Moana Pozzi

Moana Pozzi
Pozzi in 1992
Born Anna Moana Rosa Pozzi
(1961-04-27)27 April 1961
Genoa, Italy
Died 15 September 1994(1994-09-15) (aged 33)
Lyon, France
Other names Moana, Linda Heveret, Margaux Jobert, Anna Maria Pozzi, Anna Moana Pozzi, Moanna, Moanna Pozzi
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Spouse(s) Antonio Di Ciesco (m. 1992–1994, Moana's death)

Anna Moana Rosa Pozzi (Italian pronunciation: [ˈanna moˈaːna ˈrɔːza ˈpottsi]; 27 April 1961 – 15 September 1994), also known mononymously as Moana, was an Italian pornographic actress, television personality, and politician.

Early life

Pozzi was born in Genoa, Liguria, Italy, the daughter of Alfredo Pozzi, a nuclear engineer, and Rosanna, a housewife. Her name, Moana, is a Hawaiian name meaning "ocean."[1] In her youth, Pozzi lived for periods of time in Canada and Brazil due to the nature of her father's work requiring him to travel and, by thirteen years old, the family returned to their native Italy, where she finished school. In 1979, she gave birth to her only child, a son named Simone, who was raised by her parents and told his mother was his older sister. The family moved to France in 1980 and Pozzi, then 19 years old, decided to stay in Rome.

In Rome, Pozzi started working as a model and studied acting. Sometimes she performed in TV adverts or as a walk-on in comedy movies.[2] In (1981) she performed her first hardcore movie, Valentina, ragazza in calore (Valentina, Girl in Heat), credited as Linda Heveret. A minor scandal ensued since, at the same time the movie was in theatres, she was still working on a children's TV show, Tip Tap Club, on Rete 2. 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.

Career

In 1986, Pozzi met Riccardo Schicchi, manager of Diva Futura. Her first A-movie in hard core was Fantastica Moana, where she used her real name for the first time. She also starred in 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.

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, 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 Ilona Staller "Cicciolina", the Love Party of Italy, whose political program included legalization of brothels, better sex education and the creation of "love parks".[3] She ran for the mayor of Rome and received about 1 percent of the total vote.[4] 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. 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 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.

Pozzi performed in about 100 porn movies, mostly in Italy, 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 liras, about 26 million Euros.[5]

Death and aftermath

In 1994, Pozzi fell ill, unable to eat without vomiting and losing weight, and so, she took time off from work to travel with her husband, Antonio Di Ciesco, to India and then to France. She died in Lyon, France on 15 September 1994, at the age of 33, reportedly of liver cancer.[6] The cause of her death has been a subject of debate, with numerous suggestions being made, ranging from Pozzi being a spy for the KGB killed by exposure to radioactive polonium to dying from the result of assisted suicide orchestrated by her husband.[7][8] Some people have questioned whether or not Pozzi died at all and believe she may have faked her death in order to escape fame.[9] In 2006, over a decade after her death, the Italian crime show Chi l'ha visto? aired her death certificate, which showed she'd indeed died of liver cancer, and her cremation certificate, showing her ashes had been given to family members.[10] Despite the release of paperwork and interviews with family members, the public and media has continued to speculate on how or if Pozzi died.[11]

In 2006, Simone Pozzi revealed to the public that he was, in fact, her son, not her brother as he'd been raised to believe.[12] As told by him, he was born in 1979, just a few weeks before his mother's 18th birthday, and was told growing up that his grandparents were his parents and that his mother was his older sister in order to avoid the scandal of an out-of-wedlock birth in the family. Pozzi's mother confirmed the claims. Later that year, he, along with investigative journalist Francesca Parravicini, published a book about Pozzi's personality, career, and relationships titled Moana, tutta la verità (English: Moana, the Whole Truth).[13]

Legacy

Pozzi was a popular and beloved figure in Italy and made a name for herself outside of the pornography industry. Following her death, The New Yorker remarked on the country being in mourning as the result of her passsing and the Archbishop of Naples gave a homily in her honor.[14] During her lifetime, Pozzi supported LGBT rights, denounced the mafia, and campaigned for legalization of sex work.[15] Upon her death, she left much of her fortune to cancer research.[5] Still a well-known figure in modern day, the Walt Disney Company made the decision to release their animated film Moana as Oceania in Italy and changed the titular character's name from Moana Waialiki to Vaiana Waialiki.[16]

Pozzi inspired the main character of the 1999 film Guardami (Look At Me).

In 2009 a miniseries based on her life was directed by Alfredo Peyretti and starred Violante Placido in the title role.

In 2010, her former manager Riccardo Schicchi produced and directed I Segreti di Moana (The Secrets of Moana), in which the title role was played by Vittoria Risi.[17]

References

Inline citations

  1. ↑ "Hawaiian Dictionaries". wehewehe.org. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  2. ↑ Povoledo, Elisabetta. "The beatification of a porn star". nytimes.com. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  3. ↑ Moana Si Butta In Politica E S'Allea Al ' Potere Grigio', La Repubblica, 28 December 1991
  4. ↑ " After Elections, Italy Is Still a Muddle", The New York Times, November 23, 1993
  5. 1 2 Marco Giusti, Moana, cit.
  6. ↑ Editorial Blitz. "Moana Pozzi, 20 anni fa moriva la pornostar del mistero: la fotostoria". Blitz Quotidiano. Società Editrice Srl Multimedia. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  7. ↑ "Italian Actress and Porn Star Was a KGB Agent, New Documentary Claims". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  8. ↑ "Di Ciesco: «Così ho aiutato Moana a morire» - Corriere della Sera". www.corriere.it. Retrieved 2018-07-18. line feed character in |title= at position 44 (help)
  9. ↑ "Death of a porn star to be investigated by Italian prosecutor". The Independent. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  10. ↑ "Chi l'ha Visto - Misteri - Moana Pozzi - La scheda". www.chilhavisto.rai.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  11. ↑ ITALY (2007-04-13). "Porn icon Pozzi helped to die". ITALY Magazine. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  12. ↑ Imberti, Nicola. "Mystery Moana". iltempo.it. Daily IL Time srl. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  13. ↑ Pozzi, Simone (2006). Moana, tutta la verità. ISBN 88-7424-134-8.
  14. ↑ "The Life and Death of Moana, A Diva of Porn". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  15. ↑ Povoledo, Elisabetta. "MEDIA : The beatification of a porn star". Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  16. ↑ "Disney changes 'Moana' title in Italy, because porn star". 18 November 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  17. ↑ "Vittoria Risi: "Io e Moana Pozzi"". TGCOM. 11 March 2010. Retrieved 17 June 2013.

General references

  • Moana Pozzi, La filosofia di Moana, Moana's Club Edizioni, Roma, 1991 (self-produced).
  • Moana Pozzi, Il sesso secondo Moana, Edizioni Moana's Club Edizioni, Roma, 1992 (self-produced).
  • Noa Bonetti, Un'amica di nome Moana. Confidenze a cuore aperto di un'indimenticabile star a luci rosse, Sperling & Kupfer Editori, Milano, 1994, ISBN 88-200-2061-0.
  • Brunetto Fantauzzi, La pornoViva, il terribile segreto di Moana, Flash Edizioni, Roma 1995.
  • Patrizia D'Agostino – Antoni Tentori – Alda Teodorani, Pornodive, Castelvecchi Editore, Roma, 1995, ISBN 88-8210-019-7.
  • Andrea Di Quarto – Michele Giordano, Moana e le altre. Vent'anni di cinema porno in Italia, Gremese Editore, 1997, ISBN 88-7742-067-7.
  • Tommaso Trini, Moana. Ultimo mito, Prearo Editore, Roma, 2003, ISBN 88-7348-032-2.
  • Ermanno Krumm, Mimmo Rotella – Moana ultimo mito, Prearo Editore, Roma, 2003.
  • Marco Giusti, Moana, Mondadori Editore, Milano, 2004, ISBN 88-04-53306-4.
  • Brunetto Fantauzzi, E... viva Moana, giallo politico! Chi ha ucciso la pornodiva del potere, 2005.
  • Francesca Parravicini, Moana, tutta la verità, Aliberti Editore, Reggio Emilia, 2006, ISBN 88-7424-134-8.
  • Brunetto Fantauzzi, Moana. La spia nel letto del potere, Edizioni Nuove Srl, 2006.
  • Brunetto Fantauzzi, Moana. Mistero per sempre, Edizioni Nuove Srl, 2007.

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