One of Europe's iconic movie stars and among the most versatile, Claudia Cardinale was born Claude Joséphine Rose Cardinale, her mother was French, father was Italian. She had her break in films after winning a Tunisian beauty contest in 1957. She made her film debut in Goha (1958) and later that year had a role in the major international success I soliti ignoti. Her early career was largely managed by producer Franco Cristaldi.

Throughout the 1960s she appeared in some of the best Italian and European films including Luchino Visconti's Il Gattopardo (The Leopard, 1963), Rocco e i suoi fratelli (1960), Philippe de Broca's Cartouche (1963), Federico Fellini's 8½ (1963) and Sergio Leone's epic Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). Her native language is French and her fluency in Italian was limited, as she did not speak the language until the age of eighteen. Therefore, in early films her voice was dubbed by someone else. Not until 8½ was she allowed to dub her own dialogue.

Cardinale never made a real attempt to break into the American market since she was not interested in leaving Europe for extended periods of time. But her many Hollywood films include The Pink Panther (1963), Circus World (1964), Blindfold (1965) and opposite Lee Marvin and Burt Lancaster in The Professionals (1966).

Her performance in Visconti's Sandra/Of A Thousand Delights is regarded as mesmerizing, playing a Holocaust survivor with an incestuous relationship with her brother. In Comencini's La storia (from Elsa Morante's novel), Cardinale plays a widow raising a son during World War II and gave another well-received performance. Other memorable performances include Valerio Zurlini's Girl With a Suitcase and Mauro Bolognini's Libera.

Cardinale remains active in European cinema, her later films including Qui comincia l'avventura (1975), Fitzcarraldo (1982), Un homme amoureux (1987), Mayrig (1991), and And now... Ladies and Gentlemen (2002).

The actress has been UNESCO good will ambassador for the Defense of Women's Rights since 1999. She is involved in many humanitarian causes and currently lives in Paris.