By Stone Martindale Jan 10, 2007, 16:39 GMT
Italian film producer Carlo Ponti, husband of Sophia Loren, has died at the age of 94 in a hospital in Switzerland, his family said on Wednesday.
Vintage Italian actress Sophia Loren and her husband, film producer Carlo Ponti. Ponti died late Tuesday 09 January 2007 in a Geneva Hospital at the age of 94. He was married for half a century to his surviving wife, legendary Italian actress Sophia Loren. Ponti died during the night in a Swiss hospital, where he was being treated for lung problems. EPA/-
Ponti was a prolific producer, responsible for more than 150 films over a career that spanned 50 years. He had been in a Geneva hospital for about 10 days with pulmonary problems when he died, the family said in a released media statement.
Ponti initially was a law student at the University of Milan, but succumbed to the lure of the Italian film industry.
Often working at the historic studios Cinecittą, (the Italian soundstages founded in 1937 by Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, which was the filming location for many epics like "Ben-Hur,") it became the studio most closely associated with director Federico Fellini who Producer Ponti worked extensively with.
He also worked with well-known directors including Jean-Luc Godard and David Lean and produced such films as "Doctor Zhivago," "The Cassandra Crossing," "The Verdict," "Liv" and "The Squeeze."
Doctor Zhivago garnered Ponti an Oscar nomination in 1965.
Ponti was also famous for his discovery of Sophia Loren, whom he eyed when she was a teenager 25 years his junior, and he was married to his first wife, Giuliana.
In the scandal of its day, Ponti divorced his wife, and married Loren in 1957, a union that was later annulled. Ponti was charged with bigamy, while Loren was accused of being a concubine. After all this, they remarried in 1966.
Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and a niece of Loren, told Reuters that Ponti died a "peaceful death."
"His wife and children were with him. Sophia has always been with him throughout," Mussolini was quoted as saying by Reuters.
CNN reports that Ponti and Loren had two sons, Carlo Jr., a celebrated conductor, and Edoardo, a film producer. Ponti also had two children from his first marriage, Guendolina and Alexander.
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