Rarely-Seen Sophia Loren Stuns with Her Beauty at 88 — She Has the 'Most Beautiful' Grandkids with Carlo Ponti

• Sophia Loren has been an icon of beauty and style all her life.
• The star went through a hard time when she lost her husband, with whom she shared a love story of 57 years and was married for over 41 years.
• Currently, the mother of two is rarely seen in public. However, her occasional appearances show she is still stunning at 88, and fans love how she ages naturally.
• The actress also appeared in public with her grandchildren, who she described as the "most beautiful."

Sophia Loren started her acting career as an extra in the film, "Le sei mogli di Barbablù" released in 1950, before she made her way to supporting roles.

In the sixties and seventies, Loren remained a bona fide international movie star, and people were quick to spot her beauty and praise it. She is still stunning at 88 and remains one of the most beloved and recognizable actresses in the international film world.

Loren's beauty has transcended time; even in the 21st century, people still praise her looks. much like they did during her younger years.

In photos that have made it to social media, users left comments regarding the actress's appearance, making her an icon of beauty and style.

One social media user was smitten by a photo of Loren in Stockholm in 1955, writing, "Totally utterly stunning beautiful." Another person commented, "Always a beautiful, classy lady," while a third fan wrote, "She is a magnificent lady."

Loren's photos are still admired all over the world, some of which were taken over 50 years ago. In another photo where the actress looked splendid in dark blond curls, a person said she was "The most beautiful lady." Others deemed her an idol, an "exceptional actress," and a good mother who "ages very well"

Despite being popular due to her beauty and acting prowess, few people know that Loren survived hunger and the cold of war before she became famous. The "Sunflower" star was born an illegitimate child in Rome and brought up in poverty in Naples.

Growing up without a father, Loren's childhood was riddled with problems including the lack of food. The actress revealed she was very thin due to hunger growing up that people nicknamed her "Sofia Stuzzicadenti," which means "Sofia Toothpick." She added:

"I was really shy. My father was absent, and my mother was too blonde, too tall, too lively, and above all, unmarried. Her eccentric, excessive beauty embarrassed me."

During the war, Loren's mother would beg for food and mostly come back with only a potato and a fistful of rice. A soldier once threw a piece of chocolate to Loren when the Allies marched through Napoli in 1943, but the actress had no idea what it was.

Loren progressed to Hollywood through the help of film producer Carlo Ponti, who was once her manager and then her husband for 41 years. Loren met Ponti when she was 16, and he gave her a contract, coached her, and made her a star in Italy before she even turned 25.

The two worked together professionally after meeting at a beauty contest where Ponti sent Loren a note encouraging her to join the competition. Recalling their love story, Loren gushed:

"It was love at first sight for both of us. He was on the jury…he sent me a note asking me to join the contest…I did, and I finished second, but the most important thing was that this was how we started to see each other, at first in a friendly way, then it became serious when I was 19."

At 19, Loren became Ponti's lover, but they had to see each other secretly as the film producer was still married to Giuliana Fiastri, the daughter of a general. Loren's mother, Romilda Villani, disapproved of this relationship as she feared her daughter would end up unmarried like her.

However, the couple went ahead with their relationship and got engaged. When they made their first trip together to Hollywood, they were already secretly engaged for three years.

Sophia did not take Ponti as her lover only; the actress saw him as a father figure having grown up without one. The pair had a big age gap— Ponti was 22 years Loren's senior.

The two maintained their professional and personal relationship but could not become husband and wife, as getting a divorce in Catholic Italy seemed impossible for Ponti. This challenge frustrated Loren who recounted:

"What I wanted to have was a legitimate family, a legitimate husband, children, a family like anybody else. It was because of the experience I had with my father."

Rare Appearance

Ponti got an annulment from Fiastri in 1962. This allowed Loren's dream of having a legitimate family to come true as she and Ponti got married in 1966 at a civil wedding in Sevres, France. However, having children proved to be an uphill task after the actress went through four miscarriages.

The couple had a childless marriage for 11 years before they were blessed with their first child. In her two successful pregnancies, Loren had to stay in bed for nine months to carry them full-term.

The actress had her first child, Carlo Ponti Jr, on December 29, 1968, in Geneva, Switzerland, at Cantonal Hospital. Almost four years later, on January 6, 1973, she gave birth to their second child via Cesarean section, another son, at the same hospital. They named him Edoardo Ponti.

The mother of two now has grown-up sons who have blessed her with grandchildren. Fans were stunned by her beauty in recent photos taken with her son Carlo and grandchildren Vittorio and Beatrice.

The actress, who is 88 years old, was also spotted last year looking glorious in a chic white trouser suit complemented with a white satin blouse. She was accompanied by entrepreneur Luciano Cimmino, who was in a dapper navy-blue suit.

Loren styled her outfit with a set of diamond-studded earrings and a necklace while attending her restaurant opening in Milan. Her look was completed with a pair of tinted pink sunglasses. She also styled her chestnut locks in loose waves.

A fan shared Loren's look on Facebook and praised the actress for looking beautiful, gorgeous, and always admirable. Users commented on this photo, with one person saying the actress was "absolutely stunning."

Loren's son, Carlo, also shared pictures from the restaurant, where he praised his mother for opening another branch in Molto Allegri in Milan.

In 2009, when asked how she was adjusting to life without Carlo, Loren held back tears and confessed it was very difficult.

Carlo said the restaurant had the best pizza and Italian food, encouraging people to visit it. He was accompanied by his children, Vittorio and Beatrice.

The actress's fans flocked to Carlo's post with comments praising her for her achievements and ageless beauty. "Fantastic, and you, Moma, looks beautiful still," a person noted.

A short clip of Loren and Cimmino was also shared on Twitter. People loved how the actress looked and responded to the photo, writing, "Beautiful then. Beautiful now." Another user described the actress's beauty as "Timeless."

Loren adores her grandchildren and believes her life is filled with love and family, which she said fuels her inner beauty:

"I'm happy! I live a wonderful life. I live for my family. I have the most beautiful grandchildren that I've ever seen in my life."

The "Houseboat" actress's two sons are now adults. Carlo, 54, is an actor who married Andrea Mészáros on September 18, 2004. They have two children, a son, Vittorio Leone Ponti, born on April 2007, and a daughter, Beatrice Lara Ponti, born on March 15, 2012. The actor has been featured in movies such as "Lidia Celebrated America," released in 2011.

Loren's second son, Edoardo, 50, is married to Sasha Alexander, after tying the knot on August 11, 2007. Edoardo and his wife have two children. They had their first child, a girl named Lucia Sofia, on May 12, 2006. The pair welcomed their second child, a boy they named Leonardo Fortunato Ponti, on December 20, 2010.

The "The Life Ahead" actress prefers spending time with her grandchildren to taking up roles in upcoming movies. She values her united family especially since she grew up without one. She recalled:

"In my life, I always took care of my family. I always wanted to have a united family. My mother never married my father. We had no family. I had a very hard childhood. We were living with our grandparents during the war."

The actress who loves going to see her children and grandchildren gushed about the joy her family brings her:

"My dream was to have a good family, to have a good husband that loved me for all my life, which I did. And my two sons, they are magic children for me. I am a very happy woman."

After taking a break from acting for ten years, Loren returned to the big screen when she featured in the movie "The Life Ahead," released in 2020. The legendary actress revealed it was her son Edoardo who convinced her to come back.

"My son knows me so well. He knows every inch of my face, my heart, my soul," the actress said of Edoardo, who directed the Netflix film.

In her comeback film, Loren played a holocaust survivor, Madame Rose, who lived in Bari, an Italian coastal town, and created a unique friendship with Momo, a Senegalese immigrant boy aged 12.

Sophia's Life Now, 16 Years After Losing Her Beloved

Ponti, who Sophia admitted was the love of her life, died on January 10, 2007, due to pulmonary complications. Years after losing her beloved, the actress said it was hard, but she was doing her best to move on with life.

In 2009, when asked how she was adjusting to life without Ponti, Loren held back tears and confessed it was very difficult:

"When he died, it was not a strong ache for me because I still did not realize that he was gone forever, but now, sometimes I am faced with things that I have to solve in life and my career, so many things, and it's now that I feel that he is gone forever."

The "Two Women" actress, who now lives in Geneva, Switzerland, said she filled the void her husband left with work:

"It is difficult to work sometimes as I am given things that are very very difficult, but work distracts me a little bit."

However, in 2020, she said she had accepted what is, including the fact that she would live the rest of her life without her husband, adding:

"I was very sad when my husband died because you can never get over this kind of feeling. Never. Each time you think about it, there's a moment of loneliness, which is very strong, but that's life."

The actress does not get to spend as much time as she would love with her kids and grandchildren due to distance, but they communicate via phone calls all the time and share pictures.

In 2020, amidst the pandemic, she was totally separated from them for a long time. Still, she declared hopefully, "I just try to have that moment of happiness during this pandemic as we all wait for a better tomorrow."

The Grammy winner is aging gracefully, complimenting her ageless beauty with her great sense of style and fashion. As such, it is no surprise that resorting to physical enhancements never crossed her mind. She reasons:

"Why change your body and be somebody else if you are happy inside? I never thought of that — never. I like what I have. I like me!"

Loren now spends her time reading, watching movies, going to church, and breathing a lot. She noted that she feels healthy, happy, and enjoys what she does, which gives her no room to focus on negativity.