Hollywood Comes to Rockville: Film Legend Loren Reminisces About Glory Years

It was billed as “An Unforgettable Evening With Sophia Loren.” And that it was. For the second night in a row, the Italian screen legend did not disappoint the packed house at the Robert E. Parilla Performance Arts Center on the campus of Montgomery College in Rockville. Thursday night’s 90 minute show was filled with stories about Loren’s glamorous career, memorable movie clips and of course some gossip about her famous leading men. And to make sure fans got their money’s worth, Loren even sang a little Sinatra (“You make me feel so young, you make me feel there are songs to be sung.”)

At 85, Miss Loren looked as fashionable as ever. Sitting in two comfy chairs on stage, she and her co-host, movie critic Steve Persall, strolled down memory lane pausing occasionally to show clips from some of the star’s best movies including her Oscar-winning turn in 1960’s Two Women. On more than a few occasions, Loren slipped into her native Italian prompting her non-Italian speaking host to smile and say “in English please.”

For the last portion of the program, Persall read questions submitted by audience members which elicited some interesting comments from Loren:

• On what it was like to kiss Cary Grant — “Beautiful.”
• On Marlon Brando — “A difficult person.”
• On Richard Burton — “Enchanting.”
• On her favorite co-star, Marcello Mastroianni — “I learned many, many things from Marcello.”
• On her famous “side eye” in a photo with Jayne Mansfield — I didn’t know where else to look.”
• On what she does to stay beautiful — “Nothing. I was born beautiful.”

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About Joe Yasharoff

Joe Yasharoff is MCM's Director of Content and Operations. He is also an adjunct journalism professor at the University of Maryland. Previously, Joe was the Managing Editor at NBC Sports Washington and Executive Sports Producer at FOX5 (WTTG-TV). He hosts the MoCo's Most Famous podcast for MCM.

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