The 'Life Ahead' actress reminisces about her favorite game with her co-stars on the set, admitting she always beat everyone at Scrabble because she cheated.
- Feb 27, 2021
AceShowbiz - Richard Burton refused to play word game Scrabble with Sophia Loren after he caught her cheating.
The 86-year-old actress and the late screen icon, who died in August, 1984, starred together in two projects in the 1970s - Vittorio De Sica's 1974 film "The Voyage" and television movie "Brief Encounter" - and they become friends on set with Burton indulging the Italian star's passion for the word-based board game.
However, he swore off Scrabble matches against Loren after he discovered she was bending the rules.
Reminiscing about Richard and her Scrabble games with her various co-stars on BBC radio show "Desert Island Discs", host Lauren Laverne said, "Sophia, I know that you were also an incredible Scrabble player and would often play on set with your co-stars. I think you beat everyone that I heard about."
This prompted the actress to add, "Because I was cheating, yes, I liked to cheat because I had fun!"
Lauren then asked, "Who did you play? Who gave you the most trouble?"
Sophia replied, "Richard Burton... I was cheating him a lot and then when he found out he said, 'I'm not going to play with you again.' "
During her "Desert Island Discs" appearance, Loren also opened up about what it was like to work with Frank Sinatra on the hit 1957 movie "The Pride and the Passion", in which the pair portrayed lovers on the opposing sides of the Napoleonic War.
Sinatra played Miguel, a battalion soldier from the British Royal Navy sent to Spain to bring back a siege cannon, while the Oscar-winning actress was Spanish native Juana, the romantic interest of Miguel and Captain Anthony Trumbull, brought to life by Cary Grant.
Loren and Sinatra became close friends but she admitted he was quite withdrawn on set and never shared his singing talent with the cast or crew.
The "Life Ahead" star recalled, "He used to stay in his trailer very often... He never sang on the set because (there were) many people.... (He would say), 'We are shooting, we are shooting.' "
