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In 1962, Sophia Loren made Academy Awards history, and she wasn’t even in the room to see it happen. Too nervous to fly to Los Angeles, she stayed home in Italy, certain she had no real chance of winning. She was wrong. Loren became the first performer in Oscar history to win Best Actress for … Read more

Before she was one of the highest-paid actresses in the world, Sophia Loren was a painfully thin child in war-torn Naples, so undernourished that neighbors gave her a cruel nickname: the stick. Within little more than a decade, that same girl would be gracing magazine covers across the globe. Her transformation remains one of the … Read more

Before he was the Man with No Name, before Dirty Harry, before decades as one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars and directors, Clint Eastwood was nearly told his face wasn’t right for the camera at all. A studio executive’s blunt assessment early in his career could easily have ended things before they started. A Harsh … Read more

Clint Eastwood has spent more than six decades as one of Hollywood’s most recognizable faces. What far fewer fans know is just how large, and how private, his family life has been behind the scenes. With at least eight children born across six different relationships, Eastwood has managed something remarkable for a man of his … Read more

In 1986, Clint Eastwood traded a film set for a city council chamber, and Hollywood’s biggest action star suddenly found himself running for public office in a small California coastal town. He won. For two years, one of the most famous actors in the world spent his time not making movies, but attending zoning meetings. … Read more

Sean Connery came dangerously close to walking away from the role that would make him a legend after filming just one movie. During the making of Dr. No in 1962, frustration with the production’s shoestring budget nearly convinced him that James Bond wasn’t worth the trouble. Had he followed through, the entire franchise as we … Read more

Long before he became the definitive James Bond, Sean Connery delivered milk, watched over swimmers as a lifeguard, and polished coffins for a living. His path to Hollywood stardom was anything but glamorous. He even spent his early twenties as a competitive bodybuilder, a chapter of his life almost no one associates with the suave … Read more

Sean Connery married actress Diane Cilento in 1962, the same year he was cast as James Bond, launching him into a level of global fame few marriages could withstand. Eleven years later, the marriage ended after Connery admitted to affairs during their time together. It was a rare moment of candor from a star otherwise … Read more

In 1949, Rita Hayworth traded Hollywood soundstages for a life among European royalty. Her marriage to Prince Aly Khan made her a princess overnight, one of the most talked-about unions of the era. The fairy tale, so dazzling in the headlines, collapsed within a few short years, leaving Hayworth to rebuild a life and career … Read more

For years, those around Rita Hayworth assumed her forgetfulness, mood swings, and erratic behavior were the result of alcoholism, a rumor that followed her relentlessly through the 1970s. The truth, when it finally emerged, was something almost no one at the time understood. Hayworth was suffering from early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, a condition so poorly recognized … Read more