Sophia Loren, Jayne Mansfield Photo Explained: ‘Where Are My Eyes? I’m Staring At…’

Sophia Loren long has been a Hollywood icon, but when seated next to sex symbol Jayne Mansfield 57 years ago, the Italian beauty was caught giving the blonde bombshell the most famous stink eye in paparazzi history. Decades later, Loren, who is now 80, spoke to Entertainment Weekly and revealed the story behind the infamous black-and-white picture.

Paramount threw a party for Loren, but it appears from the picture she felt upstaged by Mansfield. All of top celebrities of the day were there "and then comes in Jayne Mansfield, the last one to come," she said.

"For me, that was when it got amazing…. She came right for my table. She knew everyone was watching. She sat down. And now, she was barely… Listen. Look at the picture. Where are my eyes?" The image shows Loren staring at Mansfield's cleavage, which was barely covered by her daring dress.

"I’m staring at her nipples because I am afraid they are about to come onto my plate," Loren told the magazine. "In my face you can see the fear. I’m so frightened that everything in her dress is going to blow-- BOOM! --and spill all over the table."

Loren said fans still ask her to sign the photo, but she refuses out of respect for Mariska Hargitay’s late mother. "I don’t want to have anything to do with that, she said. “And also out of respect for Jayne Mansfield because she’s not with us anymore."

Mansfield died in a car accident in 1967 at age 34.

Loren has won two Oscars in her long career and has credits in more than 90 films. She just released her memoir, “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: My Life.”

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