Lollobrigida, 79, takes a toy boy
Richard Owen, Rome, 21 Oct 2006IN the heyday of la dolce vita she was one of Italy's most voluptuous stars, taking the title role in The Most Beautiful Woman in the World. Gina Lollobrigida hit the headlines again yesterday by emerging from retirement at the age of 79 to announce that she was marrying a man of 45.
"There is no age limit for love," said the woman known as La Lollo, as the news swept Italy, where the first Rome Film Festival is nearing its end. "I am so happy I want the whole world to know. Women of the world, don't worry about your wrinkles - love is the best rejuvenating cure there is."
The actor, whose fiery spirit and dramatic curves fuelled the fantasies of male filmgoers for decades, confirmed that she was to marry Javier Rigau Rifols, a Spanish property entrepreneur from Barcelona, "by the end of the year".
The news was broken by the Spanish magazine Hola!, which featured the happy couple on its cover.
"At one stroke La Lollo has redeemed all the glamorous women who have grown so old they can't bear to look in the mirror any more," said Italian daily La Stampa.
It noted that other female celebrities such as Demi Moore and Madonna had married younger men but said Lollobrigida, as a grandmother of nearly 80, had "outdone them all".
"At last all women can hope for a future, whatever their age," said Italian writer Lina Sotis, noting that Sophia Loren, La Lollo's eternal rival, had also defied the passage of time by recently posing semi-naked in a diaphanous gown at the age of 71 for next year's Pirelli calendar.
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She looks good for 79 but IMO, she couldn't stand in Sophia's shadow. Sophia set the bar for generations and probably still does.