Claudia Cardinale, the star known for The Pink Panther, dies at the age of 87

Claudia Cardinale passed away at the age of 87 on 23 September 2025 at her home in Nemours, France. Her agent, Laurent Savry, said she was surrounded by her children when she died. Cardinale had a career that spanned film and theatre. She appeared in more than 100 films and television productions.

She gained international recognition in the early 1960s with roles in Federico Fellini's 8½ and Luchino Visconti's The Leopard. She first entered the film world after winning a beauty contest in Tunis in 1957. Early in her career her voice was dubbed in Italian films because she had grown up speaking French and Sicilian.

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Claudia Cardinale’s career and key roles

Italian actress Claudia Cardinale arrives for the screening of the film 'Sink Or Swim (Le Grand Bain)' (Photo by Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Claudia Cardinale worked with major European directors across decades. She worked in Hollywood productions in the 1960s. She played Jill McBain in Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West (1968).

She won awards during her career. She received a lifetime achievement award at the Venice Film Festival in 1993 and the honorary Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2002. She was named a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for the defence of women's rights in 2000.

Cardinale said about working in film in her Berlin Film Festival acceptance speech in 2002,

“I've lived more than 150 lives, prostitute, saint, romantic, every kind of woman, and that is marvellous to have this opportunity to change yourself.”

Cardinale was born Claude Joséphine Rose Cardinale on 15 April 1938 in La Goulette, Tunis. Her parents were of Sicilian origin. She later held Italian citizenship. Her early life included a secret pregnancy. She gave birth to a son, Patrick, in London in 1958 and for a time introduced him as her younger brother while he was raised by her parents. She later spoke openly about that period.

In the 1970s her career faced setbacks after she left producer Franco Cristaldi and began a long relationship with director Pasquale Squitieri. She lived with Squitieri from 1975 until his death in 2017. She had a daughter, Claudia, with Squitieri.

Her agent, Laurent Savry, said to AFP on 24 September 2025, which was later quoted in Italian media,

"She leaves us the legacy of a free and inspired woman, both as a woman and as an artiste."

Tributes arrived from public figures. The President of Italy and Italy's minister of culture issued condolences. French President Emmanuel Macron said on 24 September 2025 in an official statement from the Élysée Palace that France will

"always carry this Italian and world star in our hearts, for the eternity of cinema."

Claudia Cardinale continued to accept acting work into recent years. Her departure marked the end of an extraordinary era in European cinema, yet her roles and voice still echo with viewers today.