Claudia Cardinale obituary

"It was no surprise, when Federico Fellini cast Claudia Cardinale in 8 (1963), that she played the dream girl of his alter ego on screen. By that time, Cardinale, who has died aged 87, had already emerged as a major Italian film star. In the same year, she appeared as the ravishing Sicilian courted by Alain Delon's handsome Garibaldi officer in Il Gattopardo (The Leopard), Luchino Visconti's great adaptation of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's novel."

"By the end of the decade, Cardinale had become an international success, winning more praise by playing the only female role in Sergio Leone's most ambitious western, Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). She was cast as a former prostitute from New Orleans newly married to a good-hearted pioneer who has bought a piece of land, only to find she is a widow by the time she arrives to join him."

Claudia Cardinale emerged as a major Italian film star by the early 1960s, cast by Federico Fellini in 8 (1963) as the dream girl figure. In 1963 she also played the ravishing Sicilian in Luchino Visconti's Il Gattopardo, dancing with Burt Lancaster's ageing prince; the film won the Palme d'Or. By the late 1960s she achieved international success for her sole female role in Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), portraying a former New Orleans prostitute who becomes a widow on arrival. Leone and cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli ensured significant close-ups alongside Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson and Jason Robards. Earlier career highlights included literary adaptations directed by Mauro Bolognini, such as Il Bell'Antonio (1960) and La Viaccia (1961).

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