Claudia Cardinale , the sexy Italian movie star who appeared in classic Italian films including Fellini’s “8½” and Visconti’s “Rocco and His Brothers” and “The Leopard,” Sergio Leone’s spaghetti Western “Once Upon a Time in the West,” as well as “The Pink Panther ,” has died. She was 87.

Her agent told AFP that she died in Nemours, near Paris. “She leaves us the legacy of a free and inspired woman both as a woman and as an artiste,” Laurent Savry said in a statement.

Early in her career Cardinale made very distinct impressions in supporting roles: Amid a number of astounding performances in Visconti’s “Rocco and His Brothers,” for example, she still stood out with an impressive turn as the oldest brother’s new wife; similarly, in the director’s “The Leopard,” her sexy effervescence

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