Italy cinema icon Gina Lollobrigida, 95, runs as eurosceptic in next month’s vote

An icon of Italian cinema, Gina Lollobrigida, will run for the nation’s Senate in next month’s elections after recently celebrating her 95th birthday.

Lollobrigida plans to stand as an independent candidate in the city of Latina, southeast of Rome, for the Sovereign and Popular Italy alliance, which includes groups opposed to the government of Prime Minister Mario Draghi, according to Italian daily la Repubblica.

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The alliance calls for Italy’s exit from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union.

Italy called elections for September 25 after the collapse of Draghi’s ruling alliance. A right-wing coalition -- led by Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy and including Matteo Salvini’s League party and former premier Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia -- is leading polls of the popular vote, with Lollobrigada’s party seeking to reach the 3 percent threshold needed to enter parliament.

Lollobrigida has previously attempted her hand in politics by running for European Parliament seat in 1999.

The legendary actress was one of the highest-profile Italian actresses of the 1950s and 1960s, starring in films with Sean Connery and Humphrey Bogart before embarking on a career in photojournalism.

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