When Eisie Met Loren

Top, Sophia Loren and Carlo Ponti, photographed by Alfred Eisenstaedt near Naples, 1961; above, Loren in New York, 1979.

“She was the most captivating and the nicest and the most hardworking actress I’ve ever met”: a new coffee-table book collects the photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt’s timeless pictures of the Italian cinema icon Sophia Loren

By Elena Clavarino

Sophia Loren began her career as did many poor, beautiful girls from Pozzuoli, Naples—in beauty pageants. Soon she appeared in the louche pages of Sogno, a magazine popular among those who couldn’t afford movie tickets. Her first Life- magazine cover dates to August 22, 1955, and features her as a feisty fishmonger in a still from the film Pane, Amore e… The article noted her “indifferent acting ability” but praised her “sensuous beauty and physique.” Loren was destined for more.

In 1958, she signed a five-picture deal with Paramount. Around the same time, one of Life ’s seasoned photographers, Alfred Eisenstaedt—known as “Eisie” (pronounced READ ON