL” (1997)
TV Shows
"Portrait of Gina" (1958), "The Adventures of Pinocchio" (1972), "Falcon Crest" (1984), "The Love Boat" (1986)
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Trademark
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Seductive deep voice
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Voluptuous figure
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Large brown eyes
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Natural brunette hair
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Quote
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I have experience seducing nephews.
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A woman at 20 is like ice, at 30 she is warm and at 40 she is hot.
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I do what I like now. I just don't have time for it all.
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I've had many lovers and still have romances. I am very spoiled. All my life, I've had too many admirers.
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There is only one trouble with having played the most famous courtesan of all times and that is, after Sheba, all other roles will certainly seem tame and anticlimactic.
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My cinema -- the '50s, '60s -- is different from the cinema today so I thought that it would not be bad to show that kind of cinema where we could dream.
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Popularity has a bright side, it unlocks many doors. But the truth is that I don't like it very much because it changes the private life into a very small thing.
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Fact
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Retired from acting in 1997 after 50 years in the motion picture industry.
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In October 2006, at age 79, she announced to Spain's ¡Hola! magazine her engagement to a 45-year-old Spanish businessman, Javier Rigau y Rafols. They had met at a party in Monte Carlo in 1984 and had since become companions. The engagement was called off on 6 December 2006, reportedly because of the strain of intense media interest. In January 2013, she started legal action against Javier Rigau y Rafols, claiming that her ex-boyfriend had staged a secret ceremony in which he "married" an imposter pretending to be her at a registry office in Barcelona. She said he intended to lay claim to her estate after her death. Lollobrigida accused Rigau of fraud, saying that he had earlier obtained the legal right to act on her behalf with a power of attorney, and carried out the plot to get extra power.
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Has one grandson: Dimitri Milko.
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Gave birth to her first child at age 30, a son Milko Skofic Jr. on July 28, 1957. Child's father is now ex-husband, Milko Skofic.
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In May 2013, her diamond jewelry sold for more than $4.9 million in Geneva, setting an auction record for pearl earrings, according to Sotheby's. The earrings beat the $1.98 million figure set in 2011 from the sale of ones made by Bulgari for Elizabeth Taylor. Lollobrigida said was selling the jewelry to raise money for stem cell research.
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Was originally considered for one of the leading roles of Lady L (1965).
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Joey "The Lips" Fagan's trumpet in the Roddy Doyle novel "The Commitments" is named after her.
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Was head of the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1986.
She was a successful photojournalist and scooped the world's press by obtaining an exclusive interview with Fidel Castro.
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"Lollo", a kind of curly lettuce, was named after her.
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In November 1998, £10,000 worth of her jewels was stolen from a bag. This happened at a hotel reception in Munich, Germany, while she was waiting for a taxi to the airport.
$20 Million
