Sophia Loren is the ultimate Hollywood movie star, synonymous with beauty and a glamorous lifestyle.
Her rise to fame wasn’t easy; she was born into a life of poverty, and even when she did enter the spotlight, her looks were criticized.
Today we recognize her as the most beautiful woman ever to grace our screens, still stunning at 88 years old.
It’s hard to believe the woman who inspired music, turned down a marriage proposal from Cary Grant, and became the first actor to win an Oscar for a foreign-language film had the start she did.
Born Sofia Villani Scicolone Rome in 1934, her mother was a piano tutor and actress whose good looks also caught the attention of Hollywood. Sophia’s beautiful mom once won a Greta Garbi lookalike contest – but her strict family wouldn’t allow her to pursue a career on the big screen.
Instead, the mother would guide her daughter and help Sophia in her future film career.
Sophia grew up without the support of her father, who was also dad to her younger sister Maria but he refused to marry their mother and had no involvement in family life.
”I saw my father only six times in my life,” she told People Magazine. “He was a great source of pain and humiliation for my mother, whom he seduced and abandoned, for my younger sister, Maria, who suffered terribly because he would not give her his name, and for myself.”
Growing up in a single-parent household was tough financially.
Céline Dion Shares a Heartbreaking Glimpse Into Her Battle With Illness
Céline Dion’s documentary, I Am: Celine Dion, has been finally released, offering a rare and candid look into her daily struggles. In one particularly vulnerable moment, Dion shares her experience of suffering a terrifying seizure that lasted several minutes.
© I Am: Celine Dion / Sony Music and co-producers
The documentary captures a tense moment as Céline Dion undergoes a medical evaluation. The Grammy-winning artist has been struggling with spasms linked to stiff person syndrome, a rare and progressive neurological disorder.
© I Am: Celine Dion / Sony Music and co-producers
Lying down on a massage table, 56-year-old Dion experiences spasms. Her doctor, Lobo, cautions that these spasms could “lead to a crisis.”
Soon after, the icon begins to experience a severe seizure. Her doctor swiftly calls for another medical team member to give her a medication used to treat nervous system disorders.
© I Am: Celine Dion / Sony Music and co-producers
At that moment, Dion can be heard groaning in pain as she shakes uncontrollably while lying face down. In a startling moment, Dion appears wide-eyed and unable to move independently.
Despite her condition, she remains conscious and manages to signal her awareness by weakly squeezing one of the medical expert’s hands.
© I Am: Celine Dion / Sony Music and co-producers
Following the administration of two doses of a nasal spray, Dion starts to recover from the seizure. The doctor mentions that if she hadn’t responded, they would have needed to rush her to the hospital.
As the My Heart Will Go On singer seems to regain her composure, she confesses to everyone in the room that experiences like these leave her feeling “so embarrassed.”
© I Am: Celine Dion / Sony Music and co-producers
Describing her horrible experience, the singer says, “I don’t know how to express it, like, it’s just … you know, like, to not have control of yourself?” Her doctor, Lobo, explains that the likely trigger for the seizure was Dion’s recent session in the studio where she had been singing, which overstimulated her brain.
Dion replied, “Well, what am I gonna do? If I can’t get stimulated by what I love, and then I’m gonna go onstage and, like, you’re gonna put the pulse oximeter on me, and you’re gonna turn me on my back?”
© I Am: Celine Dion / Sony Music and co-producers
Céline revealed her stiff person syndrome diagnosis back in December 2022. The star had to cancel tour dates in Europe, postpone her Las Vegas residency scheduled for October 2021, and later cancel her North American tour.
We admire Céline Dion’s determination and strength in the face of the formidable challenges she has encountered. Her life has been a journey fraught with difficulties from a young age, and here are seven major struggles that have shaped her into the inspirational icon she is today.
Preview photo credit I Am: Celine Dion / Sony Music and co-producers
Leave a Reply