1943
Pelloni made her debut as a recognized actress in 1960 in the film Long Night in 1943. That same year she worked in the French film La chance et l'amour with Michel Piccoli. She then appeared 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).
June 1943
Raffaella Maria Roberta Pelloni (18 June 1943 – 5 July 2021), known professionally as Raffaella Carrà (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Italian: [raffaˈɛlla karˈra]) and sometimes mononymously as Raffaella, was an Italian singer, dancer, actress, television presenter and model. Widely considered a pop culture icon in Europe and Latin America, between the 1970s and 1980s she became a pioneer of feminism and women's rights in the music and television industry, as well as a music icon, an LGBT icon and an icon of fashion and design.
June 1943
Raffaella Pelloni was born on 18 June 1943 in Bologna to Raffaele Pelloni and Angela Iris Dell'Utri (of Sicilian ancestry), and had a younger brother named Vincenzo "Enzo" (1945–2001). Her parents, however, separated shortly after the wedding and Pelloni spent most of her childhood between her mother's bar and the ice cream shop in Bellaria – Igea Marina. At the latter establishment, she grew up watching the television programme Il Musichiere, learning by heart titles, ballets, and refrains of the songs.
1952
When she was only eight years old, she left the Romagna Riviera to continue her studies directly in Rome at the National Academy of Dance. At the age of 14 she dropped out of ballet classes. In 1952 she began her studies at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia until she graduated in 1960.
1961
Carrà had a ten-year relationship with the television and radio presenter Gianni Boncompagni who was also the lyricist of her greatest musical hits. She later met Sergio Japino [it], who was 9 years younger than her and at that time was the choreographer in two of her programmes: Pronto, Raffaella? and Fantastico 3. Although they separated in the 1990s, they maintained a good personal and professional relationship to such an extent that it was he who announced Carrà's death in 2021. Previously, she had other romantic relationships with singer Little Tony whom she met in 1961 during the filming of the movie 5 marines per 100 ragazze, with Juventus footballer Gino Stacchini (which lasted eight years) and was also courted by Frank Sinatra, with whom she shared the set of the film Von Ryan's Express in 1965, but she rejected his flirting.
1965
In 1965, Carrà moved to Hollywood after signing a contract with 20th Century Fox and following in the footsteps of her fellow artists Gina Lollobrigida, Sophia Loren and Virna Lisi, Carrà appeared in the film Von Ryan's Express alongside Frank Sinatra, Edward Mulhare and Trevor Howard. In 1966, she guest starred in an episode of the American television series I Spy with Bill Cosby and Robert Culp. Feeling homesick and not liking life in Los Angeles, she decided to return to Italy that same year where she starred in several Italian and French films such as The Saint Lies in Wait (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.
March 1967
On 3 March 1967, Carrà was broadcast on the National Programme Tutto per bene, a TV adaptation of the novel of the same name by Luigi Pirandello.
January 1968
In January 1968, she presented a special broadcast on the second national network, entitled Tempo di samba. In June of the same year, she participated in the play Processo di Famiglia, by Diego Fabbri and, at the end of the following year, she starred in Il sorriso della gioconda.
1970
In 1970 Carrà participated as a guest actress in the programme Io, Agata e tu [it] together with Nino Ferrer. Shortly after, Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI) hired her to present Canzonissima 70, a Saturday night show in which she was also an actress and dancer. She also presented Canzonissima 71 and Canzonissima 74 in which she released her hit single "Ma che musica Maestro" which sold 200,000 - 250,000 copies in Italy. In 1971, she participated alongside Georges Descrières in the French-produced television series Arsenio Lupin, starring in the episode entitled La donna dai due sorrisi. In 1974 she hosted on Rai Milleluci together with singer Mina Mazzini.
November 1971
On 13 November 1971, while hosting Canzonissima, Carrà performed her new single "Tuca tuca" wearing a top which showed her navel; she was the first woman to show it on Italian public television, at a time in which it was unusual for women to show their bodies. This event caused controversy in the conservative TV network RAI and was called "too provocative" by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano.
1975
After her success on the Italian market, in 1975 Carrà made her first appearance in Spain on Televisión Española (TVE) when she performed in the variety show ¡Señoras y señores! [es]; she subsequently released a compilation album with Spanish versions of her songs. In 1976, TVE hired her to host four episodes of the variety show La hora de... [es].
1976
In 1976 Carrà recorded the album Forte forte forte, which was released in 36 countries around the world, earning her a Gold certification in Canada. The album was followed up in 1977 with Fiesta, which features Eurodisco songs; the title track has been described as "symbol" of the soubrette.
1976
In Spanish television, Carrà is considered among the pioneers of freedom of expression after the Franco dictatorship, as the artist appeared on television schedules in 1976, a year after Francisco Franco's death.
1976
In the 1986–87 season, Carrà presented the programme conceived by Corrado in 1976 Domenica in, and sang both the opening theme song, "Curiosità", and the closing theme song, "Casa dolce casa". In November 1986, during a broadcast, Carrà reacted to an article published by the weekly scandal tabloid Novella 2000, threatening legal action against the newspaper, which had accused her of neglecting her dying mother. Raffaella's mother in fact died in 1987. Raffaella paid tribute during another episode of Domenica in, dedicating her song "I thank you life" to her.
1978
In 1978 Carrà was a guest on the Chilean programme Sábado gigante. That year she released the song "Hay que venir al sur", the Spanish version of "Tanti auguri", and it was another of Carrà's greatest hits.
1980
In 1980 she starred in the film Bárbara, shot in Argentina and distributed for the South American market and which was her last feature film as a leading actress. That same year she recorded the album Mi spendo tutto which features the song "Pedro", one of her biggest hits.
1981
In 1981 she presented Millemilioni, which was the first experiment in international television cooperation: five specials, each filmed in a different capital: Buenos Aires, Mexico City, London, Rome and Moscow.
1982
In 1982 she presented Fantastico 3 alongside Corrado, and sang the opening theme song, "Ballo ballo", a song that would be the focus of some controversy, as accused by some of plagiarising "Eleanor Rigby" by the Beatles.
February 1983
In February 1983, she was also a guest at the Sanremo Music Festival 1983. "Soli sulla luna" and "Ahi" written by Valsiglio - Pace – Depsa, are songs recorded specifically for the occasion, recorded – "in a hurry" – as stated by the same singer.
1984
The success of Pronto, Raffaella? won her the title of "Female TV Personality at European Level" in 1984, awarded by the European TV Magazines Association. In 1984 she signed a two-year, multimillion-dollar contract with kitchen manufacturer Scavolini, with the slogan "the most loved by Italians". That same year, the renewal of the contract with RAI was at the center of a heated controversy with the then prime minister, Bettino Craxi, who called the amount that the conductor would have earned for an exclusive three years "immoral and scandalous". During this time, Carrà released the albums Fatalità (1983) and Bolero (1984).
1987
In 1987 she struck a deal with Fininvest, with a multi-million dollar contract lasting two years. The first appearance on Canale 5 of Carrà dates back to 27 December 1987: on late evenings a special titled Benvenuta Raffaella was broadcast, and the Raffaella Carrà Show debuted shortly after on 9 January 1988. It was followed by Il principe azzurro, in the spring of 1989, which was the last programme presented by Carrà for Canale 5.
January 1990
In early January 1990, Carrà returned to Rai to host her new show Raffaella Venerdì, Sabato e Domenica... E saranno famosi.
June 1990
In June 1990, she co-hosted alongside Gigi Sabani, Ricardo Fernández Deu and Miriam Díaz Aroca, Cuando calienta el sol, a two-part Rai and TVE jointly produced variety show aired live from Saint-Vincent in Italy and Tossa de Mar in Spain and broadcast simultaneously to both countries.
1991
Together with Johnny Dorelli, in 1991, she hosted the Saturday night show Fantastico 12 on Rai 1, which, despite controversy caused by Roberto Benigni's appearance, obtained ratings below expectations.
1996
At the end of 1995 she returned to Rai 1 with Carràmba! Che sorpresa. While in 1996 and from 1998 to 2000, she hosted Carràmba! Che sorpresa, Carrambà! Che fortuna, 40 minuti con Raffaella, Centoventitré and I Fantastici di Raffaella.
1997
In 1997 she also participated as a protagonist in a four-part RAI miniseries entitled Una mamma per caso, directed by Sergio Martino, in which she played the role of a single journalist. It was her last appearance on a scripted TV series. That year refused to host the Sanremo Music Festival 1997.
2000
In 2000 she presented the Gran Premio Internazionale dello Spettacolo with Paolo Bonolis.
2004
The following year, alongside Piero Chiambretti, Enrico Papi, Megan Gale and Massimo Ceccherini, she hosted the 51st edition of the Sanremo Music Festival, which did not see a great amount of success. Carrà herself acknowledged that she was wrong to opt for a format that was more musical than television. After a break of about a year, Carrà returned to prime time on Rai 1 with the fourth edition of Carràmba! Che sorpresa. In 2004 she hosted the programme Sogni.
December 2004
On 19 December 2004 she co-hosted with Ramón García and Loles León the nine-hours telethon Contigo on TVE. On 24 October 2005, she was invited to Diego Maradona's programme La Noche del 10 together with Robbie Williams. In the spring of 2006, Carrà hosted on Rai Amore, a replica of TVE's Contigo. It was dedicated to long-distance adoptions and it achieved nearly 150,000 adoptions.
2006
Also in 2006, the actor Fabio Canino [it], assisted by Roberto Mancinelli, dedicated her a book named Raffabook. Più che un libro uno show del sabato sera. Around the same time, Tiziano Ferro published in the album Nessuno è solo the song E Raffaella è mia, dedicated to Carrà, who participated in the videoclip of the song, while the Spanish singer Roser recorded the album Raffaella, a tribute with Carrà's greatest hits sung in Spanish. In December 2006 she appeared at the gala for TVE's 50th Anniversary.
November 2007
On 30 November 2007 Raffica was released, two CDs and a DVD which collated all the theme songs sung and danced by Raffaella throughout her career.
2008
Also in 2008 the book Mito in tre minuti by Antimo Verde was published, an artistic biography based on research work. On 7 November of that year Raffica – Balletti & Duetti was released, a second box set of two CDs and a DVD with a selection of television performances by Carrà.
2008
In 2008 TVE called her for three programmes related to the Eurovision Song Contest. The first was the selection process aired on 8 March Salvemos Eurovisión. She also presented two special galas related to this festival.
April 2009
Subsequently, Carrà returned to Spain to host an episode of the Spanish version of Saturday Night Live on Cuatro in April 2009.
2010
In 2010 she duetted with Renato Zero on the song Triangolo from his album Sei Zero. The two also shared the stage at Zero's concert, on 5 October of the same year.
2011
In 2011, after 13 years of absence, Italy returned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest, and Rai chose Carrà to host and comment from Italy on the final night of the event, as well as present the votes awarded by the jury and televoting. In the summer of 2011 French DJ Bob Sinclar remixed her classic song A far l'amore comincia tu, which was retitled Far l'amore. This remix was later included by Paolo Sorrentino in the soundtrack of his Academy awarded film The Great Beauty.
October 2011
Later, together with Neri Marcorè, she starred in various TIM commercials, playing Queen Isabella I of Castile. In October 2011, for the fourth consecutive year, she was once again the producer of the Rai 3 television programme Il Gran Concerto, hosted by Alessandro Greco.
May 2012
In June 2012 she participated in the Concerto per l'Emilia [it] in support of the people affected by the earthquake of 20 and 29 May 2012, in which she sang one of her hits, Rumore.
January 2013
In January 2013, Carrà was meant to return, after ten years, to host the Saturday night show on Rai 1, but the programme, provisionally titled Auditorium was later cancelled. In February 2013 she became one of the coaches, along with Noemi, Piero Pelù and Riccardo Cocciante, in the programme The Voice of Italy on Rai 2.
July 2013
On 16 July 2013 she released the dance single Replay, which was followed up by the album Replay (The Album). The album was released on 19 November 2013, along with the second single Cha Cha Ciao, seventeen years after her previous studio album.
2014
That same year she appeared as herself in the movie Colpi di fortuna directed by Neri Parenti. In 2014 she participated again in The Voice of Italy as a coach with Piero Pelù, Noemi and rapper J-Ax.
February 2016
Starting from 24 February 2016 she returned as a coach in the Rai 2 programme The Voice of Italy with Emis Killa, Max Pezzali and Dolcenera; during the final episode she announced that she would leave the programme. On 19 December 2016 she hosted 60 años juntos, TVE's 60th Anniversary Gala. In the summer of 2017 she became a music producer for one of her contestants, Samuel Pietrasanta.
November 2018
On 30 November 2018, the Christmas album Ogni volta che è Natale was released, Carrà's last release before her death. The album features an unreleased track, Chi l'ha detto, which was sent to radios on 16 November and released on YouTube along with the music video on 23 November. On late 2018 she returned to the television scene after two years of absence, as a guest of Fabio Fazio at Che tempo che fa and by Carlo Conti at Un Natale d'Oro Zecchino. In the spring of 2019 she returned to TV as the host of a programme of interviews with well-known personalities from show business, culture and sports, titled A raccontare comincia tu, broadcast in prime time on Thursdays on Rai 3 for six weeks, from 4 April to 9 May. Following its success, the programme was confirmed with a new cycle of four episodes, aired from 24 October to 4 November.
October 2020
On 2 October 2020, the musical film Explota Explota was released in Spanish cinemas, it was directed by Uruguayan Nacho Álvarez, and it was based on Carrà's songs, she appears as a cameo. Since 25 January 2021, the film has been available in the Italian version (with the title Ballo Ballo) on the Amazon Prime digital platform. The film was nominated for three Goya Awards and three Feroz Awards.
2021
In 2021, Carrà was posthumously honored with the Sorriso Diverso Venezia Award at the 78th Venice International Film Festival for her contributions to the Italian music and show industry.
July 2021
Carrà died in Rome on 5 July 2021, at the age of 78, from lung cancer. Two days later, the funeral procession was held from her home, passing through RAI's central studios, the Foro Italico and Teatro delle Vittorie to reach the Capitolium, where the mortuary chapel was set up at Rome's City Hall. Carrà's ashes, after being cremated according to her expressed will, were taken to the places most dear to the artist, including Porto Santo Stefano and San Giovanni Rotondo, in the Sanctuary of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina. Her ashes are preserved in the church of the municipal cemetery of Porto Santo Stefano.
July 2021
On 5 July 2021, after Carrà's death, RAI director Stefano Coletta revealed on television that there were plans to ask Carrà to present the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 and the Sanremo Festival that same year.
2023
A three-episode docuseries about Carrà, titled Raffa, was released in 2023.
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