Franco Cristaldi was an Italian film producer and the ex-husband of actress Claudia Cardinale. Franco Cristaldi’s ex-wife is also known as CC, she is Italy’s counterpart to France’s BB, Brigitte Bardot. She quickly rose to stardom to almost disappeared from the scene later on. Her entry into the business was by way of a beauty pageant.
Claudia Cardinale was the winner of the “Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia” competition in 1957, the prize of the competition being a trip to her homeland Italy, which quickly shot her to fame and led to film contracts, due above all to the involvement of Franco Cristaldi, who acted as her mentor for a number of years and later married her.
Franco Cristaldi: Bio Summary
| Full Name | Franco Cristaldi |
| famous as | *Fim producer *Claudia Cardinale’s ex-husband |
| Age | 67 years old at the time of death |
| Date of Birth | October 3, 1924 |
| Place of Birth | Turin, Italy |
| Date of death | July 1, 1992, Monte Carlo, Monaco |
| Zodiac sign | Libras |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Ethnicity | Italian |
| Children | Patrick Cristaldi, Massimo Cristaldi |
| spouse | Zeudi Araya (m. 1983–1992), Claudia Cardinale (m. 1966–1975), Carla Simonetti (m. ?–1966) |
Who was Franco Cristaldi?
Franco Cristaldi was born on October 3, 1924, in Turin, Italy. He was a Film producer. before his career in cinema, Franco studied at university for a time. The Italian film producer has been credited with producing (or co-producing) feature films from the 1950s to the 1990s.
He founded Vides Cinematografica in 1946, a production company that initially produced short and documentary films, and would later be renamed Cristaldifilm in the 1980s. During his filmmaking days, Cristaldi worked with directors and top screenwriters in the industry such as Francesco Rosi, Pietro Germi, Mario Monicelli, Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti, and Giuseppe Tornatore.
Some of his hit films include The Name of the Rose which won him a César and two BAFTAs, and the latter winning several BAFTAs, the Grand Prix at Cannes, and Best Foreign Language Film at the 62nd Academy Awards. He is also known for Nuovo cinema Paradiso.
In 1977, Claudia Cardinale’s ex-husband won the election and became the president of the International Federation of Film Producers Associations. He was also a member of the jury at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival. Cristaldi produced more than 100 films. His production credits included “White Knights” (1961), “The Organizer” (1964), “Seduced and Abandoned” (1964) and “Sandra” (1966).
Franco Cristaldi and Claudia Cardinale’s marriage
Before he met Claudia Cardinale, Cristaldi was married to Carla Simonetti with whom he had a son, Massimo Cristaldi. Though the year in which they got married is unknown, he applied to the Vatican to have this marriage annulled in 1966.
In 1958 when Cardinale won the “Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia” contest, she was sent to the Vence Film Festival where she met Cristaldi a married Film producer. He offered her a contract which Claudia Cardinale honestly told him – “I’m going to have a baby. After that, I want to return home and become a schoolteacher. I will not marry the father of my baby but I will not give my baby away“- per reports.
Blown away by her honesty and beauty, Cristaldi decided to help her. She gave birth to her son Patrick Frank who was adopted by Cristaldi. On her son’s birth certificate, she declined to have the father listed. After his marriage was annulled in 1966, Franco Cristaldi flew to Atlanta with Claudia Cardinale and they got married.
ALSO, READ; Patrick Cristaldi: Where is Claudia Cardinale’s son now?
Though Cristaldi claimed to have married Cardinale, she refuted this, saying he threw a marriage party in Atlanta, without ever officially marrying her. They became increasingly detached and he mentored Cardinale through her own film career, producing many of her films, until their separation in 1975.
ALSO, READ; Zeudi Araya: Who Is Franco Cristaldi’s Wife?
Franco Cristaldi later married Eritrean-Italian actress and singer Zeudi Araya and had no further relationship with Cardinale. They got married in 1983 until his death in 1992.
What happened to Franco Cristaldi?
Claudia Cardinale’s ex-husband Franco Cristaldi died in Montecarlo in 1992, survived by his wife Zeudi, son Massimo, and adopted son Patrick, the son of Claudia Cardinale. “He died of a heart attack,” said Maurizio Riparini, a spokesman for Mr. Cristaldi’s company, Cristaldi Films to The New York Times. He was 67 years old at the time of his death.
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