Cook Islands 5 Dollars Silver Coin 2011 Sophia Loren, Hollywood Legends
Commemorative issue: Hollywood Legends Series - Bernard of Hollywood
Despite obscurity and lack of funds, Bruno Bernard (1912-1987) set up his first darkroom in the basement of his Hollywood apartment in 1940. Shortly thereafter, he moved his studio to the famous Sunset Strip. “No one knew the name Bernard, but they all knew Hollywood“, and hence the optical trademark signature Bernard of Hollywood, which ensured the image of glamour visually for decades, was created.
Bruno Bernard was considered as "Rembrandt of photography" and the “The king of Hollywood glamour” and Marilyn Monroe’s discoverer. In 1984 Bernard was the first still photographer to be honoured with an Oscar at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Obverse: Head of Queen Elizabeth II with tiara facing right.
Lettering: ELIZABETH II COOK ISLANDS 5 DOLLARS.
Engraver: Ian Rank-Broadley.
Reverse: Sophia Loren photograph by Bruno Bernard and a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Motion Pictures category at right (Classic film camera representing motion pictures).
Lettering: HOLLYWOOD LEGENDS Bernard of Hollywood TM 2011 SOPHIA LOREN.
Value: 5 Dollars = 5 New Zealand Dollars.
Metal: Silver (.925).
Weight: 25 g.
Diameter: 38.61 mm.
Shape: Round.
Mintage: 2500 pcs.
Partially coloured on relief.
Hollywood Legends
Marilyn Monroe Vivien Leigh Sophia Loren Claudia Cardinale Elizabeth Taylor
Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren, original name Sofia Villani Scicolone (born September 20, 1934, Rome, Italy), Italian film actress who rose above her poverty-stricken origins in postwar Naples to become universally recognized as one of Italy’s most beautiful women and its most famous movie star.
Before working in the cinema, Sofia Scicolone changed her last name to Lazzaro for work in the foto-romanzo, popular pulp magazines that used still photographs to depict romantic stories. Her first film role was as an extra, one of many slave girls in the American production of Quo Vadis? (1951). Under the tutelage of producer Carlo Ponti (her future husband), Scicolone was transformed into Sophia Loren. Her career was launched in a series of low-budget comedies before she attracted critical and popular attention with Aida (1953), in which she lip-synched the singing of Renata Tebaldi in the title role.
Loren’s beauty often overshadowed her enormous talents as an actress, but her earthy charisma is evident even in such early works as Vittorio De Sica’s L’oro di Napoli (1954; The Gold of Naples). With Ponti’s help, Loren increased her international visibility by appearing in Hollywood films opposite such major stars as Cary Grant (Houseboat, 1968), Clark Gable (It Started in Naples, 1960), Frank Sinatra (The Pride and the Passion, 1957, also with Grant), Alan Ladd (Boy on a Dolphin, 1957), William Holden (The Key, 1958), and Paul Newman (Lady L, 1965). Such exposure was undoubtedly instrumental in helping her win an Academy Award (Oscar) for best actress in De Sica’s La ciociara (1961; Two Women), in which she delivered a powerful performance as the courageous mother of a teenage girl during World War II.
Two other De Sica films showcased her comic talents and paired her with another Italian film icon, Marcello Mastroianni: Ieri, oggi, domani (1963; Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow), a film that earned an Oscar for best foreign film; and Matrimonio all’italiana (1964; Marriage, Italian Style). The best performance of her late career, again with Mastroianni, was for director Ettore Scola in Una giornata particolare (1977, A Special Day). Loren’s subsequent work included the television movie Courage (1986) and the feature films Prêt-à-Porter (1994), which was directed by Robert Altman, and the musical Nine (2009).
International recognition for Loren’s distinguished acting career includes a lifetime achievement Oscar in 1991 and a career Golden Lion from the Venice Film Festival in 1998. She also made headlines in the 1990s for her strong defense of animal rights. In 2010 she received the Japan Art Association’s Praemium Imperiale prize for theatre/film.