Gina Lollobrigida Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The Venice Film Festival will pay tribute to late Italian icon Gina Lollobrigida, who died in January, with a pre-opening event featuring a double bill of freshly restored works in which she stars. The Lido’s annual pre-opening event on Aug. 29 will feature a 27-minute short by Orson Welles titled “Portrait of Gina.” In 1968, Welles interviewed Lollobrigida in her villa on the Appian Way as the pilot for an ABC TV series — a U.S. version of “Around the World With Orson Welles”– that ABC rejected. Welles’ portrait of the diva remained in the vaults until 1986, when it was screened at the Venice Film Festival one year after Orson Welles’ death. This piece has been defined by Welles as a “personal essay” on Lollobrigida. Interestingly, when Lollobrigida saw “Portrait of Gina” in Venice in 1986, she reportedly tried to have it banned. The short’s restoration was done by the Munich Film Museum and Italy’s Cinecittà.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s Cineteca di Bologna film archives have unearthed a small treasure trove of shorts documenting the early career of late icon Gina Lollobrigida, who was hailed as a major European sex symbol of the post-World War II era. The prominent archives, known globally as a prime film preservation entity, have found and restored three vintage clips dated between 1947 and 1948 in which Lollobrigida – who died at 95 in January – sings Italian folk songs billed under the name Diana Lori. Described by the archives as precursors to MTV-style music videos, the shorts were directed by Pietro Francisci, later known for hit swords-and-sandals titles such as 1958’s “Hercules” starring Steve Reeves as its titular hero. In the shorts Lollobrigida appears to sing (she may have been dubbed) Italian folk songs “O sole mio!”; “Na sera ‘e maggio”; and “Stornellata Romana.”

Lenny Kravitz performed his song ‘Calling All Angels’ on piano for the 2023 Oscars In Memoriam tribute segment last night (March 12).The musician sang and played piano as the slideshow played out honouring those in the film industry who have died in the past year.‘Calling All Angels’ is taken from Kravitz’s 2004 album ‘Baptism’. Watch below.This year’s tribute honoured the late Olivia Newton-John, Vangelis, Jean-Luc Godard, James Caan, Ray Liotta, and Angelo Badalamenti.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor John Travolta introduced the Oscars In Memoriam segment, tearing up while remembering his “Grease” co-star Olivia Newton-John. “They’ve made us smile, and became dear friends who we will always remain hopelessly devoted to,” a visibly emotional Travolta said before the video montage began. The Oscars recognized the actors and filmmakers we lost over the past year in the annual In Memoriam segment, which this year unfurled to the sound of Lenny Kravitz playing “Calling All Angels.” The emotional segment is a viewer favorite, but omissions of high-profile Hollywood figures spark annual debate.

Anne Heche, “Saving Private Ryan” star Tom Sizemore and Charlbi Dean, who appeared in this year’s Best Picture nominee “Triangle of Sadness.”Fans also noted the absence of Cindy Williams: While she was best known for the ’70s TV sitcom “Laverne & Shirley,” she notably appeared in two classic films of the era, George Lucas’ “American Graffiti” and Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation.”And while the tribute included “Goodfellas” star Ray Liotta, who died unexpectedly on May 26, 2022, his costar Paul Sorvino, who died in July 2022, was left out. Also missing from the tribute: two-time Oscar nominee Melinda Dillon of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” legendary acting coach Sandra Seacat, “The Nutty Professor” actress Stella Stevens, “Creature From the Black Lagoon” stuntman and cinematographer Ricou Browning, Fred Ward of “The Player” and “The Right Stuff,” “The Wild Bunch” actor Bo Hopkins, “Magnolia” and “Boogie Nights” star Philip Baker Hall, French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stanley Kubrick regular Joe Turkel, David Warner of “Titanic” and “Time Bandits,” veteran actor Clu Gulager, blacklisted ’40s star Marsha Hunt, Henry Silva of “The Manchurian Candidate” and “Ocean’s 11,” British actor Leslie Phillips, and Sacheen Littlefeather, who famously appeared on behalf of Marlon Brando to explain why he wasn’t accepting his Best Actor Oscar for “The Godfather.” Among the stars and Hollywood vets honored at the 95th Academy Awards were James Caan, Angela Lansbury, Raquel Welch, Louise Fletcher, Jean-Luc Godard, Gina Lollobrigida, Robbie Coltrane, Nichelle Nichols, Kirstie Alley, and Olivia Newton John.

In memoriam…

A funeral was held for Gina Lollobrigida on Thursday as crowds gathered to pay their respects to the iconic star at Chiesa degli Artisti in Rome, Italy. The actress, who was once known as the most beautiful woman in the world, died on Monday at the age of 95.

Sophia Loren said Monday that she is “deeply shaken and saddened” by the death of Gina Lollobrigida, the Italian actress who passed away Monday at the age of 95.

Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida has passed away at the age of 95.

Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida, who was one of the world’s most famous actresses enjoying success in Europe and Hollywood in her 1950s and 60s heyday, has died in Rome at the age of 95.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentProlific Italian director Francesca Comencini (“Gomorrah,” the series “Django”) is set to make a personal feature film that will pay homage to her father Luigi Comencini, the Italian master who made Oscar-nominated Cinema Italiano classic “Bread, Love and Dreams,” with Gina Lollobrigida and Vittorio De Sica.Francesca’s film, with the working title “First Life, Then Cinema,” is being developed by Kavac Film, the Rome-based shingle of veteran Italian

Celebrity birthdays for the week of July 4-10:July 4: Actor Eva Marie Saint is 97. Actor Gina Lollobrigida is 94.