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Moana Pozzi

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Moana Pozzi
Pozzi in 1992
Born
Anna Moana Rosa Pozzi

(1961-04-27)27 April 1961
Genoa, Italy
Died15 September 1994(1994-09-15) (aged 33)
Lyon, France
Other namesMoana, Linda Heveret, Margaux Jobert, Anna Maria Pozzi, Anna Moana Pozzi, Moanna, Moanna Pozzi
Years active1986–1994
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Political partyLove Party
Children1
RelativesBaby Pozzi (sister)

Anna Moana Rosa Pozzi (Italian: [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, Italy, the daughter of Alfredo Pozzi, a nuclear engineer, and Rosanna, a housewife. Her name, Moana, is a Polynesian 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. By the time she was thirteen years old, the family had returned to their native Italy, where she finished school. In 1979, a few weeks before her 18th birthday, she gave birth to her only child, a son named Simone, who was raised by her parents and told that 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 television advertisements or as a walk-on in comedy movies.[2] In 1981, she performed in 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 television programme, Tip Tap Club  [it], on Rete 2. She denied being the same person, but was suspended from television anyway.[3] This gave Pozzi her first popularity in newspapers and magazines.[citation needed] In 1985, Federico Fellini wanted her to perform in his movie Ginger and Fred.[4]

Career

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 lire 50 billion (1990 prices), about 26 million euro.[5]

Death and aftermath

In 1994, Pozzi fell ill, unable to eat without vomiting, and losing weight. 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, and believe she may have faked her death 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 had indeed died of liver cancer, along with 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 her son, not her brother as he had 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, 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.[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 passing and the Archbishop of Naples gave a homily in her honor.[14] In fact, she considered herself Roman Catholic.[15] During her lifetime, Pozzi supported LGBT rights, denounced the Mafia, and campaigned for legalization of sex work.[16] Upon her death, she left much of her fortune to cancer research.[5] Since she remains a well-known figure in Italy, the Walt Disney Company made the decision to release the animated film Moana as Oceania in Italy and changed the title character's name to Vaiana for that localization.[17][18]

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 [it] 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.[19]

Books

  • Pozzi, Moana (1991). La filosofia di Moana (self-published) (in Italian). Rome: Moana's club. OCLC 1352509030.
  • Pozzi, Moana (1992). Il sesso secondo Moana (self-published) (in Italian). Rome: Moana's club.

References

  1. ^ "Hawaiian Dictionaries". wehewehe.org. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  2. ^ Povoledo, Elisabetta (22 September 2004). "The beatification of a porn star". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  3. ^ "Disney Has to Change Moanas Title in Italy to Avoid Confusion with a Famous Porn Star!". 19 November 2016.
  4. ^ "Disney Changes 'Moana' Title in Italy to Avoid Porn Star Confusion". The Hollywood Reporter. 18 November 2016.
  5. ^ a b Giusti 2004.
  6. ^ "Moana Pozzi, 20 anni fa moriva la pornostar del mistero: la fotostoria". Blitz Quotidiano. Società Editrice Srl Multimedia. 5 September 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  7. ^ "Italian Actress and Porn Star Was a KGB Agent, New Documentary Claims". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  8. ^ "Di Ciesco: "Così ho aiutato Moana a morire"". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 3 April 2007. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  9. ^ "Death of a porn star to be investigated by Italian prosecutor". The Independent. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  10. ^ "Chi l'ha Visto – Misteri – Moana Pozzi – La scheda". www.chilhavisto.rai.it (in Italian). Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  11. ^ ITALY (1 April 2007). "Porn icon Pozzi helped to die". ITALY Magazine. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  12. ^ Imberti, Nicola. "Mistero Moana". iltempo.it (in Italian). Daily IL Time srl. Archived from the original on 19 October 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  13. ^ Pozzi 2006.
  14. ^ "The Life and Death of Moana, A Diva of Porn". The New Yorker. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  15. ^ Cavalli, Giovanna (5 January 2024). "Mia figlia non era una peccatrice. Aveva una grande fede ma è stata traviata". Dipiù (in Italian). No. 53. pp. 62–65.
  16. ^ Povoledo, Elisabetta (22 September 2004). "MEDIA : The beatification of a porn star". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  17. ^ "Disney changes 'Moana' title in Italy, because porn star". Fox News. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  18. ^ Saunders, Tristram Fane (16 November 2016). "Disney renamed its new film Moana 'to avoid confusion with porn star'". The Telegraph – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  19. ^ "Vittoria Risi: "Io e Moana Pozzi"". TGCOM (in Italian). 11 March 2010. Retrieved 17 June 2013.

Bibliography

  • Bonetti, Noa (1994). Un'amica di nome Moana: confidenze a cuore aperto di un'indimenticabile star a luci rosse (in Italian). Milan: Sperling & Kupfer. ISBN 88-200-2061-0.
  • D'Agostino, Patrizia; Tentori, Antonio; Teodorani, Alda (1995). Pornodive: storia delle amiche proibite degli italiani (in Italian). Preface by Ernestina Miscia. Rome: Castelvecchi. ISBN 88-8210-019-7.
  • Di Quarto, Andrea; Giordano, Michele (1997). Moana e le altre: vent'anni di cinema porno in Italia (in Italian). Rome: Gremese. ISBN 88-7742-067-7.
  • Fantauzzi, Brunetto (1995). La pornoViva: il terribile segreto di Moana (in Italian). Rome: Flash.
  • Fantauzzi, Brunetto (2005). E... viva Moana: giallo politico! Chi ha ucciso la pornodiva del potere (in Italian). Rome: Pettirosso.
  • Fantauzzi, Brunetto (2006). Moana: la spia nel letto del potere (in Italian). Rome: Edizioninuove. ICCU IT\ICCU\LO1\1263209.
  • Fantauzzi, Brunetto (2009). Moana: amori e segreti (in Italian). Ariccia: First Class. ICCU IT\ICCU\TO0\1931165.
  • Giusti, Marco (2004). Moana (in Italian). Milan: Mondadori. ISBN 88-04-53306-4.
  • Krumm, Ermanno, ed. (2003). Mimmo Rotella: Moana ultimo mito Galleria Cà di Frà - Galleria Tega, 25 settembre 2003 (in Italian). Rome: Prearo. ISBN 88-7348-032-2.
  • Pozzi, Simone (2005). La verità su mia sorella Moana Pozzi (in Italian). Turin: Seneca.
  • Pozzi, Simone (2006). Parravicini, Francesca (ed.). Moana: tutta la verità (in Italian). Reggio Emilia: Aliberti. ISBN 88-7424-134-8.
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