Sophia Loren

 Sophia Loren was born Sofia Scicolone on September 20, 1934 at the Clinica Regina Margherita, Rome. Her father Riccardo was married to a different woman, and refused to marry the mother of her children, Romilda Villani, despite fact that she was his mother to his two sons (Sophia and Maria Scicolone, her younger sister). She was raised in Pozzuoli's in the slums of Italy in the second World War, and was confronted with lots of grief. Her life took an unexpected positive turn when, aged 14 she entered a beauty contest and placed as one of the finalist. It was here that Sophia caught the attention of film producer Carlo Ponti, some 22 years older than her, who she later got married to. He may have been the father figure that she didn't know when she was a kid. Sophia was placed under his direction and was initially as an actor in the film Le sei mogli Di Barbablu (1950) before being promoted to roles in supporting roles. In these films from the beginning, she was credited with the title "Sofia Lazzaro" because people believed that her beauty could bring Lazzarus from death.