There is nothing to suggest Maria Scicolone was a prostitute at any point during her life.
There is actually no concrete proof that her sister, Sophia Loren, was a prostitute either. Whilst rumours are rife on the subject, she has never made any admission herself, and there does not appear to be any substance behind the allegations.
The story goes that the Scicolone sisters were living in such poverty after the second world war that Sophia turned to prostitution to prevent the family from starving.
The living conditions of the Scicolone sisters is not in doubt. Sophia was nicknamed the "Toothpick" due to her scrawny appearance and skinny limbs - a far cry from the person who became known as one of the sexiest women of all time. The famine in their hometown of Pozzuoli was so bad after the war that the sisters' mother would sometimes have to siphon water from a car radiator to share between her children.
However, the rumours of her prostitution appear to be just that - rumours.
