Look up sophia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Look up -sophy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Sophia and Sofia may refer to:

People[link]

• Sophia (name), including lists of real and fictional people so named

Geography[link]

• Sofia, the capital and largest city of the Republic of Bulgaria
• Sofia Zoo, a zoo in Sofia, Bulgaria
• Sofia Province, a province of Bulgaria
• Sophia, West Virginia
• Sophia, a former name of Niulakita, the southernmost island of Tuvalu
• Sofia Region, a region in northern Madagascar
• Sofia, Drochia, a commune in Drochia district, Moldova
• Sofia, Hînceşti, a commune in Hînceşti district, Moldova
• Sofia, New Mexico, an unincorporated community in Union County, New Mexico, USA

Music[link]

• Sophia (British band), a rock band from the United Kingdom
• Sophia (Japanese band), a rock band from Japan
• Sofia (Filipino singer), a bossa nova singer from the Philippines
• Sofia (Swedish singer), full name Sofia Berntson
• Sophia The Ocean, an alternative rock band from Chile
• Sophia (EP), by The Crüxshadows
• "Sophia" (Nerina Pallot song), by Nerina Pallot
• "Sophia" (Laura Marling song), by Laura Marling
• "Sophia", a song by Good Shoes on their album Think Before You Speak

Films[link]

• Sofia (film), a 1987 Argentine film

Games[link]

• Sofia, a character in the Battle Arena Toshinden fighting game series.
• SOPHIA, a vehicle from the video game series Blaster Master

Philosophy[link]

• Sophia (wisdom), a central term in Hellenistic philosophy and religion, Platonism, Gnosticism, Orthodox Christianity, Esoteric Christianity, and Christian mysticism
• Sophia (journal), a periodical about religious and theological philosophy
• SOPHIA (European Foundation for the Advancement of Doing Philosophy with Children), a cooperative educational organization

Science[link]

• Surround Optical Fiber Immunoassay (SOFIA), an ultra-sensitive diagnostic platform.

Astronomy[link]

• Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for an airborne telescope.
• 251 Sophia, a main belt asteroid

See also[link]

• Sophiology, a philosophical concept regarding wisdom, as well as a theological concept regarding the wisdom of God

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: SOFIA

• All pages with titles containing "Sophia"
• All pages with titles containing "Sofia"
• Hagia Sophia (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Laura Marling
Performing at The Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, in November 2009.
Background information
Born	(1990-02-01) 1 February 1990 (age 22)
Origin	Eversley, Hampshire, England
Genres	Contemporary folk, folk rock
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass, piano
Years active	2006–present
Labels	WayOutWest, Virgin
Associated acts	Noah and the Whale, The Rakes, Mystery Jets, Johnny Flynn, Mumford & Sons
Website	LauraMarling.com

Laura Beatrice Marling (born 1 February 1990) is an English folk musician from Eversley, Hampshire.

Initially prominent within the London folk scene, she has also toured with a number of well-known indie artists in the UK. Her debut album Alas, I Cannot Swim and her second album I Speak Because I Can were nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2008 and 2010 respectively. She won Best Female Solo Artist at the 2011 Brit Awards.

Biography[link]

Marling was born in Hampshire, England, the youngest of three daughters of a music teacher,^[1] and learned guitar at an early age. Her father, who ran a recording studio, introduced her to folk music and shaped her musical taste. This was "a bit of a blessing and a bit of a curse. I couldn’t slot myself into the age-appropriate genre", she later remembered.^[2] Marling was educated at Leighton Park School, a private Quaker school in Reading, Berkshire.^[3] She has said that during this time she felt uneasy around other people and had a fear of death.^[4]

At the age of 16 Marling moved to London, where she soon became part of a cluster of intertwined bands drawn to acoustic instruments and tradition-tinged melodies which formed a movement labelled "nu-folk" by the British press.^[2] She became part of the original line-up of indie folk band Noah and the Whale and was romantically linked with singer/guitarist Charlie Fink.^[3][5] She is featured as a background vocalist on their début album Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down; however, she left the group before the album's 2008 release and split up with Fink that same year.^[5][6] She also appeared on The Rakes track "Suspicious Eyes", from the band's 2007 album Ten New Messages, credited as 'Laura Marlin'. Marling would later collaborate with Mystery Jets, contributing guest vocals to the single "Young Love", released 10 March 2008. Previously, Marling was in a relationship with Marcus Mumford; they broke up around Christmas 2010, but are reportedly still friends.^[7]

[edit] Alas, I Cannot Swim

She was personally invited to tour with Jamie T after he attended her second-ever solo gig. She has also toured with a number of other musicians from the UK and beyond, including Adam Green from the anti-folk band The Moldy Peaches. She performed at the 2007 O₂ Wireless Festival and also performed at the first Underage Festival in August 2007 at Victoria Park, East London, before releasing her debut EP "London Town" on WayOutWest Records.

Her debut album Alas, I Cannot Swim was released on 4 February 2008,^[8] and later nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize.^[9] The album, as well as subsequent singles, were released on Virgin Records. The third and final single from her album, "Night Terror" was released on 27 October 2008, coinciding with a 6-date "Night Terror tour".^[10]

Marling's television appearances include The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and Later With Jools Holland, performing "Ghosts" and "New Romantic" respectively. In 2008 she appeared on Russell Brand's Radio 2 show alongside her sister. She once chose to perform on the street after being denied entry to one of her own performances for being underage.^[11][12]

[edit] I Speak Because I Can

The follow-up to Alas I Cannot Swim, titled I Speak Because I Can, was released on 22 March 2010. Produced by Ethan Johns, the album has a more mature sound and lyricism, dealing with "responsibility, particularly the responsibility of womanhood."^[13] The album is preceded by the singles "Goodbye England (Covered in Snow)", released on iTunes in December 2009^[14] and "Devil's Spoke" on 15 March 2010. On 28 March 2010, I Speak Because I Can entered the UK Albums Chart at Number 4. It was also nominated for the 2010 Mercury Music Prize.

[edit] A Creature I Don't Know

In 2010, Marling announced that she would release two albums in 2010, the first of which being I Speak Because I Can. She later announced that there was a change of plan and that she wouldn't be releasing a second album that year. She did, however, add that the album would be better due to the delay, and that she hoped to have it finished for February 2011. In June 2011, the new album's title was revealed to be A Creature I Don't Know and the album was released on 12 September 2011.^[15]

Discography[link]

• Alas, I Cannot Swim (2008)
• I Speak Because I Can (2010)
• A Creature I Don't Know (2011)

Laura Marling also has recorded various songs such as "Soulless Child", "Candlelight", "Karma" and "Mexico" (all of which can be heard on YouTube but are not yet for sale) as well as "She's Changed" (of which a live version is for sale, but not a studio version) and "Such a Shame" (which is neither for sale nor available on YouTube).

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Laura Marling

• Official Website

Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren in June 2009
Born	Sofia Villani Scicolone (1934-09-20) 20 September 1934 (age 77) Pozzuoli, Italy.
Residence	Geneva, Switzerland and Naples, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Other names	Sofia Lazzaro Sofia Scicolone
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1950–present
Spouse	Carlo Ponti (m. 1957-62, annulled; 1966-2007, his death)
Children	Carlo Ponti, Jr., Edoardo Ponti
Relatives	Alessandra Mussolini (niece)

Sophia Loren, OMRI (born Sofia Villani Scicolone; 20 September 1934) is an Italian actress.^[1]

In 1962, Loren, among 21 other awards, won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance. Loren has won several international awards, including one Golden Globe Award, a Grammy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Laurel Award. Her other films include: Houseboat (1958), El Cid (1961), Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963), Marriage Italian-Style (1964), and A Special Day (1977). She has received critical and commercial success in TV movies such as Courage (1986) and in American blockbusters such as Grumpier Old Men (1995), and Nine (2009). In 1994 she starred in Robert Altman's Ready to Wear, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination the same year. In 1995 she received the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievements. In 2011 she dubbed one of the characters of Pixar blockbuster Cars 2 for non-English speaking markets.

In 1999, Loren was listed by the American Film Institute on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars as #21 of 25 American female screen legends of all time. In 2002, she was honored by the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) at its annual Anniversary Gala and was inducted into its Italian American Hall of Fame. In 2009, the Guinness Book of World Records recognized her as "Italy's Most Awarded Actress".^[2] In 1991, she received an honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievements.

The same year, the Republic of France awarded her a Distinction of la Légion d'honneur (the Legion of Honor) with the grade of Chevalier (Knight). In 1994, she was awarded with the Honorary Golden Bear at the 44th Berlin International Film Festival.^[3] In 1997, Loren was invested Cavaliere di Gran Croce Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic). In 2010, she was awarded the Praemium Imperiale by the Imperial Family of Japan on behalf of the Japan Art Association.^[2]

Early life[link]

I'm not Italian, I am Neapolitan! It's another thing!

—Sophia Loren -interview with Barbara Walters ^[4]

Loren was born in the Clinica Regina Margherita in Pozzuoli Italy ^[5][6] daughter of Romilda Villani (1914–1991) and Riccardo Scicolone, a construction engineer.^[7] Scicolone refused to marry Villani, leaving her, a piano teacher and aspiring actress, without support.^[8] Loren's parents had another child together, her sister Anna Maria Villani Scicolone, in 1938. Loren has two younger paternal half-brothers, Giuliano and Giuseppe.^[9] Romilda, Loren, and Maria lived with Loren's grandmother in Pozzuoli, near Naples, to survive.^[10]

During World War II, the harbour and munitions plant in Pozzuoli was a frequent bombing target of the Allies. During one raid, as Loren ran to the shelter, she was struck by shrapnel and wounded in the chin. After that, the family moved to Naples, where they were taken in by distant relatives.^{[citation needed]}

After the war, Loren and her family returned to Pozzuoli. Grandmother Luisa opened a pub in their living room, selling homemade cherry liquor. Villani played the piano, Maria sang and Loren waited on tables and washed dishes. The place was very popular with the American GIs stationed nearby.

When she was 14 years old, Loren entered a beauty contest in Naples and, while not winning, was selected as one of the finalists. Later she enrolled in acting class and was selected as an extra in Mervyn LeRoy's 1951 film Quo Vadis, launching her career as a motion picture actress.

Career[link]

1950-1957(beginnings and Hollywood stardom)[link]

After being credited professionally as Sofia Lazzaro, she began using her current stage name in 1952's La Favorita. Her first starring role was in Aida (1953), for which she received critical acclaim.^[11] After playing the lead role in Two Nights with Cleopatra (1953), her breakthrough role was in The Gold of Naples (1954), directed by Vittorio De Sica.^[11] Too Bad She's Bad, also released in 1954, became the first of many films in which Loren co-starred with Marcello Mastroianni. Over the next three years she acted in many films such as Scandal in Sorrento (1955) and Lucky to Be a Woman (1956). In 1957, Loren's star had begun to rise in Hollywood, with the films Boy on a Dolphin (her U.S. film debut), Legend of the Lost with John Wayne, and The Pride and the Passion in which she starred opposite Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra.

International fame[link]

Sophia Loren star on Walk of Fame

Sophia Loren in It Started in Naples, where she sang Tu Vuò Fà L'Americano

Loren in the trailer for Five Miles to Midnight (1962)

Loren became an international film star following her five-picture contract with Paramount Pictures in 1958. Among her films at this time were Desire Under the Elms with Anthony Perkins, based upon the Eugene O'Neill play; Houseboat, a romantic comedy co-starring Cary Grant; and George Cukor's Heller in Pink Tights, in which she appeared as a blonde for the first time.

In 1961, she starred in Vittorio De Sica's Two Women, a stark, gritty story of a mother who is raped while trying to protect her daughter in war-torn Italy. Originally cast as the daughter, Loren fought against type and was re-cast as the mother (actress Eleonora Brown would portray the daughter). Loren's performance earned her many awards, including the Cannes Film Festival's best performance prize, and an Academy Award for Best Actress, the first major Academy Award for a non-English-language performance and to an Italian actress. She won 22 international awards for Two Women. The film proved to be extremely well accepted by the critics and it was a huge commercial success.

Loren is known for her sharp wit and insight. One of her most frequently quoted sayings is a quip about her famously voluptuous figure: "Everything you see, I owe to spaghetti." However, on the December 20, 2009, episode of CBS News Sunday Morning, Loren denied ever quoting the line.

During the 1960s, Loren was one of the most popular actresses in the world, and she continued to make films in both the U.S. and Europe, starring with prominent leading men. In 1964, her career reached its pinnacle when she received $1 million to appear in The Fall of the Roman Empire. In 1965, she received a second Academy Award nomination for her performance in Marriage Italian-Style.

Among Loren's best-known films of this period are Samuel Bronston's epic production of El Cid (1961) with Charlton Heston, The Millionairess (1960) with Peter Sellers, It Started in Naples (1960) with Clark Gable, Vittorio De Sica's triptych Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (1963) with Marcello Mastroianni, Peter Ustinov's Lady L (1965) with Paul Newman, the 1966 classic Arabesque with Gregory Peck, and Charlie Chaplin's final film, A Countess from Hong Kong (1967) with Marlon Brando.

Loren received four Golden Globe Awards between 1964 and 1977 as "World Film Favorite - Female."^[12]

1970-1988[link]

Once she became a mother, Loren worked less. During the next decade, most of her roles were in Italian features. During the 1970s, she was paired with Richard Burton in the last De Sica-directed film, The Voyage (1974), and a remake of the film Brief Encounter (1974). The film had its premiere on U.S. television on 12 November 1974 as part of the Hallmark Hall of Fame series on NBC. In 1976 she starred in The Cassandra Crossing, a classic disaster film featuring such veteran stars as Richard Harris, Martin Sheen, and Ava Gardner. It fared extremely well internationally, and was a respectable box office success in US market. She also co-starred with Marcello Mastroianni in Ettore Scola's A Special Day (1977). This movie was nominated for eleven international awards such as two Oscars (best actor in leading role, best foreign picture). It won a Golden Globe award and a César award for best foreign movie. Loren's performance was awarded with a David di Donatello award, the seventh in her career. In addition the movie was extremely well received by American reviewers and was a box office smash.

Following this success, Loren starred in an American thriller Brass Target. This movie received mixed reviews, although it was moderately successful in the US and internationally. In 1978 she won her fourth Golden Globe for "world film favourite". Other movies of this decade were Academy award nominee Sunflower (1970) which was a critical success and Arthur Hiller's Man of La Mancha (1972) which was a critical and commercial failure despite being nominated for several awards including two Golden Globes awards. O'Toole and James Coco were nominated for two NBR awards, in addition the NBR listed Man of La Mancha in its best 10 pictures of 1972 list.

In 1980, after the international success the biography Sophia Loren: Living and Loving, Her Own Story by A. Hotchner, Loren portrayed herself and her mother in a made-for-television biopic adaptation of her autobiography entitled Sophia Loren: Her Own Story. Ritza Brown and Chiara Ferrari each portrayed the younger Loren. In 1981, she became the first female celebrity to launch her own perfume, Sophia, and a brand of eyewear soon followed.^[11] In 1982, while in Italy, she made headlines after serving an 18-day prison sentence on tax evasion charges—a fact that failed to hamper her popularity or career. In fact, Bill Moore, then employed at Pickle Packers International advertising department, sent her a pink pickle-shaped trophy for being "the prettiest lady in the prettiest pickle".

She acted infrequently during the 1980s and turned down the role of Alexis Carrington in 1981 for the TV series Dynasty. Although she was set to star in thirteen episodes of CBS's Falcon Crest in 1984 as Angela Channing's half-sister Francesca Gioberti, negotiations fell through at the last moment and the role went to Gina Lollobrigida instead. Sophia preferred devoting more time to raising her sons.^[13][14] In 1988 she starred in the miniseries The Fortunate Pilgrim.

Loren has also recorded well over two dozen songs throughout her career, including a best-selling album of comedic songs with Peter Sellers; reportedly, she had to fend off his romantic advances. It was partly owing to Sellers' infatuation with Loren that he split with his first wife, Anne Howe. Loren has made it clear to numerous biographers that Sellers' affections were reciprocated only platonically. This collaboration was covered in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers where actress Sonia Aquino portrayed Loren. It is said that the song "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)" by Peter Sarstedt was inspired by Loren.^{[citation needed]}

Later career[link]

Loren in Paris at the César Awards 1991.

Loren in Kenya while serving as Goodwill Ambassador in 1992

In 1991, Loren received the Academy Honorary Award for her contributions to world cinema and was declared "one of the world cinema's treasures." In 1995, she received the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award.

She presented Federico Fellini with his Honorary Oscar. In 2009 Loren stated on Larry King Live that Fellini had planned to direct her in a film shortly before his death in 1993.^[15]

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Loren was selective about choosing her films and ventured into various areas of business, including cook books, eyewear, jewellery and perfume.

She received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in Robert Altman's film Ready to Wear (1994), co-starring Julia Roberts.

In the comedy Grumpier Old Men (1995), Loren played a femme fatale opposite Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, and Ann-Margret. The film was a box-office success and became Loren's biggest U.S. hit in years.^[11]