Claudia Cardinale played major roles in some of film history's real classics: the spaghetti western "Harmonica – an avenger", the comedy "The Pink Panther" and Federico Fellini's "8½".
Cardinale was born in the then French colony of Tunisia in 1938 to Italian parents, but has said that she did not learn Italian until she started participating in Italian films.
In the early 1960s, she was involved in Italian successes such as Luchino Visconti's "Rocco and His Brothers". In 1962, she became a star also in France, after "Cartouche – the master thief" where she shared the screen with Jean-Paul Belmondo.
In 1963 came the big breakthrough. In addition to the Oscar-winning "8½" and "The Pink Panther", she was also involved in Visconti's "The Leopard" that year.
Later in her career, she continued to participate in mainly Italian and French productions.
Beside acting, Cardinale was a long-time advocate for women's rights and was appointed a Unesco ambassador in such matters in the year 2000.
