Claudia Cardinale, a glamorous symbol of post-war Italian cinema who enjoyed a long and varied acting career in film and theater, died on Tuesday at the age of 87.

A silver-screen sex symbol with girl-next-door appeal, she rose to fame in the 1960s and starred in more than 150 films, including the Oscar-winning “8½” and “The Leopard.”

Her agent, Laurent Savry, confirmed the death to Agence France-Presse on Tuesday. No cause was given. Ms. Cardinale had lived in Nemours, south of Paris, in recent years.

Born on April 15, 1938, in La Goulette (The Schooner), a port in Tunisia under French protectorate, she was the daughter of a family of Sicilian origin. Her destiny changed in 1957 when she won a competition honoring her as “the most beautiful Italian girl in Tunisia.” That award opened the doors to Rome for her and marked the beginning of her career.

Although she was raised speaking French and Sicilian, Cardinale managed to make her way in the Italian film industry, where she initially spoke. Over time, he established his deep, characteristic voice, which would become one of his hallmarks.

His consecration came in the 1960s with classics such as Otto e mezzo (Eight and a Half, 1963) by Federico Fellini, Il Gattopardo (The Leopard, 1963) by Luchino Visconti and C'era una volta il West (Once Upon a Time in the West, 1968) by Sergio Leone.

She also worked in Hollywood productions such as The Pink Panther (1963), where she shared the screen with Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, Henry Fonda and Charles Bronson.

Cardinale received the Pasinetti Award for Best Actress in 1984 (in Venice for Pasquale Squitieri's "Claretta"), the Golden Lion in 1993 in Venice and the Golden Bear in 2002 in Berlin.