Loren was a struggling teenage model and bit player when she met producer and future husband Carlo Ponti, one of a panel of judges presiding over a beauty contest in which she was competing, in 1951. Under Ponti's guidance she became one of Italy's leading stars of the 1950s, an earthy, voluptuous figure in the style of Gina Lollobrigida. Over the next two decades, Loren demonstrated the talent and range necessary to transcend her pin-up status; she appeared in some noteworthy films after signing a contract with Paramount in 1957 (The Black Orchid, 1959, Heller in Pink Tights, 1960) and earned a Cannes Festival award as well as an Oscar for her memorable performance in De Sica's Two Women (1961). Loren, who made infrequent appearances during the 80s, received an honorary Oscar in 1991 from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in recognition of her lifetime achievement in film, citing her as "one of the genuine treasures of world cinema."