Sophia Loren & Carlo Ponti's 57-Year Love Story Began at 1st Sight Yet He Had Another Family

• Sophia Loren's marriage lasted 41 years.
• She found a lover and a protector in one person – her beloved husband and father of their two sons, Carlo Ponti.
• Here are the details of their 57-year love story.

Sophia Loren is an Italian actress named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female stars of Classical Hollywood cinema. Some of the notable films she has starred in are "Aurora," "Sunflower," and "Verdict."

The movie veteran has only been married to the late Italian film producer Carlo Ponti. He co-produced films with Loren that helped establish her fame. Together, the couple welcomed two children in their marriage, sons Edoardo and Carlo Jr.

Strong Connection at First Glance

In the book titled "The Northeastern Dictionary of Women's Biography," Loren recalled how she and Ponti met. "It was love at first sight for both of us," she shared. The two first crossed paths at a beauty contest in Rome. The actress added:

"I was 16, and he was on the jury. He saw me sitting at a table with friends and sent me a note asking me to join the contest."

Loren joined that contest and came in second. However, what she valued the most was how she and Ponti, who was 22 years older than her, started seeing each other ever since. At the start, their relationship was friendly, but when she turned 19, they genuinely loved each other.

Later, when Ponti saw her at another beauty contest, he arranged small parts for her in low-budget Italian productions. Soon, Loren rose to stardom via "The Gold of Naples."

During that time, she began to have an affair with Ponti, who was married to his first wife Giuliana Fiastri, and was already a father of two. In 1956, she was cast by an American studio to star in "The Pride and the Passion" and found herself deeply attracted to fellow co-star Cary Grant.

The film was her first feature debut since a TV movie over ten years ago.

Loren was 22 and already romantically linked to Ponti, who later became her future husband. On the other hand, Grant was 52 years old and already in his third marriage when he became infatuated with her.

In an interview with The Sidney Morning Herald, Loren described that period in her life as strange because she found it difficult to leave for the US. Her desire to leave was made hard because Grant was in love with her and wanted to marry her. She noted:

"But that would have meant leaving Carlo and creating a huge scandal. I was terribly afraid of what the reaction would have been if I had left Italy."

Loren's Passionate Romance with Grant

Still, she managed to fly down to Hollywood for the first time, accompanied by Ponti, and although he was still a married man, Loren was glad that leaving her home country gave her and the "River Girl" producer a chance to cohabit. They had been secretly engaged for three years.

Over the next few months, Ponti traveled back and forth between Los Angeles and Rome on business, leaving room for his lover to start seeing Grant again. According to the starlet, she could not resist Grant – who was 30 years her senior – as he sent her a bouquet of roses daily, wrote intimate letters to her, and even phoned frequently.

Ray Walston, the star of "Kiss Them For Me," who portrays Mac in the 1957 film, shared that Loren began attending the studio in the evenings to watch the rushes. It was evident that the actress and Grant had a mutual fondness for each other.

Grant wanted so badly to be with Loren. In contrast, the actress was on the verge of marrying Ponti, yet she faced her greatest challenge, set to shape both her personal life and her career.

Nevertheless, Grant was so besotted with Loren that he asked for her hand in marriage. But he later apologized in one of his letters for pressuring her to wed, saying:

"Forgive me, dear girl. I press you too much. Pray – and so will I – until next week. Goodbye Sophia. Cary."

The pair had been co-starring in "The Pride and the Passion." People speculated that Grant asked her to marry him while filming, which Loren later confirmed in her memoir "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow: My Life."

Grant proposed at sunset when the film's shooting ended, but Loren turned him down. Despite Grant's proposal, Loren insisted she was too young to think clearly about love and relationships during that period. Still, she chose Ponti over Grant by rejecting this marriage proposal.

The actress and Ponti wed in France in 1966 and remained married until his death in January 2007. Loren said choosing Ponti over Grant was the right thing for her to do because her late husband was Italian and belonged to her world, but her former lover didn't.

Bigamy Trial and Heartbreaking Miscarriages

Even though she ended up with Ponti, their marriage had its fair share of ups and downs. Their union caused havoc legally as it resulted in a trial for bigamy. This caused the couple discomfort when asked about their marital status. Loren disclosed that discussing it was upsetting for both of them.

At the time, lawyers had promised the long-awaited outcome in the trial for bigamy of twice-married Ponti and once-married Loren. They even faced one to five years in jail but did not plan on attending their trial because they did not go to their wedding either, which took place in Juarez, Mexico.

However, the pair's homeland regarded their marriage as invalid. The couple also viewed it as unlawful only because Ponti was still married. This meant that going through the ceremony was considered illegal and therefore bigamous.

As for the duo, the nuptials were invalid because there were no witnesses, and bigamy became impossible since the ceremony was not binding. Ponti's divorce from his first wife was another factor because Italy did not recognize it, though Mexico did.

Fiastri, who wed Ponti in 1946, not only brought the bigamy charges against him, but she also firmly requested the courts not to proceed with the bigamy prosecution. But they eventually ended up divorcing.

Meanwhile, after surviving prison for tax evasion, Loren longed to be a mother and revealed that the urge started when she was 29. Coincidentally, she started having pregnancy symptoms while playing the mother of seven in a film shot in Naples.

She disregarded the symptoms, thinking it was because she was acting as a mom and connecting so much with the role. When she went to see a doctor and had tests done, they returned negative.

It was not long after that her dream of being pregnant came true, and Loren was ecstatic, happier than she ever was before. But her woes were far from over. She recalled that the following days were among the darkest and saddest in her life.

The "Houseboat" star could tell something was wrong and opted to go and see a doctor who reassured her and advised her not to travel by car.

Later, she took a train to Milan for the next location of her film. Unfortunately, her first scene was challenging, as it occurred in a stage car erected on a hydraulic arm to create bumps. Loren said the experience was much worse than a real car.

That first night in Milan, she felt what she described as a terrible pain. As Loren got into the hotel lift, she almost fainted and later ended up in the hospital, where she learned that she had miscarried.

Four years later, she fell pregnant again while making "More Than A Miracle." This time, she was more prepared, and at the first signs, she called Ponti to tell him the good news. The actress promised herself that she would be more careful with this pregnancy.

According to Loren, a little voice inside her head told her that history would repeat itself. The first sign of trouble came when she experienced immense pain at home while with Basilio, a friend, as Ponti was in London for work.

Basilio called the doctor, but the professional was not bothered by the sense of urgency, saying Loren had nothing to worry about. Despite the ill advice, Loren and pal rushed to the hospital and ran into the doctor, who was heading out to a cocktail party.

Before he left, he gave her a strong sedative and claimed it was a passing crisis while advising her to sleep. But the contractions got worse, and Loren said she felt like she was in labor. Still, the doctor did not do anything. When the pain suddenly stopped at 4 a.m., "I knew it was all over," she noted.

The hospital called the doctor, and it took him two hours to get there. Upon arrival, he told her that she had great hips and was a gorgeous woman but would never be able to have a child. Of the hurtful remarks, Loren expressed:

"His scathing words dashed all my hopes, making me feel powerless, barren, and deeply inadequate."

Although she attempted to appear strong for her partner, she could sense Ponti's deep distress. At that moment, she allowed herself to be vulnerable and cried profusely.

A Mom of Two and Motherhood

But Loren's despair later turned to joy when she and Ponti welcomed their first son together, Carlo Jr., in December 1968. The now 54-year-old is an internationally acclaimed conductor.

Carlo Jr. has worked with orchestras worldwide, and per his website, he has performed across several continents, including Vancouver, Cape Town, and Budapest.

Meanwhile, the couple's second son, Edoardo, arrived in January 1973 and followed in his father's footsteps by working in the film industry as a movie director.

He came to the US to study his craft, earning two degrees from the University of Southern California. The 50-year-old previously directed several Hollywood A-Listers, including his iconic mother.

When Loren became a mom for the first time, she described the wholesome feeling she felt when she held her oldest son in her arms:

"The greatest, sweetest, most indescribable joy I had ever experienced. I was completely overcome with emotion when I held him in my arms.."

After having her firstborn, she thought life could not get any better, but she soon found out that her second son doubled her happiness. This realization became one of those incomprehensible mysteries of motherhood to Loren.

Losing the Love of Her Life

Apart from being a proud mom, Loren revealed she struggled when asked about losing her husband years later during a CBS interview in 2009. News correspondent Jim Axelrod asked her how she was adjusting to life without Ponti, and she paused for a moment before getting emotional.

Ponti died at age 94, and his wife said that it had not sunk in for her at the time of his passing because she still had not come to the full realization that he was gone forever.

Only a few years later, she faced some difficult decisions concerning her life and career, and it dawned on her that he was no longer there. She has since immersed herself in work to distract her from her reality.

In a candid interview with Vanity Fair in February 2012, Loren said that Ponti is one missing piece in her life, explaining that living without him "doesn't get any easier." She added:

"I miss Carlo very much, my husband. You can't have everything at the same time. That's life."

Acting Comeback

At 89, Loren does not allow her age to hold her back. The seven-time Golden Globe Award winner starred in the 2020 Netflix drama "The Life Ahead" when she was 88.

The film was her first feature debut since a TV movie over ten years ago, but the legendary film star still prioritizes her family above all else. However, she still combines both her passions as the movie's co-writer, and the director is her youngest son Edoardo.

This is their third project together. In it, she acts as Madame Rosa, an Italian Holocaust survivor. The film's message about being tolerant brought Loren back to acting, but she's picky about projects due to her desire for personal connections. In an interview with The New York Times, she explained:

"I stopped making films for a long time but was very happy because I saw my children grow up, get married, and have their children."

Loren didn't put a pause in acting because she didn't love her job but because she wanted to spend time with her family. She stopped taking on roles altogether and told herself that she would catch up later.

Now, Loren is still living life to the fullest, prioritizing her health, taking care of her business, and popping up in the acting industry once in a while.