Italian movie icon Gina Lollobrigida's fiancé has called off their wedding, saying his cold feet were caused by too much media pressure and not by the couple's 34-year age difference.
The 79-year-old actress, once tagged The Most Beautiful Woman in the World, and 45-year-old Javier Rigau Rifols, a Spanish property entrepreneur from Barcelona, announced they would be tying the knot in New York on November 29.
Then in mid November the couple said they were postponing the ceremony to January 27 and switching the venue to Rome's ancient church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli.
A statement released by Rifols' lawyer in Madrid said the entrepreneur "would always love and respect" the actress but could not stand being hounded by the media.
There was no immediate reaction from Lollobrigida, who was reported to be in New York.
The couple caused a stir in October when they announced their wedding plans and revealed they had had been dating for the past 22 years, after meeting in 1984 when he was 23 and she 57.
A sloe-eyed, buxom brunette, Lollobrigida, better known to Italians as 'La Lollo', long vied with fellow Italian bombshell Sophia Loren and French sex kitten Brigitte Bardot for the title of the world's sexiest woman.
In 1955 she starred in a film called La Donna Piu Bella del Mondo (The World's Most Beautiful Woman), which became her signature movie.
The daughter of a furniture manufacturer from a mountain village outside Rome, she has made over 60 films including some during the 1990s.
Lollobrigida's Hollywood breakout role came in the John Huston film Beat the Devil (1953). In 1961 she won a Golden Globe with Come September co-starring Rock Hudson.
With her earthy good looks she embodied the prototype of Italian beauty. Her distinctive short hairdo was especially influential. It quickly spread across Italy in the sixties and was referred to as the "Lollo".
Since retiring from cinema Lollobrigida has tried her hand as a photographer, sculptor, photojournalist and a fashion and cosmetics executive. Seven years ago she stood unsuccessfully for the European Parliament.
The diva was divorced in 1971 after a 22-year marriage to a Yugoslav doctor, by whom she had a son.
