Raffaella Carrà  

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Raffaella Carrà (18 June 1943 – 5 July 2021) was an Italian singer, dancer, television presenter, and actress. She was known for her appearance as the female dancing soloist in a TV performance of the proto-rap funk gibberish song "Prisencolinensinainciusol" (1972) by Adriano Celentano and for her song "A far l'amore comincia tu" (1976). Carrà is widely regarded as a gay icon.

Early life

She was born on 18 June 1943 in Bologna from a Romagnolo father, and Iris Dellutri (1923-1987), of Sicilian family. The parents, however, separated shortly after the wedding and Raffaella spent most of her childhood between the bar of her father and the ice cream shop in Bellaria-Igea Marina. Just in this last one, she grew up following the TV program Il Musichiere, learning by heart titles, ballets and refrains of the songs. When she was only eight years old, she left the Romagna Riviera to continue her studies directly in Rome, first at the National Academy of Dance and then at the Experimental Center of Cinematography.

Career

Actress

Carrà debuted in cinema at age nine, in Tormento del passato (1952). She made five other movies before 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. "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.

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. 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 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.

Spanish-language market

After her boom in the Italian market of the early 1970s, Carrà moved to Spain, doing television and releasing records in the Spanish language. This led her to move to South America, where her records had been heard for some years. In 1979, she established her headquarters in Buenos Aires, which was under a military dictatorship. Carrà was one of the figures of the ATC, the official television network of Argentina.

She was well received throughout North, Central and South America, and filled the stadiums and theaters wherever she performed. In 1980, she filmed the Barbara musical romantic comedy, also in Buenos Aires, with the most important stars of the region. After appearing in the Festival de Viña del Mar (1982) she returned permanently to Italy. She visited the city of Salto, Uruguay and performed a show in the Parque Harriague.

Death

Carrà died in Rome on July 5, 2021, at the age of 78. She suffered from an undisclosed illness.

Discography

Filmography