Sylva Koscina Tribute

Here is a light song from the 1975 movie La pupa del gangster (with Sophia Loren), performed by Giulia Alessandroni, and chosen to illustrate the charm of the Yugoslavian beauty Sylva Koscina (1933-1994). World War II proved to be catastrophic in her home country. Koscina and her family fled to Italy following the end of the war. After winning some beauty contests as a teenager, she attended the University of Naples and worked as a fashion model before entering films. Her first film was the Italian comedy Are we men or corporals? (1955, with Totò). Koscina had acted in a string of comedies when she was cast in the peplum adventure Hercules (1958, with Steve Reeves). With the international success of Hercules, Koscina became a star. After returning for the sequel Hercules unchained (1959), she acted in such films as Jessica (1962, with Angie Dickinson and Maurice Chevalier), Hot enough for June (1964, with Dirk Bogarde), Three bites of the apple (1967, with David McCallum and Tammy Grimes), and Hornets' nest (1970, with Rock Hudson). Often appearing unclad in her later films, Koscina appeared in Eve's suit in He and she (1969, with Laurence Harvey) and The house of exorcism (1973, with Telly Savalas and Elke Sommer), among others. Enjoy Sylva Koscina's beauty!