What is Sophia Loren's net worth and salary?

Sophia Loren is a legendary Italian actress and model who has a net worth of $150 million. Sophia Loren began acting in films as a teenager, before signing a five-picture contract with Paramount that launched her to global stardom. Among her credits are "Marriage Italian Style," "Sunflower," and "Two Women," the latter of which earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Early Life and Career Beginnings

Sophia Loren was born as Sofia Villani Scicolone in 1934, in Rome, Italy. Her parents were Romilda Villani, a piano teacher, and Riccardo Scicolone, who was a construction engineer from a noble lineage. Loren's parents never married, and her father eventually left the family behind without financial support. When she was 15, Loren entered the 1950 Miss Italia beauty pageant under the name Sofia Lazzaro; selected as one of the three finalists, she was awarded the title of "Miss Elegance." Still using the name Lazzaro, she enrolled at Italy's national film school, the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. She subsequently appeared in an uncredited role in the 1951 historical epic "Quo Vadis." Around this time, Loren had bit parts in Italian movies such as "Brief Rapture," "Era lui… sì! sì!," "I Dream of Zorro," and "La Favorita."

In 1953, after adopting her current name, Loren had her first starring role in "Aida," an adaptation of the Verdi opera. She landed another leading role that same year in "Two Nights with Cleopatra." Her big breakthrough, however, came with the 1954 Vittorio De Sica anthology film "The Gold of Naples." Loren continued to have a prolific career on screen over the next couple of years, starring in such films as "Pilgrim of Love," "Too Bad She's Bad," "The Sign of Venus," and "The Miller's Beautiful Wife," her first of numerous films with Marcello Mastroianni.