Carlo Ponti Sr. and Sophia Loren – 46 Years

Sophia Loren was one of the most famous stars during Hollywood’s Golden Age. She was just 16 when she met her future husband, Carlo Ponti Sr., who was twenty years older than her. They have been in a relationship for seven years when legal issues arose from Carlo’s previous marriage. Four years later, they found a way to get legally married with the help of lawyers. Their romance span half a decade, only to be cut short with Carlo’s passing in 2007.

In 2014, when Sophia published her autobiography Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow: My Life, she offered the panoramic view of her remarkable private life as Hollywood’s Golden Age actress and some of the sizzles of the rollercoaster love story she had with Carlo. She revealed that once, she was almost swept away by Cary Grant’s offer of marriage. Still, she remained faithful to then-fiancé Carlo and led loving their life together in Italy. Despite their early struggles to be married, they’ve only proven just how much they loved and fought for each other until the very end.