Moira Orfei
Encyclopedia
Moira Orfei, (b. 21 December 1931 Codroipo
) a popular Italian actress and television personality. Moira is considered the queen of the Italian circus
.
Moira's excessively garish image mirrors her eccentric and exuberant personality. It was Dino De Laurentiis
who suggested that she change her name from Miranda to Moira. From then on, Moira's face became an effigy of unchanging characteristics: heavy make-up with eyes coated with eyeliner, bright lipstick, an accentuated mole above the lip, hair tied in a turban. Promotional billboards where carpeted with this picture in every city that the circus stopped. As a result, Moira has become one of the most recognized faces in Italy.
Almost by chance, Moira also became a film actress, acting in over forty films, from comedies to Sword and sandal
films (among which many Italian crime films
). It has been said that if Moira had studied drama she could have been good as Sophia Loren
.
Moira's parents were Riccardo Orfei and Violetta Arata. She married Walter Nones and they had two children Stefano Orfei and Lara Orfei.
On 4 August 2006 Moira Orfei had an Ischemic stroke
during a show in Gioiosa Ionica
. The artist is still under medical care.
Codroipo
Codroipo is a comune in the Province of Udine in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 70 km northwest of Trieste and about 20 km southwest of Udine.The town was founded in Roman times and named Quadruvium...
) a popular Italian actress and television personality. Moira is considered the queen of the Italian circus
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
.
Biography
Raised in a family who owned the circus company Circus Orfei, Moira became the symbol of circus in Italy and attained international fame. The Circus Moira Orfei itself was founded in 1960. Moira has been photographed in various scenes as a rider, trapeze artist, acrobat, dominatrice of elephants and trainer of doves.Moira's excessively garish image mirrors her eccentric and exuberant personality. It was Dino De Laurentiis
Dino De Laurentiis
Agostino "Dino" De Laurentiis was an Italian film producer.-Early life:He was born at Torre Annunziata in the province of Naples, and grew up selling spaghetti produced by his father...
who suggested that she change her name from Miranda to Moira. From then on, Moira's face became an effigy of unchanging characteristics: heavy make-up with eyes coated with eyeliner, bright lipstick, an accentuated mole above the lip, hair tied in a turban. Promotional billboards where carpeted with this picture in every city that the circus stopped. As a result, Moira has become one of the most recognized faces in Italy.
Almost by chance, Moira also became a film actress, acting in over forty films, from comedies to Sword and sandal
Sword and sandal
The Peplum , also known as Sword-and-Sandal, is a genre of largely Italian-made Historical or Biblical Epics that dominated the Italian film industry from 1957 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by the "Spaghetti Western"...
films (among which many Italian crime films
Poliziotteschi
Poliziotteschi films constitute a sub-genre of crime and action film that emerged in Italy in the late 1960s and reached the height of their popularity in the 1970s...
). It has been said that if Moira had studied drama she could have been good as Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren, OMRI is an Italian actress.In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance...
.
Moira's parents were Riccardo Orfei and Violetta Arata. She married Walter Nones and they had two children Stefano Orfei and Lara Orfei.
On 4 August 2006 Moira Orfei had an Ischemic stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
during a show in Gioiosa Ionica
Gioiosa Ionica
Gioiosa Ionica is a town and comune in Italy in the province of Reggio Calabria, region of Calabria. It lies near the east coast of Calabria and covers an area of 35 km²....
. The artist is still under medical care.
Films
- Gli amori di Ercole 1960
- Sotto dieci bandiere 1960
- Ursus (film)|Ursus 1960
- Maciste l'uomo più forte del mondo 1961
- Rocco e le sorelle 1961
- Il figlio dello sceicco 1962
- I tromboni di Fra' Diavolo 1962
- Ursus nella valle dei leoni 1962
- I due mafiosi 1963
- Totò contro i quattro 1963
- Totò e Cleopatra 1963
- Zorro contro Maciste 1963
- Divorzio alla siciliana 1963
- Il monaco di Monza 1963
- I due gladiatori 1963
- La rivolta dei pretorianiRevolt of the PraetoriansLa Rivolta dei Pretoriani is a 1964 film about the conspiracy to assassinate the emperor Domitian in the year AD 96, though the historical facts have been heavily fictionized...
1964 - Ercole, Sansone, Maciste e Ursus, gli invincibili 1964
- Il trionfo di Ercole 1964
- Casanova 70Casanova 70Casanova 70 is a 1965 Italian comedy film produced by Carlo Ponti, directed by Mario Monicelli and starring Marcello Mastroianni, Virna Lisi, and Michele Mercier.-Plot:...
1965 - Come inguaiammo l'esercito 1965
- I due sergenti del generale Custer 1965
- L'incendio di Roma 1965
- Due mafiosi contro al Capone 1966
- Signore e signori 1966
- Straziami ma di baci saziami 1968
- Paolo il freddo 1974
- Profumo di donnaProfumo di donnaProfumo di donna is a Commedia all'italiana film directed by Dino Risi in 1974 based on Il buio e il miele, a story by Giovanni Arpino. Both Risi and the leading actor Vittorio Gassman won important Italian and French awards...
1974 - Il cav. Costante Nicosia demoniaco ovvero: Dracula in Brianza 1975
- Arrivano i bersaglieri 1980
- Vacanze di Natale '90 1990
- Natale in India 2003