Sophia Loren & Jayne Mansfield: the Story Behind the Legendary Side-Eye Photo
The Cannes Film Festival is often a make-or-break fest for filmmakers today. Back in 1955, it made Sophia Loren. According to Joanna Robinson of Vanity Fair, Loren was the most photographed performer at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival.
With stardom in Europe secured, the Italian actress was welcomed into Hollywood two years later. Jayne Mansfield decided to attend Loren’s welcome party in Beverly Hills and brought along her Olympian décolletage, nearly shattering those bashful camera lenses of the 1950's.
Paramount had organized a party for me. All of cinema was there, it was incredible. And then comes in Jayne Mansfield, the last one to come. For me, that was when it got amazing…
-Sophia Loren
Mansfield, born Vera Jayne Palmer in 1933, walked into that 1957 party already a star, though the biggest part of her acting career was waiting for her in the years to come. She’d had mostly small roles in film and television up to that point. As is fairly common among stars, her acting career began with playing characters named Cigarette Girl, Uncredited, and Girl at Piano.
Biography.com recalls the disappointing early years for Mansfield in Hollywood. Failed auditions led to her first job in film being at a movie theater, where she sold candy to…
