Raffaella Maria Roberta Pelloni, better known as Raffaella Carrà, was an Italian singer, dancer, television presenter, and actress. She was a popular figure in Europe and Latin America, both as a result of her many well-known taped presentations and records, and because of her many popular TV shows. Carrà is widely regarded as a gay icon

***

She was born in Bologna, and took dance lessons there early on. When she was 8 years old, she left Bologna to study at the National Dance Academy (Accademia Nazionale di Danza) in Rome, and started her film career in the 1950s, playing the character of Graziella in Tormento del passato (1952), where she appears credited with her real name.

Career

Actress   Carrà in Caesar the Conqueror, 1962

Carrà debuted in cinema at age nine, in Tormento del passato (1952). She did five other movies until 1960 when she graduated from the national film school of Italy. The same year she appeared in Long Night in 1943, and went on to appear in many Italian peplum films, including Fury of the Pagans (1960), Atlas in the Land of the Cyclops (1961), Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules (1961), Ulysses Against the Son of Hercules (1962), Pontius Pilate (1962) and Caesar the Conqueror (1962), as well as comedies and action films such as 5 marines per 100 ragazze (1961), The Terrorist (1963), The Organizer (1963) and La Celestina P... R... (1965).

In 1965, she moved to the United States signing with 20th Century Fox. As Carrà, she starred in the motion picture Von Ryan's Express (1965) with Frank Sinatra, Edward Mulhare, and Trevor Howard. In 1966, she guest starred in an episode of the American television series I Spy (Sophia, as the title character). Feeling homesick, she decided to return to Italy where she starred in several Italian and French films such as Le Saint prend l'affût (1966), the Our Man Flint parody Il vostro super agente Flit (1966), Why Did I Ever Say Yes Twice? (1969) and Cran d'arrêt (1970), as well as a few television shows. However, subsequently her acting career has been scarce with no more than five works mainly for television.

Singing and dancing

Since 1961, Carrà has sung and danced on the variety shows of Italian television. In particular, since the early 1970s, they have contained elaborate choreography, mesmerizing elaborate themes, and her uninhibited style. She was the first television personality to show her belly button on camera. This was met with heavy criticism from the Vatican and from Catholic churches in the countries that watched her show, Canzonissima.

Carrà had a hit song with the sensual Tuca Tuca (1971), written for her singing and dancing television presentations by her long-time collaborator and former boyfriend, Gianni Boncompagni. Similarly, in 1971 Carrà achieved other hits with Ma che musica maestro and Chissà se va.

Her greatest international hit single was Tanti Auguri (Best Wishes), which has become a popular song with gay audiences. The song is also known under its Spanish title Para hacer bien el amor hay que venir al sur (which refers to Southern Europe, since the hit was recorded and taped in Spain). The Estonian version of the song Jätke võtmed väljapoole was performed by Anne Veski.

"A far l'amore comincia tu" (To make love, your move first) was another success for her internationally, known in Spanish as En el amor todo es empezar, in German as Liebelei, in French as Puisque tu l'aimes dis le lui, and in English as Do It, Do It Again. It was her only entry to the UK Singles Chart, reaching number 9 in 1978, where she remains a one-hit wonder.[5] "A far l'amore comincia tu" has also been covered in Turkish by a Turkish singer Ajda Pekkan as "Sakın Sakın Ha". In 1977, she recorded another hit single, Fiesta (Party) originally in Spanish, but then recorded it in French and Italian after the song hit the charts.

  Raffaella Carrà

In 1984, Carrà recorded "Spera, aspetta e spera", Italian version for "Lança Perfume", classic from Rita Lee, the queen of Brazilian rock'n roll. In 1985, Carrà's Starlight Express video was released, using characters, costumes and sets from the show.

Carrà gained new attention in the twenty-first century for her appearance as the female dancing soloist in a 1974 TV performance of the proto-rap funk gibberish song Prisencolinensinainciusol (1973) by Adriano Celentano. A remixed video containing her dancing went viral on the internet in 2008.[citation needed] In 2008 a video of a performance of her only UK hit single, Do It, Do It Again, appeared in the Doctor Who episode Midnight.

Rafaella Carrà worked with Bob Sinclar on the new single Far l'Amore which was released on YouTube on 17 March 2011. The song charted in different European countries.[citation needed], and appeared in the soundtrack of the Italian Academy award winner movie The Great Beauty, directed by Paolo Sorrentino. 

In May 2011, she presented the Italian points in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Carrà died in Rome on July 5, 2021, at the age of 78.

 She suffered from an undisclosed illness