The 89-year-old star, one of the most famous figures from Hollywood's "golden age", fractured her hip after falling in her bathroom at her house in Geneva, Switzerland, her representative told Sky News.

Loren sustained several "serious fractures" to different parts of her hip, including her femur, which needed "urgent surgery", the star's agent Andrea Giusti said.

Both of Loren's sons, Carlo and Edoardo Ponti, were at her bedside following her surgery.

A social media post from the actress's self-named chain of restaurants said her surgery had gone well, and that she would now be undergoing rehabilitation and "be back with us very soon".

Loren had been due to open a Sophia Loren Restaurant in the Italian city of Bari this week, but the event has now been cancelled along with her other forthcoming engagements.

The Italian actress was married to film producer Carlo Ponti Sr from 1966 until his death in 2007.

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Following early success in beauty pageants, Loren began her film career as a teenager, gaining international fame after winning a five-film deal with Paramount in 1956.

She went on to star in movies including The Pride And The Passion, Houseboat, and It Started in Naples.

Appearing opposite some of the biggest male stars of the time, including Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra and Cary Grant, she famously refused to marry the latter, after a short but well-publicised affair.

Winning an Oscar for her performance as Cesira in 1960's Two Women, directed by Vittorio De Sica, she became the first actor to win an Academy Award for a foreign-language performance.

In 1990, she also won an honorary award at the Oscars for being "one of the genuine treasures of world cinema" who has had a "career rich with memorable performances" and added "permanent lustre" to the industry.

Loren's last appeared in 2020 Netflix film The Life Ahead, directed by her son Edoardo.