PEPLUM "Babes & Beauties" of the Month : Leonora Ruffo

Leonora in SWORDS WITHOUT A COUNTRY

Leonora is the "Babes & Beauties" for July. Leonora was beautiful and a strong actress but not really a "cheesecake" actress so finding pin-up shots of her are hard to come by. Her classic beauty shone even greater because of her excellent acting skills. Her biggest role was the lead role in THE QUEEN OF SHEBA and what a role it was. Though she worked with Fellini and other great filmmakers, she only appeared in 21 films. Her career seemed sporadic and it never caught fire. Maybe it was personal decision of hers to take it easy but in the end  I think she was thoroughly overlooked and underrated. Leonora was almost unrecognizable when she became a blonde during the early to mid-sixties but her fiery piercing eyes, elegant posture were still the same. 

Leonora's biggest role was in the endlessly entertaining THE QUEEN OF SHEBA. She was young and had done just two films prior to this big role but she held her own and gave an unforgettable performance.

Leonora in HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD

These two stills are from GOLIATH AND THE VAMPIRES

Leonora co-starred with Mark Forest in GOLIATH & THE DRAGON