Sophia Loren was born 20 September 1934 in Rome, Italy, and grew up in the seaside town of Pozzuoli near Naples. Her early years were shaped by wartime Italy, where she lived with her mother and sister in modest conditions while her mother encouraged her interest in performing arts. As a teenager in the early 1950s, she entered local beauty contests, which introduced her to film opportunities and brought her to Rome’s bustling studio world. Around 1950–1952, she began appearing in small film rol