In 1975, her baby Patrick was born, a child she said was fathered by an unidentified man, who raped her. Patrick’s identity as her son, was kept a secret until he turned 19.
‘Violent truth’
In 2017, Cardinale opened up to Enzo Biagi, an Italian journalist, and shared with him the violent truth behind her pregnancy, “A man I didn’t know, much older than me, forced me to go up to car and raped me. It was terrible, but the most beautiful thing is that my wonderful Patrick was born from that violence. In fact, although it was a very complicated situation for a single mother, I decided not to have an abortion.”
She continued, “When that man learned of my pregnancy, he came back, demanding that I have an abortion. Not even for a moment did I think of getting rid of my creature!”
Speaking of Cristaldi, who controlled her life, Cardinale said, “With him I was practically an employee, a subordinate who was paid a month for the four films I made a year: I didn’t even call him by name, but by surname. I felt hostage, my father and mother were furious…Because I wasn’t in love, he was the one with me. In short, Cristaldi was certainly a great producer, but on a private level… better to overlook it.”
Her dysfunctional relationship with Cristaldi, whom she left in 1975, didn’t slow down her career.
The natural beauty, who made her debut in the French-Tunisian film Goha with Omar Sharif, quickly earned the reputation as one Italy’s best actors. She then had leading roles in Rocco and his Brothers (1960), and in 1963 she starred in the Oscar-winning film 8½ with Marcello Mastroianni, and The Leopard with Burt Lancaster. Both films, where she played a seemingly unattainable object of desire, are praised by the award-winning director Martin Scorsese as two of his top 12 favorites.
‘Italian Brigitte Bardot’
