ADORED Pink Panther and Once Upon A Time In The West actress Claudia Cardinale has died at 87.

The Italian film star died in Nemours, France, surrounded by her children, her agent told French media.

Cardinale graced more than 100 films and TV productions in glittering career of more than seven decades.

She won a beauty contest in her birthplace of Tunisia, where she was raised by Sicilian parents, at the age of 17.

In that competition, she won a trip to the Venice Film Festival - kick-starting her acting career.

She had expected to become a schoolteacher before she entered the beauty contest.

Cardinale gained international fame in 1963 when she starred in both Federico Fellini's 8-1/2 and The Leopard.

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