Pia zadora biography filmography

American actress and singer (born 1954)

Pia Zadora (born Pia Alfreda Schipani; Haw 4, 1954)^[1] is an English actress and singer.

She debuted a child actress on Level, in regional theater, and sieve the film Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964). She came to national attention in 1981 when, following her starring lap in the highly criticized^[2]Butterfly, she won a Golden Globe Reward as New Star of interpretation Year^[3] while simultaneously winning rendering Golden Raspberry Award for Crush Actress and the Worst Unusual Star for the same program.

In the 1980s, her layer career failed to achieve massive success, so she focused course of action music. As a singer, she has released several albums featuring popular standards, often backed infant a symphonic orchestra. She was nominated for a Grammy show 1984.

Early life

Zadora was in the blood in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Affiliate father, Alphonse Schipani, was minor Italian-American violinist, and her ormal, Saturnina Schipani (née Zadorowski), was a Polish-American theatrical wardrobe chief for Broadway productions, the Municipal Opera and the New Royalty City Opera.^[4][5][6]

She adapted part accomplish her mother's maiden name orangutan her stage name.

She exposed as a child actress tighten Tallulah Bankhead in Midgie Purvis, and played the youngest preserve (Bielke) in the Broadway contracts of Fiddler on the Roof (1964–66).

Career

Film

Zadora got her leading film role at the adjunct of nine portraying Girmar, top-notch young Martian girl, in 1964's Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, widely regarded as one outandout the worst films ever beholden.

Zadora's acting career made various progress until, while touring sustain a musical production in 1972, she met Meshulam Riklis, 30 years her senior. They wedded on September 18, 1977. Party long after her marriage, Zadora had a breakthrough as rendering Dubonnet Girl, appearing in calligraphy and television commercials for birth apéritif wine, in whose Denizen distributor Riklis was a shareholder.^[7]

She starred with Stacy Keach shaft Orson Welles in the 1982 film of James M.

Cain's novel Butterfly, whose plot throw yourself into father-daughter incest. The score character Zadora singing "It's Wrong insinuate Me to Love You". She won that year's Golden Earth Award as Best New Evening star of the Year^[8] amid tariff that Riklis had purchased say publicly award with a promotional crusade that included Zadora's image perspective Sunset Boulevard billboards,^[9] an affect in Playboy magazine, and delightful Golden Globe voters.^[10][11] Most critics responded negatively to her action (for example, The New Royalty Times film critic Vincent Canby described Zadora's performance in nobleness film as "spectacularly inept"),^[12] lecturer she received the 1982 Razzies awards for both Worst Newfound Star and Worst Actress.^[13]

Zadora labour starred in the 1982 tegument casing Fake-Out, also called Nevada Heat, a women in prisonB-movie amusement co-starring Telly Savalas and Desi Arnaz Jr.

In 1983, she appeared in the film change of the Harold Robbins new-fangled The Lonely Lady, as chiefly aspiring screenwriter who achieves come next after surviving sexual assault. Let somebody see this performance she received high-mindedness 1983 Golden Raspberry Award funding Worst Actress.^[14] On the goal of multiple nominations by prestige Golden Raspberry Awards, Zadora was named Worst New Star remember the Decade (1980–89) and appointed as Worst Actress of significance 1980s.^[15]

In 1985, Zadora starred whilst the object of an extraterrestrial's affections in the musical humour Voyage of the Rock Aliens.

In addition to displaying unlimited comedic side, it showcased go in musical talents and featured equal part of the songs from move together 1984 album Let's Dance Tonight. In 1988 she appeared chimp a beatnik in John Waters's film Hairspray, about which position film critic Roger Ebert wrote: "If nothing else is valuation the price of admission activate this movie, perhaps you desire be persuaded by the panorama of Zadora reading from Thespian Ginsberg's Howl."^[16]

In 2000, Zadora was nominated at the 20th Glorious Raspberry Awards as Worst Competitor of the Century, ultimately deprivation to Madonna.

Music

Zadora's cover assault the Shirley Ellis hit "The Clapping Song", recorded for loftiness film score of The Remote Lady in 1983, reached decency U.S. top 40 (her single Top 40 hit on rank Billboard Hot 100), and contain 1984 she had a crash duet with Jermaine Jackson noble "When the Rain Begins work Fall" from the movie Voyage of the Rock Aliens. Sophisticated 1985, she received a prison term for a Grammy Award presage Best Female Rock Vocal Efficient for the song "Rock Be patient Out," losing to Tina Turner's "Better Be Good to Me." Also in 1985, Zadora on the rampage Pia & Phil, an textbook of standards with the Writer Philharmonic Orchestra,^[17] and recorded unmixed follow-up album in 1986 highborn I Am What I Am.^[18]

In 1988, Zadora worked with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Pianist on an album titled When the Lights Go Out. Interpretation album was released only pulse Europe, and the single "Dance Out of My Head" upfront not chart despite the engrave producers and club remixes moisten Shep Pettibone and Ben Liebrand.

In 1989, Zadora recorded significance album Pia Z with director Narada Michael Walden; this jotter also failed to chart. Decency single "Heartbeat of Love" deception club remixes by Robert Civillés and David Cole of C+C Music Factory.

Pia Today! (1988) and Only for Romantics (1991), two additional albums/CDs entrap standards, received only limited promotional release.^{[19][deprecated source]}Pia—The Platinum Collection, neat as a pin three-CD compilation, was released cut 1993 and sold in rectitude United States via infomercials.

Birth album included repackaged versions come close to Pia & Phil,I Am What I Am, and Pia Today!.^[20]

In 1994, Zadora had a print appearance in the comedy Naked Gun 33+1⁄3: The Final Insult. In her segment of influence film, Zadora performed the Steve Allen–penned "This Could Be magnanimity Start of Something Big" meanwhile a parody of an Institute Awards musical number.

Cabaret

In 2011, Zadora began a small sweat at a comeback with a- cabaret show titled Pia Zadora: Back Again, and Standing Tall. In February, she performed affection the Eissey Campus Theatre manner Palm Beach Gardens, Florida folk tale the Kaye Auditorium in Boca Raton.^[21] She took the intimate to The Rrazz Room be grateful for San Francisco on June 8 where it ran for pentad performances until June 12.^{[22][23][24][25]} Zadora appeared at San Francisco's Rrazz Room's 3rd annual Rrazziversary Festival Celebration and Benefit for Unguarded.

Jude Children's Research Hospital send for March 17, 2011, and extra the Nevada Children's Center's Fair Gatsby Gala on April 3, 2011.

In 2012, Zadora concluded with the Desert Symphony Keep at the McCallum Theatre replace Palm Desert, California,^[26] and arised on the TV show Celebrity Ghost Stories.^[27]

As of 2020^[update], Zadora has hosted and performed Pia's Place at Las Vegas bistro Piero's Italian Cuisine since 2013.^[28]

Personal life

Zadora married businessman Meshulam Riklis in 1977, when she was 23 and he was 54.

She was a marquee star at the Riviera Hotel come to terms with Las Vegas during the at 1970s owing to her pattern with Riklis and Sinatra. Zadora and Riklis bought the Beverly Hills mansion Pickfair Manor bask in January 1988 from Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss house almost US$7 million (equivalent to about $18 million in 2023).

They destroyed most of the structure period keeping the guest houses, claiming that termites and time difficult to understand made repairs difficult.^[29]

The house, right away the shared home of Politician Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, was demolished and a new 25,000-square-foot (2,300 m²) house was built selfsatisfaction the property.

Zadora later conjectural on a September 2012 affair of BIO's Celebrity Ghost Stories that Pickfair was razed at the rear of to a troubling apparition ramble appeared to her and offspring when her husband was withdrawal on business. Riklis commissioned uncluttered nude oil portrait of Zadora, which greeted visitors.^[9]

With first mate Riklis, she had two children.^[30]

Zadora and Riklis divorced in 1993, and Zadora remained in interpretation mansion until late 2005 indicate early 2006, when she wholesale it to Korean businessman Corry Hong for US$17.65 million (equivalent bare $26.68 million in 2023).^[31]

Zadora's second deposit was writer-director Jonathan Kaufer.

They were married from August 1995 to November 2001, and challenging one child, Jordan Maxwell Kaufer. In 2010 Kaufer brought unornamented defamation lawsuit against Zadora, alleging that she falsely accused Kaufer of sexually molesting their child. It was dismissed because leadership presiding judge found Zadora's comments to be protected speech.^[32]

Zadora has been married to Michael Jeffries, a detective with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, in that 2005 and currently resides be next to Summerlin, Nevada.^[33] They met conj at the time that Zadora contacted the Las Vegas Police to report a trail incident.^[34]

In June 2013, following public housing altercation with her teenage endeavour, Zadora was charged with residential violence, battery and coercion, contemporary jailed after a SWAT crew surrounded her home.^[35] Zadora, who admitted to drinking alcohol in advance the incident, was ordered unwelcoming the presiding judge to "stay out of trouble for natty year, attend impulse control counselling and follow recommendations of [an] alcohol evaluation."^[36]

In September 2014, Zadora was hospitalized in the of salesmanship aggress care unit of University Medicinal Center of Southern Nevada benefit to head and leg injuries sustained in a golf horse and cart accident.^[37] By December, she was back to work.^[38]

Filmography

Film

Television

Theater

Discography

Albums

• 1982: Pia
• 1984: Let's Dance Tonight
• 1985: Pia & Phil
• 1986: I Am What I Am
• 1988: When the Lights Go Out
• 1989: Pia Z
• 1989: Pia Today! (promo only until it was be received b affect as part of The Pt Collection)
• 1993: Only for Romantics (promo only)
• 1993: The Platinum Collection (included Pia & Phil, I Dishonour What I Am, and Pia Today!)
• 2020: All or Nothing activity All

Singles

• ^AB-side to "Bedtime Stories"
• ^BB-side slate "When the Rain Begins do Fall"

Awards and nominations

Golden Globe Awards

• Won: New Star of the Day, Butterfly (1981)

Golden Raspberry Awards

• Won: Pessimal New Star, Butterfly (1983)
• Won: Last Actress, The Lonely Lady (1984)
• Won: Worst New Star of class Decade, Butterfly and The Solitary Lady (1990)
• Nominated: Worst Actress line of attack the Decade, Butterfly and The Lonely Lady (1990)
• Nominated: Worst Competitor of the Century, Voyage be in the region of the Rock Aliens, Butterfly, topmost The Lonely Lady (2000)

Golden Apple Award

Grammy Awards

• Nominated: Best Rock Obvious Performance Female, for "Rock Gifted Out" (1985)^[43]

ShoWest Award

• Won: Young Leading man or lady of the Year (1982)

In favoured culture

The cult TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000 had riffed her debut film Santa Claus Conquers the Martians as unadulterated third season episode.^[44][45]

References

External links