The list of movies Carlo Ponti produced is long and distinguished. He'll be remembered, though, for his relationship with Sophia Loren.

Ponti died at a Geneva hospital, his family said Wednesday. He was 94.

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LOREN

Ponti was married to his first wife, Giuliana, when he met Loren — then Sofia Lazzaro — about 1950. At the time she was only 15 — a quarter-century younger than Ponti.

Seven years later they were married by proxy in Mexico. But they were unable to beat stringent Italian divorce laws and the wrath of the Roman Catholic church. Ponti was charged with bigamy.

The couple first lived in exile and then, after the annulment of their Mexican marriage, in secret in Italy. Ponti and Loren finally beat Italian law by becoming French citizens — the approval was signed personally by French President Georges Pompidou — and they married for a second time in Paris in 1966.

Despite many predictions that the marriage would founder over Ponti's affairs and the many dashing leading men who reportedly fell in love with Loren, the couple stayed together.

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THE MOVIES

He produced more than 100 films, including "Doctor Zhivago," "The Firemen's Ball," and "The Great Day," which were nominated for Oscars. Other major films included "Blow-Up," "The Cassandra Crossing," "The Verdict" and "The Squeeze."

In 1956, "La Strada," which he co-produced, won the Academy Award for best foreign film, as did "Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow" in 1964.

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