She was described as “the most beautiful woman in the world” in the ’50s and ’60s. From Italian cinema, Gina Lollobrigida arrived in Hollywood, flown in by Howard Hughes himself. The international sex symbol captured the hearts of men everywhere, including famous ones—from Hughes himself to King Rainier III. She appeared in movies opposite iconic names in Hollywood—from Errol Flynn and Rock Hudson to Frank Sinatra and Yul Brynner.

“La Lollo,” as the stunner is known in Italy, reinvented herself in later years as a photojournalist, sculptor and sketch artist. She came to the Philippines in the ’70s as a guest of then First Lady Imelda Marcos. Gina’s colorful life is marked by controversies. With an estimated fortune of $50 million and luxurious properties to her name, the brunette is involved in legal tugs-of-war. There was the 2010 “wedding” to Spaniard Javier Rigau y Rafols, who used a “stand-in” for Gina.