Pia Zadora
Born	Pia Alfreda Schipani (1954-05-04) May 4, 1954 (age 58) Hoboken, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, singer

Pia Zadora (born May 4, 1954) is an American actress and singer. After working as a child actress on Broadway, in regional theater, and in the film Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964), she came to national attention in 1981 when, following her starring role in the highly criticized ^[1] Butterfly, she won a Golden Globe Award as New Star of the Year.^[2]

When her film career failed to take off, she became a singer of popular standards and made several successful albums backed by a symphonic orchestra; as a singer she earned a measure of respect from critics who had previously written her off as an actress.^[3]

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2.1 Film 2.2 Music 2.3 Cabaret show: 2011 and beyond 3 Personal life 4 Filmography 4.1 Television 5 Discography 5.1 Albums 5.2 Singles 6 Awards and nominations 6.1 Golden Globe Awards 6.2 Golden Raspberry Awards 6.3 Golden Apple Award 6.4 Grammy Awards 6.5 ShoWest Award 7 References 8 External links

  Early life

Zadora was born Pia Alfreda Schipani in Hoboken, New Jersey. Her mother, Saturnina "Nina" (née Zadorowski), was a theatrical wardrobe supervisor for Broadway productions, the Metropolitan Opera, and the New York City Opera, and her father, Alphonse Schipani, a violinist.^[4][5] She is of Polish maternal and Italian paternal descent.^[6][7] She adapted part of her mother's maiden name as her stage name. Zadora appeared as a child actress with Tallulah Bankhead in Midgie Purvis. She played the youngest sister (Bielke) in the Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof (1964–1966).

  Career

  Film

Zadora's first film was in 1964's Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, as Girmar, a young Martian girl (the movie became notorious years later on the TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000). She also sang Hooray for Santy Claus in that movie. Her career made little headway until she met Meshulam Riklis, 30 years her senior, in 1972, while touring with a musical production. The couple married on 18 September 1977 (and divorced 29 March 1995). Not long after her marriage, she made her breakthrough as the Dubonnet Girl, appearing in print and television commercials for the apéritif. Her husband was a shareholder in Dubonnet's American distributor.^{[citation needed]}

Zadora starred with Stacy Keach and Orson Welles in the 1982 film Butterfly, with a plot around father-daughter incest, and featuring Zadora singing "It’s Wrong For Me To Love You". She won that year's Golden Globe Award as "Best New Star of the Year", amid charges that her husband had bought the award with a promotional campaign.^[8] Zadora's image filled billboards on Sunset Boulevard. Not all critics were enamored of her performance; however, she was also awarded "Razzies" as "Worst New Star" and "Worst Actress" in the 1982 Golden Raspberry Awards.

Zadora next starred in the 1982 film Fake-Out (aka Nevada Heat), a women in prison B-movie comedy co-starring Telly Savalas, and in the 1983 film adaptation of a Harold Robbins novel, The Lonely Lady, playing an aspiring screenwriter who achieves success after surviving sexual assault. She was awarded another Razzie as Worst Actress of 1983.^[9] On the basis of her multiple awards, the Golden Raspberry Awards later named her Worst New Star of the Decade (1980–1989).^[10]

In 1985 Zadora starred as the object of an extraterrestrial's affections in the musical-comedy Voyage of the Rock Aliens. In addition to showing off her comedic side, the film showcased her musical talents and featured half of the songs from her 1984 album Let's Dance Tonight.

In 1988, she played a beatnik in John Waters' Hairspray.

  Music

She attained success in Europe as a singer, and had several hit singles throughout the world. In 1984, she received a nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for the song "Rock It Out". Her cover of the Shirley Ellis hit "The Clapping Song", reached the U.S. Top 40 in 1983, and she had a hit duet with Jermaine Jackson titled "When the Rain Begins to Fall" in 1984 from the movie Voyage of the Rock Aliens. A minor hit in the US, the song reached #1 in some European countries. She released Pia & Phil, an album of standards with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1985, and recorded a follow up entitled I Am What I Am shortly after.^{[citation needed]}

In 1988, she worked with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on an album entitled When the Lights Go Out. The single "Dance Out of My Head" did not become a hit despite the top producers and club remixes by Shep Pettibone and Ben Liebrand. The album was only released in Europe. In 1989 she recorded the album Pia Z with producer Narada Michael Walden; it was not a hit. The single "Heartbeat of Love" included club remixes by Robert Civillés and David Cole of C&C Music Factory. A further album of standards entitled Pia Today! was recorded and received a limited promotional release.

Later in 1994, Zadora played a small role in Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult, in the final act in a comedy sketch as she sang at the Oscars. In this segment, she performed the Steve Allen-penned "This Could Be the Start of Something Big" during a parody of an Academy Awards musical number.

A compilation, The Platinum Collection, was released around this time and sold via infomercials in the US. It included repackaged versions of Pia & Phil, I Am What I Am, and Pia Today! A further CD of standards Only for Romantics was also recorded, but as May of 2012 came to a close, it was very scarce and only promotional copies were available.

  Cabaret show: 2011 and beyond

In 2011, Zadora began a small attempt at a comeback with a cabaret show titled Pia Zadora: Back Again, And Standing Tall. In February, she performed at the Eissey Campus Theatre in Palm Beach Gardens and the Kaye Auditorium in Boca Raton.^[11] She took the show to The Rrazz Room in San Francisco on June 8 where it ran for five performances until June 12.^[12][13][14] On August 6, Zadora will be performing her show at the Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel in Niagara Falls, New York.^[15] In 2012, she will be performing her show with the Desert Symphony Orchestra at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, California.^[16]

Zadora has also been performing and making appearances throughout 2011 at benefit galas and fundraisers. She appeared at San Francisco's Rrazz Room's 3rd annual Rrazziversary Gala Celebration and Benefit for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital on March 17 and at the Nevada Children's Center's Great Gatsby Gala on April 3.

  Personal life

Zadora married businessman Meshulam Riklis in 1977, when she was 23 and he 54. Zadora and Riklis bought the Beverly Hills mansion Pickfair in January 1988 from Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss for almost $7 million. They demolished most of the structure (keeping the guest houses), claiming that termites and time had made repairs difficult.^[17] The mansion, which was once home of Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford (hence the name "Pickfair"), was razed and a new 25,000-square-foot (2,300 m²) mansion was built on the property. Riklis commissioned a nude oil portrait of Zadora. Visitors were greeted by the portrait.^[8]

Zadora and Riklis divorced in 1993, and Zadora remained in the mansion until late 2005 or early 2006 when she sold it to Korean businessman Corry Hong for $17,650,000.^[18]

Zadora's second husband was writer-director Jonathan Kaufer. They were married from August, 1995 to November 2001, and had one child, Jordan Maxwell Kaufer.^[19] Zadora's three children are Kady Zadora, Kristofer Barzie, and Jordan Maxwell. Kady and Kristofer are her children with Meshulam Riklis.^[20] Kady was named after Zadora's film character in Butterfly, which later inspired the call letters for station KADY-TV/Oxnard, California after Riklis acquired it in 1988.

Zadora has been married to Michael Jeffries, a detective with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, since 2005 and currently resides in Las Vegas. Zadora and Jeffries met after Zadora contacted the Las Vegas Police to report a stalking incident.^[21]

She is a contributor to both Republican and Democratic political candidates.^[22]

  Filmography

• Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)
• Butterfly (1982)
• Fake-Out aka Nevada Heat (1982)
• The Lonely Lady (1983)
• Voyage of the Rock Aliens (1984)
• Hairspray (1988)
• Troop Beverly Hills (1989)
• Feel the Motion aka Der Formel Eins Film
• Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994)

  Television

• Pajama Tops (1984)
• Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme (1990) (played Little Miss Muffet)
• Frasier (1 episode, 1999; voice only)

  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 issued as part of The Platinum Collection)
• 1993: Only for Romantics (Promo only)
• 1993: The Platinum Collection (inc. Pia & Phil, I Am What I Am, and Pia Today!)

Pia track listing
No.	Title	Length
1.	"I'm In Love Again"	3:55
2.	"Never Gonna Do You Wrong"	3:23
3.	"Say Yes"	4:23
4.	"You Can't Keep A Good Love Down"	3:29
5.	"Baby It's You"	3:59
6.	"Love Who You Love"	2:49
7.	"Somebody Somewhere"	3:43
8.	"Those Eyes"	2:44
9.	"It's Wrong For Me To Love You (Theme From The Motion Picture "Butterfly")"	3:40
10.	"How'd You Get Me This Way"	3:30

  Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions
		US	US Country	UK	Germany[23]
1978	"Come Share My Love"	—	—	—	—
1979	"Bedtime Stories"	—	76	—	—
	"Tell Him"A	—	98	—	—
	"I Know a Good Thing When I Feel It"	—	65	—	—
1980	"Baby It's You"	—	55	—	—
1982	"I'm in Love Again"	45	—	—	—
1983	"The Clapping Song"	36	—	—	—
1984	"When the Rain Begins to Fall" (with Jermaine Jackson)	54	—	68	1
	"Follow My Heartbeat"B	—	—	—	—
	"Let's Dance Tonight"	—	—	—	11
	"Little Bit of Heaven"	—	—	—	10
	"Rock It Out"	—	—	—	—
1985	"Come Rain, Come Shine"	—	—	—	—
1986	"I Am What I Am"	—	—	—	—
1988	"Dance Out of My Head"	—	—	65	—
1989	"Heartbeat of Love"	—	—	—	—
	"If You Were Mine"	—	—	—	—

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

  Awards and nominations

  Golden Globe Awards

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

  Golden Raspberry Awards

• Won: Worst New Star, Butterfly (1983)
• Won: Worst Actress, Butterfly (1983)
• Won: Worst Actress, The Lonely Lady (1984)
• Won: Worst New Star of the Decade, Butterfly and The Lonely Lady (1990)
• Nominated: Worst Actress of the Decade, Butterfly and The Lonely Lady (1990)
• Nominated: Worst Actress of the Century, Voyage of the Rock Aliens, Butterfly, and The Lonely Lady (2000)

  Golden Apple Award

• Won: Sour Apple (1982)

  Grammy Awards

• Nominated: Best Rock Vocal Performance Female, for "Rock It Out" (1984)

  ShoWest Award

• Won: Young Star of the Year (1982)

  References

  External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Pia Zadora

• Pia Zadora at the Internet Movie Database
• Pia Zadora at the Internet Broadway Database
• Pia Zadora at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Pia Zadora at AllRovi

Persondata
Name	Zadora, Pia
Alternative names	Schipani, Pia Alfreda
Short description	Actress, singer
Date of birth	May 4, 1954
Place of birth	Hoboken, New Jersey, U.S.
Date of death
Place of death