I Love Italian Fashion

Tonight Sophia Loren thanks her mum in a new Italian TV film called La Mia Casa e’ piena di Specchi, (my house is full of mirrors). The 75 year old actress plays her mother who endured hardship during her life to give her daughter a ‘Fairy-Tale’ life. 
I must see it and I’ll let you know what it was like.

During World War II, the harbour and munitions plant in Pozzuoli where they lived, was a frequent bombing target of the allies. As Loren ran to the shelter during a raid she was struck by shrapnel and wounded in the chin. Subsequently, the family moved to Naples and begged distant relatives to take them in.

After the war, Loren and her family returned to Pozzuoli. Grandmother Luisa opened their living room as a pub, selling homemade cherry liquor. Her mother Romilda Villani (1914-1991) played the piano, her sister Maria sang and Loren waited tables and washed dishes. The place was very popular with the American GIs stationed nearby, and she got a lot of attention.

When she was 14 years old, Loren entered a beauty contest in Naples and, while not winning, was selected as one of the finalists. Later she enrolled in acting class and was selected as an extra in Mervyn LeRoy’s 1951 film, Quo Vadis, thus launching her career as a motion picture actress. She eventually changed her name to Sophia Loren.