Italy pays tribute to Sophia Loren in Rome.

Hollywood legend Sophia Loren will mark her 90th birthday on Friday with a gala event and a party in Rome, surrounded by her family, friends and special guests.

The Oscar-winning Italian actress, one of the last stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, will be celebrated by Italy's culture ministry, Cinecittà film studios and Archivio Luce at The Space Cinema Moderno in Piazza della Repubblica.

During the private gala event, Loren will be presented with a prestigious award in recognition of her glittering career which started in the Italian capital in the early 1950s.

“I love this city, where it all began. I arrived in Rome with my mother when I was 15 and I started working as an extra" - Loren said this week - “It was a choice that changed the course of my life.”

Rai Cultura rende omaggio a Sophia Loren in occasione del 90° compleanno dell'attrice con uno speciale che ne racconta la vita e la lunga e fortunata carriera.
Su https://t.co/paQb2tz9U3 pic.twitter.com/UqIMlAqLl8

— raicultura (@RaiCultura) September 20, 2024

The award ceremony will be followed by a party on the rooftop terrace of the exclusive Anantara Palazzo Naiadi hotel where the special guests will raise a toast to the cinema icon who will be wearing a dress designed by her friend Giorgio Armani.

The hotel will mark the event by unveiling the Sophia Loren Suite, complete with white roses beloved of the actress, a painting of Pozzuoli, the small town near Naples where she grew up, and a selection of family photos and her favourite books.

The star will be joined on Friday evening by her sons Edoardo and Carlo Ponti, her daughters-in-law, her four grandchildren, her sister Maria Scicolone and her nieces, Alessandra and Elisabetta Mussolini, along with about 100 friends and colleagues from the world of cinema.

Italy's state broadcaster will mark the milestone by screening documentaries, archive footage and movies starring the legendary actress who will also be honoured with a retrospective of films at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles in November.

Photo credit: Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock.com.