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Humphrey Bogart as soon as mentioned she ‘made Marilyn Monroe seem like Shirley Temple’ and he or she drove everybody from mogul Howard Hughes to dictator Fidel Castro loopy with lust.
However when the nice Gina ‘La Lollo’ Lollobrigida reached the desperately unhappy finish of her outstanding life, along with her solely little one sitting by her bedside holding her hand, her reminiscences weren’t these you’d anticipate from a Hollywood icon and intercourse image however from a lady who regarded again with remorse.
Whereas in later life Gina admitted to a weak point for younger males, we now know that her final one robbed her blind.
In November, Andrea Piazzolla, 36, who’d moved in with Gina after coming to her home seeking a job on the age of 21, was given a three-year jail sentence after he was discovered responsible of stealing hundreds of thousands from the star earlier than her demise final 12 months.
Piazzolla, who first did menial duties however shortly made himself indispensable as her self-styled private assistant, was accused of ‘brainwashing’ and ‘defrauding’ the actress in a bid to swindle her out of property, money, automobiles and jewelry. And there was a lot to swindle.
Along with her ten-bedroomed pink palace on the Appian Manner close to Rome Gina owned three additional flats within the metropolis, a home in Monte Carlo, an artist’s studio in Tuscany, plus €5million (£4.3million) value of jewels, work, sculptures and vintage furnishings.
Gina Lollobrigida turned a Hollywood intercourse image in movies corresponding to Solomon And Sheba
However when she lastly died of kidney failure on the age of 95, most of Gina’s €10million (£8.5million) property had been frittered away.
The pink villa, which is now in a sorry state of disrepair, should be offered to repay her appreciable money owed.
For her son Milko Skofic, who hadn’t seen his mom in 5 years after Piazzolla took growing management of her life and affairs, it was the saddest of endings.
‘One of many final issues she mentioned to me was, “I did the whole lot improper”,’ Milko says in his first, unique interview about his mom’s demise.
‘She was very, very emotional as a result of she hadn’t seen me for a very long time. I feel, in that second, she realised the whole lot she’d misplaced and that she’d been residing in a lie. She stored saying, “No, no, no”.’
Their reunion, together with Milko’s son Dimitri, 29, happened in Rome. For a lady who as soon as described herself as ‘the mom of Italy’, it was solely becoming that she handed away within the metropolis with which she’d turn out to be synonymous – even when her ultimate days have been spent in a non-public clinic and never her fabulous pink villa.
‘For just a few weeks she was dozing out and in of consciousness,’ says Milko. ‘You’d attempt to make sense of what she wished by means of her eyes.
‘I don’t know if she knew it was the top or not. Typically she was there after which her thoughts would get lost. Then one morning she wasn’t there in any respect,’ he says.
A gathering of two silver display goddesses – Gina with Marilyn Monroe in 1954
‘I used to be holding her hand. She died the following day shortly earlier than midday. There was no decision. No peace. No defining second of, “All of a sudden I perceive.” That’s Hollywood motion pictures and life isn’t a Hollywood film.’
His eyes flash. ‘And that coward – that f****** coward – wasn’t there. He took the whole lot from her and instantly, when he noticed she wasn’t aware the day earlier than she died, he went away and didn’t come again.
‘I do know she most likely didn’t know what was happening, however certainly, in case you care, you keep and maintain her hand? However no, that criminal simply left.’
Milko is visibly distressed. A lot as his larger-than-life, handful of a mom drove him half-crazy at occasions, he cherished her dearly.
Described because the Mona Lisa of the twentieth century, Gina was Hollywood royalty when the likes of Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton have been nonetheless in pigtails. Starring with icons corresponding to Frank Sinatra, Errol Flynn and Rock Hudson, her extraordinary magnificence and voluptuous 36-22-35 hourglass determine drove males wild with lust and ladies mad with envy.
When rival intercourse image Sophia Loren as soon as declared herself the ‘bustier’ of the 2, Gina hit again with the damning line: ‘We’re as totally different as a positive racehorse and a goat … I’m the No 1.’
When within the Seventies Hollywood completed along with her – or she completed with Hollywood, relying on whom you imagine – Gina was by no means going to be the kind of girl who would go quietly.
Gina as Esmeralda on the set of The Hunchback Of Notre Dame in 1956, earlier than she reinvented herself as an completed sculptress, photographer, aspiring politician and, briefly, journalist
So, she reinvented herself as an completed sculptress, photographer, aspiring politician and, briefly, a journalist. Lovers, many a lot youthful than her, adopted.
‘My mom had been inclined to opportunists many occasions up to now, however she at all times wakened after some time and kicked these folks within the a**e,’ says Milko. ‘This time it didn’t occur.
‘That criminal understood fairly shortly that, in case you flattered her, you’d get what you wished. So, he flattered her. It was unimaginable. When he was speaking to her, he’d be nearly kneeling in entrance of her.
‘I don’t know if their relationship was sexual. My mom at all times had this factor for younger males, so possibly. I don’t know.’
He pauses and shoots me a baffled look. ‘Effectively, I haven’t met anybody of 90 who I’ve been interested in but.’
On the day Gina died, Milko went to the home that had been his childhood dwelling to gather a costume for his mom to put on in her coffin. His mom’s press agent accompanied him whereas Piazzolla, who’d been residing within the property, handed over the keys and left in his Tesla.
‘The very first thing I bear in mind opening the door was the scent of mould. The home was a large number – filthy. It hadn’t been cleaned for ages. He’d been residing there, together with his child and his spouse upstairs in a kind of condo they’d made.
‘My mom had been sleeping on a settee mattress in a room downstairs. There was this gigantic TV with two large audio system and the shutters have been closed so she couldn’t see out of the home windows. He used to hold her upstairs to the toilet. Are you able to think about? He’d purchased himself a Tesla however wouldn’t put in a stairlift for her.
‘We went into the eating room the place there was an enormous desk she stored her drawings on however there was nothing there. The agent mentioned, “They’ve taken the whole lot”. He was actually shocked. I went upstairs to gather one among her attire and noticed one among her cameras. We each shared a ardour for images so I started on the lookout for the remaining. Solely a digital one was left. I took it.
‘Once we have been again on the hospital I believed, “I’m going to place it in her coffin”. My mom used to like happening photographic safaris in Africa and India. I believed, “Wherever she’s going she wants this for her final journey”.’
The actress along with her solely little one, son Milko, in 1965. He mentioned that after her demise in January final 12 months, it appeared as if the entire of Italy turned out for her funeral
Milko is a considerate, beneficiant spirited man who tries exhausting to comprise his fury. When his mom died, he was in a kind of ‘daydream’ at first as the entire of Italy appeared to prove for her funeral.
However then ‘it was hell on earth’. Her will was revealed, revealing the actress had divided her property between her son and her ‘toyboy’ supervisor Piazzolla, however there was treasured little cash left.
‘I don’t surf however you recognize if you do and a huge wave falls on you? That’s how I felt mainly. I couldn’t consider my mom – couldn’t grieve for her as a result of I used to be making an attempt to carry on. It was loopy. That monster was happening tv exhibits day-after-day saying, “The son left her alone. I used to be the one one who cared for her”. Each single day I used to be being insulted.
‘I ought to have gone into that home and thrown him out of the property proper initially. However after I realised she was being fully manipulated by him I mentioned to myself, “I’m going to do it the authorized means”.
‘Take a look at me now. Ten years of my life have gone and my mom’s useless. I don’t give a rattling in regards to the will. What I do give a rattling about is the truth that he stole time I might have shared with my mom. He’s taken the time my son, who desires to be an actor, might have been with my mom. When you’ve taken that, who cares about the remaining?’
In fact, it wasn’t at all times simple for Milko, a pc programmer, being his mom’s son.
His father, a Slovenian physician additionally known as Milko, whom Gina married in 1949, went on to turn out to be his spouse’s supervisor however few marriages might survive her relentless onslaught of suitors and the couple divorced in 1971.
Gina with Andrea Piazzolla in 2019. Whereas in later life the actress admitted to a weak point for younger males, we now know that her final one robbed her blind
Greater than that, Gina was a strong-willed, combative girl who preferred nothing greater than to get her personal means. When she didn’t … effectively, let’s simply say La Lollo pursued authorized actions with the gusto of her romantic life.
‘What gave my mom vitality was combating with somebody and, when she was, that individual could be in her crosshairs for months,’ says Milko.
‘You need to bear in mind when my mom was an actress, to be a lady alone and to maintain going you needed to be a bulldog. You needed to chew everyone. That was most likely her energy and her weak point.
‘For instance, when she was negotiating with a manufacturing firm for a film, they requested her what she wished. She mentioned, “I need the identical Rolls-Royce because the Queen”. They gave it to her.
‘I used to be cussed too and we clashed. I bear in mind when she was doing Unusual Bedfellows [with Rock Hudson in 1965] she was invited on a bit of boat and wished me to go.
‘I wished to remain at dwelling and play. So she mentioned I used to be going to fulfill James Bond to steer me. After I bought on the boat instantly there was Rock Hudson. He wasn’t James Bond. I used to be sulking. I began taking part in with the ignition key and broke it so the boat was and not using a motor and so they needed to row again. Rock Hudson was actually cross. He was telling me off, saying, “You’re a nasty boy”.’
Milko’s childhood was full of among the most well-known faces of the twentieth century. Audrey Hepburn was one among them. ‘Her son was in school with me in Switzerland,’ he recollects. ‘After I went to his home, she was at all times gardening.’
Fidel Castro was one other. ‘She at all times mentioned he was a boyfriend however I don’t know if she was taking part in,’ he says. ‘For my mom, actuality was similar to a Hollywood script. If she wished to edit the reality, she did.’
He shrugs. Milko isn’t a person who simply condemns folks, preferring to understand the shades of gray in us all – even, he admits, Piazzolla at first.
‘At first, I believed, “Am I making a idiot of myself being suspicious of him? He appears to adore my mom and helps her with issues. Maybe he’s only a good Samaritan”.’
Milko’s issues grew when, in 2011, Gina and Piazzolla returned from a visit to New York.
Milko, who had a home on his mom’s property the place he lived together with his spouse and son, recollects the day he was chatting to his mom in her kitchen and Piazzolla walked in.
‘This fool is available in and says, “I lastly managed to make peace between you and your mom”. I used to be taking a look at him pondering, “What are you speaking about? My mom and I are positive”.
Gina’s main roles included with Rock Hudson within the 1961 film Come September…
… taking part in reverse Errol Flynn within the 1954 historic swashbuckler Crossed Swords…
… and with Frank Sinatra within the 1959 film By no means So Few set through the Second World Struggle
‘He’d executed actually bizarre issues in New York like placing up an indication on a bridge saying, “I really like you”.’
Milko shakes his head. ‘That actually labored on my mom. She believed no matter he mentioned.’
When Milko challenged Gina, she defended Piazzolla. Quickly, a lock was put in on the gate separating his backyard from hers.
‘I used to be residing near my mom in case she wanted me. My son used to go over there day-after-day and I noticed her every time I wasn’t away for work, however instantly we couldn’t,’ he says.
‘After I known as her to ask what the hell was happening she invented all types of excuses or, after I known as, he’d decide up the telephone and inform me to name later.
‘Now I do know he was isolating her from us. My mom had at all times been so unbiased and decided, I noticed her because the driving pressure and also you didn’t actually cross her in case you might assist it. Now I want I’d been extra current.’
Issues ultimately got here to a head in 2013 when Milko found an exorbitant invoice of greater than €100,000 (£85,000) for a automotive. By this time, his mom’s housekeeper, gardener and driver had all been dismissed, whereas a few of her dearest pals complained they couldn’t attain her. He challenged her once more.
‘She mentioned, “This man’s a genius. He buys automobiles after which sells them. He makes some huge cash”. It was b*******. I informed her he was benefiting from her however I didn’t know the way unhealthy it was. He purchased a €300,000 (£256,000) Ferrari with my mom’s cash, offered it for €200,000 (£171,000) and put the cash in his mother and father’ account. It sounds unimaginable doesn’t it?’
Milko felt he was left with little selection however apply to the courts for an unbiased authorized guardian to run his mom’s affairs.
He withdrew his software when his mom provided him a spot on the board of her firm so he might regulate her spending. The next week she modified her thoughts. ‘All of a sudden I used to be the satan,’ he says.
In 2016 Milko’s spouse, from whom he was separated, and son have been evicted from the cottage on her property. The next 12 months, when his mom was in hospital, he obtained a letter from her lawyer saying, ‘in good conscience I really feel obliged to let you know your mom could be very, very sick. You need to come to see her’.
Milko utilized a second time for authorized guardianship in 2017, which was granted two years later, and alerted the authorities to Piazzolla’s manipulation of his mom. A psychiatric evaluation concluded there was ‘a weakening in her right notion of actuality’ and that she was in a state of ‘vulnerability’.
La Lollo was livid. She drew up her 2017 will, little figuring out just about all of her fortune had disappeared.
‘It wasn’t till we noticed her financial institution books from her account in Monte Carlo as a part of the investigation that I realised this man had simply ripped her off fully. Seven days every week for a 12 months he’d take her firm bank card at 3am or some loopy hour like that and take out €1,500 euros.
‘The day after she put a cheque within the financial institution from the sale of her jewelry, €4.5million (£3.8million) went to an offshore account. I realised this criminal was the satan.
‘My means of surviving that is to attempt to reside day-to-day. Who is aware of what is going to occur tomorrow? We’ll see.’
For now, Piazzolla stays free as he appeals his conviction. He additionally faces two additional costs of cash laundering and fraud which will probably be heard in court docket later this 12 months.
Milko has not but determined whether or not he’ll contest his mom’s will. Though he’s livid that Piazzolla has been left the rights to his mom’s pictures, work, sculptures and movies, he longs for peace.
‘I solely really feel fury after I’m on the villa making an attempt to wash it up. Are you aware, each tree within the backyard has my preliminary carved within the high department from after I climbed them as a baby.’ He falls silent for a second.
‘Proper now I’m establishing a basis in her identify to help younger expertise within the varied inventive fields she cherished. The saddest factor could be if an individual like my mom – somebody who has given a lot to Italy when it comes to our picture to the world – dies and in the long run all folks bear in mind is that this. My mom was a lot greater than that.’
