Sophia Loren at 19

There are over 170,000 pictures of Sophia Loren on the Internet, but this picture of her - at nineteen years of age - may be the earliest one available.

Sophia Loren's mother, an actress named Romilda Villani, had wanted to go to Hollywood but her own mother wouldn't let her. Villani, by contrast, encouraged her own daughter to pursue her own Thespian dreams. This led the young girl - originally named Sofia Scicolone - to adopt her current name, as Scicolone was too Italian even for Italy. :-D

Sophia Loren married film producer Carlo Ponti; their marriage was considered one of the strongest and sturdiest in the cinema world; they were married for nearly forty years until Ponti's death. The marriage produced two sons, Carlo Jr. and Eduardo.

Another fun fact: When the Beatles emerged, they were asked the usual questions about their likes and dislikes, and Paul McCartney chose Sophia Loren as his favorite actress.