Raffaella Carrà, the pop singer and actress who was an entertainment icon in her native Italy, has died aged 78.
Her long-term partner, Sergio Iapino, announced her death, saying: “Raffaella has left us. She has gone to a better world, where her humanity, her unmistakable laugh and her extraordinary talent will shine forever.” He said she had been battling an unnamed illness for some time.
Born in Bologna in 1943, Carrà studied dance, and first became an actor in the “peplum” genre of Italian historical epic films.
Buoyed by her success, she moved to the US and acted opposite Frank Sinatra and others in Von Ryan’s Express (1965), but soon returned to Italy and became a host on television variety show Canzonissima, which frequently featured song-and-dance numbers performed by her. She released 25 studio albums during her career, most recently Ogni volta che è Natale in 2018.
Be the first to comment