- She signed a contract forbidding her to cut her hair, marry or gain weight. Because of this, she told everyone that her newborn son (out of wedlock) was her baby brother. She did not reveal to the child that he was her son until he was 19 years old.
- Speaks French, Italian, English, Spanish and Arabic (from having been raised in Tunisia).
- Although one of the great sex sirens of her time, she never appeared in a nude or fully topless scene.
- As she had a deep voice and spoke Italian with a heavy French accent, her voice was dubbed in her early movies. The Pink Panther (1963) was meant to be her first English-speaking role; however, her voice wound up being dubbed.
- Famed cinematographer Conrad L. Hall called her "a cameraman's dream - a perfect piece of nature - there is not much you can do wrong in photographing her".
- At the Italian Embassy in Tunis, she was voted the most beautiful Italian girl in Tunisia. Her prize was a trip to Venice during the Venice Film Festival. After the festival she was offered movie roles, but refused them and returned to Tunis. However, six months later, a producer sold her on a career in movies, and she went to Rome with her parents, two brothers and a sister, taking a home in Castel Giubileo, a small town outside the city (1957).
- Preferred to be called by her initials: CC.
- Long considered one of the world's great beauties, she has appeared on more than 900 magazine covers in over 25 countries.
- Good friends with fellow sex siren Brigitte Bardot; they appeared together in The Legend of Frenchie King (1971).
- Has resided with director Pasquale Squitieri from 1974.
- Has been UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for the Defense of Women's Rights since 1999.
- Her father was an Italian railroad worker. Despite having an Italian father, she grew up speaking French after her French mother.
- While her longtime companion resides in Rome, she calls Paris her home due to her popularity in France.
- Her impressive filmography includes roles in some of the greatest films from some of the greatest directors of all time such as 8½ (1963) by Federico Fellini, The Leopard (1963) and Rocco and His Brothers (1960) by Luchino Visconti, Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) by Sergio Leone, and Fitzcarraldo (1982) by Werner Herzog.
- Originally intended to become a teacher in Tunis, North Africa.
- She has two children: Patrizio, who was born out of wedlock (the father was a mysterious Frenchman) when she was 17 and later adopted by her former husband Franco Cristaldi; and Claudia, whose biological father is her longtime companion Pasquale Squitieri.
- Told a reporter she liked a dry martini before dinner, caviar for hors d'oeuvres, lobsters or oysters for seafood, or a steak alla Fiorentina. When it came to wine, her preference was for a rich, red wine (1965).
- Was a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1993.
- She never retired from acting.
- Her mentor was her late husband Franco Cristaldi.
- Her first starring role was playing the wife of Marcello Mastroianni in Bell' Antonio (1960). The following year, Luchino Visconti chose her for Rocco and His Brothers (1960), and by the early 1960s she was one of the busiest actresses.
- Has appeared in five films with Marcello Mastroianni: Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958), Bell' Antonio (1960), 8½ (1963), The Skin (1981) and Henry IV (1984).
- Producer Franco Cristaldi discovered her in 1957; soon after, she had won the title "Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunis".
- She has appeared in two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: The Pink Panther (1963) and Once Upon a Time in the West (1968).
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