Moana Pozzi
Encyclopedia
Moana Pozzi often called simply Moana, was an Italian pornographic actress, actress, television personality, model, politician and writer.
, Liguria
. Her parents chose her name from a geographic map of Hawaii
: it means "where the sea is deepest". Her father Alfredo Pozzi was a nuclear engineer and he moved around the world with his family for work, and her mother Giovannina Alloisio was a housewife. As a teen, Moana lived with her family in Canada
, then in Brazil
. At 13 years old, in 1974, Moana moved back to Italy with her family, where she finished high school. When the family had to move again to Lyon
, France
, she decided to start living independently in Rome
around 1980, when she was 19 years old.
In Rome, Pozzi started working as a model and studied acting. Sometimes she performed in TV commercials or as a walk-on in comedy movies. She was very ambitious, and in Rome she became the lover of many famous people. Her most famous secret lover was Bettino Craxi
, Prime Minister of Italy from 1983 to 1987. Through his intervention, she got a job at Rai
Television on a children's entertainment program. The same year (1981) she performed her first hardcore
movie, Valentina, ragazza in calore (Valentina, Girl in Heat), without being credited. A minor scandal ensued since, at the same time the movie was in theatres, she was still working on children's TV. She denied being the same person, but she was suspended from TV anyway. This gave her her first popularity in newspapers and magazines. In 1985 Federico Fellini
wanted her to perform in his movie Ginger and Fred
.
, manager of Diva Futura, the agency of the most famous porn stars like Cicciolina. Her first A-movie in hard core was Fantastica Moana, where she used her real name for the first time. She also took part in the famous Curve Deliziose (Delicious Curves) next to Cicciolina others, the first live show in Italy where naked models would masturbate onstage. This caused scandal and accusations of outrageous obscenity. She became huge in the hardcore business and soon eclipsed the popularity of Cicciolina in Italy. (At the same time Cicciolina stopped doing porn to pursue a political career in Italian Parliament.) Pozzi's appearances on TV also caused scandal. In the show Matrjoska by Antonio Ricci, she used to appear on stage completely naked or just wrapped in a transparent plastic veil. Magazines and newspapers were more and more interested in her and she was often featured on covers. She was also appreciated for her distinctive intelligence, defying the cliché of the brainless pinup. She cultivated intellectuals, writers, and artists such as Mario Schifano
or Dario Bellezza
. This was the first time a porn-star became so popular in everyday life.
In 1991, Pozzi published her first book Moana's Philosophy where she listed, with marks from 4 to 9.5, twenty famous celebrities who had been her lovers. The list included actors like Robert De Niro
, Harvey Keitel
, Roberto Benigni
and Massimo Troisi
, soccer players like Paulo Roberto Falcão
and Marco Tardelli, writers like Luciano De Crescenzo
. The name of the most famous one, the actual prime minister Bettino Craxi
, who was her lover in 1981, was hidden as "the politician".
In 1992, Pozzi co-founded, with Hungarian
Cicciolina Ilona Staller
, the Love Party of Italy, whose political program included legalization of brothel
s, better sex education
and the creation of "love parks". No one was elected, but her popularity reached its pinnacle and the best Italian TV anchors wanted to interview her. Stylist Karl Lagerfeld
wanted her on the catwalk in 1993. Moana Pozzi became so popular that she was a protagonist for an animated cartoon created by the famous Italian cartoonist Mario Verger, with herself co-directing. This film, entitled Moanaland (1994), aired frequently on Italian television in Blob
, and in telecasts dedicated to the actress. Again Verger, by himself, dedicated to Moana Pozzi another cartoon, I Remember Moana, 1995, that gained praise by film critics Marco Giusti and Enrico Ghezzi, and was transmitted in Fuori Orario. It also won a Special Mention at the Erotic Film Festival in the USA
.
Her sister Maria Tamiko "Mima" Pozzi became a porn actress, as well, with the stage name of Baby Pozzi.
, France
. She died on 15 September 1994, at the age of 33. Most reports say that she died of liver cancer
.
On the 10th anniversary of her death (2004), new rumors resurfaced and the court of justice of Rome
opened a new file to investigate. In December 2005, the Italian TV show Chi l'ha visto? presented for the first time the official death certificate of a Lyon cemetery, recording the exact day of the actress's death. Interviews with the family finally confirmed the circumstances. Her husband Antonio di Ciesco was also interviewed for the first time in 1995. Also shown was the unmarked grave in the "Pozzi" burial plot in Lerma, near Alessandria
in Piedmont
, northern Italy
.
Her brother Simone revealed in February 2006, on the same TV programme, that he was actually her son. Moana's mother confirmed this some time ago. He wrote a book telling his story, which was published in 2006. The book discusses Moana's personality, her differing relations with the other members of her family (especially with her sister Mima), and the course of her illness and death.
On 2 April 2007, Pozzi's husband Antonio Di Ciesco told the newspaper "Il Messaggero" that during her final days, Moana had asked him to speed her death. He claims that he euthanized her by letting air enter her IV, causing an air embolism
.
, but also some in Los Angeles
with Gerard Damiano
as director. She sold about 1 million videotapes. She was on the covers of 50 major magazines, not including pictorials in porn magazines. She was reportedly worth more than 50 billion 1990 Italian lira
s, about 40 million Euros. Some of her profits were donated posthumously to funding medical research on tumors.
The Italian movie Guardami ("Watch me") is based on her life.
Early years
Pozzi was born Anna Moana Rosa Pozzi in GenoaGenoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
, Liguria
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...
. Her parents chose her name from a geographic map of Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
: it means "where the sea is deepest". Her father Alfredo Pozzi was a nuclear engineer and he moved around the world with his family for work, and her mother Giovannina Alloisio was a housewife. As a teen, Moana lived with her family in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, then in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. At 13 years old, in 1974, Moana moved back to Italy with her family, where she finished high school. When the family had to move again to Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, she decided to start living independently in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
around 1980, when she was 19 years old.
In Rome, Pozzi started working as a model and studied acting. Sometimes she performed in TV commercials or as a walk-on in comedy movies. She was very ambitious, and in Rome she became the lover of many famous people. Her most famous secret lover was Bettino Craxi
Bettino Craxi
Benedetto Craxi was an Italian politician, head of the Italian Socialist Party from 1976 to 1993, the first socialist President of the Council of Ministers of Italy from 1983 to 1987.-Political career:...
, Prime Minister of Italy from 1983 to 1987. Through his intervention, she got a job at Rai
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
Television on a children's entertainment program. The same year (1981) she performed her first hardcore
Hardcore pornography
Hardcore pornography is a form of pornography that features explicit sexual acts. The term was coined in the second half of the 20th century to distinguish it from softcore pornography. It usually takes the form of photographs, often displayed in magazines or on the Internet, or films. It can also...
movie, Valentina, ragazza in calore (Valentina, Girl in Heat), without being credited. A minor scandal ensued since, at the same time the movie was in theatres, she was still working on children's TV. She denied being the same person, but she was suspended from TV anyway. This gave her her first popularity in newspapers and magazines. In 1985 Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , was an Italian film director and scriptwriter. Known for a distinct style that blends fantasy and baroque images, he is considered one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers of the 20th century...
wanted her to perform in his movie Ginger and Fred
Ginger and Fred
Ginger and Fred is a 1986 comedy/drama film directed by Federico Fellini and starring Marcello Mastroianni and Giulietta Masina.The title is a reference to the American dancing couple Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers...
.
Career
In 1986, Pozzi met Riccardo SchicchiRiccardo Schicchi
Riccardo Schicchi is an Italian pornographer who became famous with his photography and films featuring Ilona Staller and Moana Pozzi in the 1980s...
, manager of Diva Futura, the agency of the most famous porn stars like Cicciolina. Her first A-movie in hard core was Fantastica Moana, where she used her real name for the first time. She also took part in the famous Curve Deliziose (Delicious Curves) next to Cicciolina others, the first live show in Italy where naked models would masturbate onstage. This caused scandal and accusations of outrageous obscenity. She became huge in the hardcore business and soon eclipsed the popularity of Cicciolina in Italy. (At the same time Cicciolina stopped doing porn to pursue a political career in Italian Parliament.) Pozzi's appearances on TV also caused scandal. In the show Matrjoska by Antonio Ricci, she used to appear on stage completely naked or just wrapped in a transparent plastic veil. Magazines and newspapers were more and more interested in her and she was often featured on covers. She was also appreciated for her distinctive intelligence, defying the cliché of the brainless pinup. She cultivated intellectuals, writers, and artists such as Mario Schifano
Mario Schifano
Mario Schifano was an Italian painter and collagist of the Postmodern tradition...
or Dario Bellezza
Dario Bellezza
Dario Bellezza was an Italian gay poet, author and playwright. He won the Viareggio, Gatto, and Montale prizes.-Biography:Dario Bellezza was born in Rome on September 5, 1944...
. This was the first time a porn-star became so popular in everyday life.
Early 1990s
Pozzi was conscious of her role in show business. In interviews she always spoke of what she wanted to be for public opinion: sexy, sophisticated, intelligent, open-minded, worldly.In 1991, Pozzi published her first book Moana's Philosophy where she listed, with marks from 4 to 9.5, twenty famous celebrities who had been her lovers. The list included actors like Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
, Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel is an American actor. Some of his most notable starring roles were in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma and Louise, Ettore Scola's That Night in Varennes, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jane Campion's The...
, Roberto Benigni
Roberto Benigni
Roberto Remigio Benigni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian actor, comedian, screenwriter and director of film, theatre and television.- Early years :...
and Massimo Troisi
Massimo Troisi
Massimo Troisi was an Italian actor, film director, and poet. He is best known for his role as Mario Ruoppolo in the 1994 film Il Postino.- Early years and TV star :...
, soccer players like Paulo Roberto Falcão
Paulo Roberto Falcão
Paulo Roberto Falcão is a Brazilian head coach and former footballer, currently managing Sport Club Internacional. He is widely considered one of the best players in Internacional and Roma history, and one of the most talented midfielders of all time, especially at his peak in the mid 1980s...
and Marco Tardelli, writers like Luciano De Crescenzo
Luciano De Crescenzo
Luciano De Crescenzo is an Italian writer, film actor, director and engineer.Born in Naples, he graduated in engineering and worked for IBM Italy until 1976, when he published the bestseller Così parlò Bellavista , a collection of facts and anecdotes about his city which sold 600,000 copies in...
. The name of the most famous one, the actual prime minister Bettino Craxi
Bettino Craxi
Benedetto Craxi was an Italian politician, head of the Italian Socialist Party from 1976 to 1993, the first socialist President of the Council of Ministers of Italy from 1983 to 1987.-Political career:...
, who was her lover in 1981, was hidden as "the politician".
In 1992, Pozzi co-founded, with Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
Cicciolina Ilona Staller
Ilona Staller
Ilona Staller , also known by her stage name la Cicciolina, is a Hungarian-born Italian porn star, politician, and singer. She continued to make hardcore pornographic films while in office. She is famous for delivering political speeches with one breast exposed.-Early life:Anna Ilona was born in...
, the Love Party of Italy, whose political program included legalization of brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
s, better sex education
Sex education
Sex education refers to formal programs of instruction on a wide range of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, reproductive health, emotional relations, reproductive rights and responsibilities, abstinence, contraception, and...
and the creation of "love parks". No one was elected, but her popularity reached its pinnacle and the best Italian TV anchors wanted to interview her. Stylist Karl Lagerfeld
Karl Lagerfeld
Karl Lagerfeld is a German fashion designer, artist and photographer based in Paris. He has collaborated on a variety of fashion and art related projects, most notably as head designer and creative director for the fashion house Chanel...
wanted her on the catwalk in 1993. Moana Pozzi became so popular that she was a protagonist for an animated cartoon created by the famous Italian cartoonist Mario Verger, with herself co-directing. This film, entitled Moanaland (1994), aired frequently on Italian television in Blob
Blob
- In biology :* Blob , sections of the visual cortex where groups of color-sensitive neurons assemble* Globster, an unidentified organic mass that washes up on the shoreline of an ocean or other body of water...
, and in telecasts dedicated to the actress. Again Verger, by himself, dedicated to Moana Pozzi another cartoon, I Remember Moana, 1995, that gained praise by film critics Marco Giusti and Enrico Ghezzi, and was transmitted in Fuori Orario. It also won a Special Mention at the Erotic Film Festival in the USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Her sister Maria Tamiko "Mima" Pozzi became a porn actress, as well, with the stage name of Baby Pozzi.
Death
In the summer of 1994, Pozzi was ill, unable to eat without vomiting, and losing weight. She took time off and traveled to India with her husband Antonio Di Ciesco and then entered a clinic in LyonLyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. She died on 15 September 1994, at the age of 33. Most reports say that she died of liver cancer
Hepatocellular carcinoma
Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common type of liver cancer. Most cases of HCC are secondary to either a viral hepatitide infection or cirrhosis .Compared to other cancers, HCC is quite a rare tumor in the United States...
.
On the 10th anniversary of her death (2004), new rumors resurfaced and the court of justice of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
opened a new file to investigate. In December 2005, the Italian TV show Chi l'ha visto? presented for the first time the official death certificate of a Lyon cemetery, recording the exact day of the actress's death. Interviews with the family finally confirmed the circumstances. Her husband Antonio di Ciesco was also interviewed for the first time in 1995. Also shown was the unmarked grave in the "Pozzi" burial plot in Lerma, near Alessandria
Alessandria
-Monuments:* The Citadel * The church of Santa Maria di Castello * The church of Santa Maria del Carmine * Palazzo Ghilini * Università del Piemonte Orientale-Museums:* The Marengo Battle Museum...
in Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
, northern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
Her brother Simone revealed in February 2006, on the same TV programme, that he was actually her son. Moana's mother confirmed this some time ago. He wrote a book telling his story, which was published in 2006. The book discusses Moana's personality, her differing relations with the other members of her family (especially with her sister Mima), and the course of her illness and death.
On 2 April 2007, Pozzi's husband Antonio Di Ciesco told the newspaper "Il Messaggero" that during her final days, Moana had asked him to speed her death. He claims that he euthanized her by letting air enter her IV, causing an air embolism
Air embolism
An air embolism, or more generally gas embolism, is a pathological condition caused by gas bubbles in a vascular system. The most common context is a human body, in which case it refers to gas bubbles in the bloodstream...
.
Success
Moana Pozzi performed in about 100 porn movies, mostly in ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, but also some in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
with Gerard Damiano
Gerard Damiano
Gerard Damiano was an American director of adult films and producer, writer and director of the 1972 cult classic Deep Throat .-Biography:...
as director. She sold about 1 million videotapes. She was on the covers of 50 major magazines, not including pictorials in porn magazines. She was reportedly worth more than 50 billion 1990 Italian lira
Italian lira
The lira was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. Between 1999 and 2002, the Italian lira was officially a “national subunit” of the euro...
s, about 40 million Euros. Some of her profits were donated posthumously to funding medical research on tumors.
The Italian movie Guardami ("Watch me") is based on her life.
External links
- The original death register shown in a TV programme
- Moana Pozzi Online Warning: contains explicit pornographic content