Lory Del Santo
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Loredana "Lory" Del Santo (born 28 September 1958) is an Italian television personality and actress, now retired.


Early life

Lory Del Santo was born Loredana Del Santo on 28 September 1958, in
Povegliano Veronese Povegliano Veronese ( vec, Pojan) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about west of Venice and about from the Catullo Airport (Verona's Airport). Demographic evolution Colors= id:l ...
, a ''comune'' in the Italian region
Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...
.


Biography

Del Santo began her exposure to entertainment at sixteen when she served as a ''valletta'' (assistant) in the 1975 edition of
Festivalbar The Festivalbar was an Italian singing competition that took place in the most important Italian squares during summer, such as the Piazza del Duomo, Catania or Piazza Bra, Verona. The first edition took place in 1964 and was broadcast by RAI. ...
, which took place for the first time, that year, at the
Verona Arena The Verona Arena ( it, Arena di Verona ) is a Roman amphitheatre in Piazza Bra in Verona, Italy built in 30 AD. It is still in use today and is internationally famous for the large-scale opera performances given there. It is one of the best p ...
. (As of this date, that arena continues as the permanent venue for the final evening of the music festival, and for the most important live concerts.) After graduating from high school, she left Verona for Rome and Milan alone (without her mother's consent), to attempt a career in film and fashion. In that period, Del Santo worked as a model, fashion photographer, and entrepreneur, and studied acting. She had her first film role, and then by the late 1970s had taken part in 20 films over six years—directed, among others, by
Dino Risi Dino Risi (23 December 1916 – 7 June 2008) was an Italian film director. With Mario Monicelli, Luigi Comencini, Nanni Loy and Ettore Scola, he was one of the masters of ''commedia all'italiana''. Biography Risi was born in Milan. He had an ol ...
,
Adriano Celentano Adriano Celentano (; born 6 January 1938) is an Italian musician, singer, composer, actor, and filmmaker. He is dubbed "''il Molleggiato''" (the springy one) because of his dancing. Celentano's many albums frequently enjoyed both commercial and ...
, and
Massimo Troisi Massimo Troisi (; 19 February 1953 – 4 June 1994) was an Italian actor, cabaret performer, screenwriter, and film director. He is best known for his works in the films '' I'm Starting from Three'' (1981) and '' Il Postino: The Postman'' (1994) ...
. Some of these films were in the
Commedia sexy all'italiana The commedia sexy all'italiana (, lit. "sex comedy Italian style"), also known as commedia scollacciata or commedia erotica all'italiana, is a subgenre of Italian ''commedia all'italiana'' film genre. Style ''Commedia sexy'' is characterized typ ...
genre. In 1980, Del Santo was the contestant and representative from the nation of Italy, at the
Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...
competition. In the early-1980s Del Santo became popular thanks to her participation in successful TV shows such as
Renzo Arbore Lorenzo Giovanni "Renzo" Arbore (; born 24 June 1937) is an Italian television host, singer, actor and film director. Career Arbore became nationally recognized as radio anchor man, together with Gianni Boncompagni, in the late 1960s, with ...
's ''Tagli, ritagli e frattaglie'' (1981) and Antonio Ricci's '' Drive In'' (1983-1988). In the second half of the 1980s, she set aside her career in the entertainment industry to devote herself to her private life. In 1989 and 1990 she went on tour as the protagonist for a theatrical show alongside
Walter Chiari Walter Annicchiarico (8 March 1924 – 20 December 1991), known as Walter Chiari , was an Italian stage and screen actor, mostly in comedy roles. Biography Walter Annicchiarico was born in Verona, Italy on 8 March 1924 to a family originally ...
. In the Autumn of 1991 she was requested for another theatre tour, but gave up for personal reasons. Del Santo was a focus of gossip columns in UK mainly for her relationship with
Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...
(who dedicated the song "Lady of Verona" to her) and for the death of their son, Conor Loren. While he was still married to
Pattie Boyd Patricia Anne Boyd (born 17 March 1944) is an English model and photographer. She was one of the leading international models during the 1960s and, with Jean Shrimpton, epitomised the British female look of the era. Boyd married George Harri ...
, Clapton embarked on a relationship with the twenty-seven year old Del Santo and fathered Conor, who was born on 21 August 1986. Conor died on 20 March 1991, at the age of four and a half, when he fell out of an open window on the 53rd floor of a Manhattan apartment building, the ''Galleria''. The window, which was about 4 ft by 6 ft tall, had been opened by a building cleaner. The tragedy took place in the middle of an about 20-day stay in New York by Lory and Conor, who was looked after also by a babysitter. The death of their son was the inspiration for Clapton's songs, "
Tears in Heaven "Tears in Heaven" is a song by English guitarist, singer, and songwriter Eric Clapton and Will Jennings, written about the death of Clapton's four-year-old son, Conor. It appeared on the 1991 ''Rush'' film soundtrack. In January 1992, Clapton ...
", "
Circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...
" and " My Father's Eyes". After a long absence, she returned to television in 2005, participating in the third season of '' L'isola dei famosi''. During this show, she received such high approval from the public that it aroused the interest of even the hardest detractors of this television genre; in the last episode she received 75% of the votes. In years following, she took part in others Italian reality shows, TV shows, and radio broadcasts. In 2006 a publishing house asked her to write an autobiography, but she had stated that she doesn't appreciate biographies and autobiographies, so she found a compromise and wrote a particular book that she calls an "autobiography of my thoughts", with the title ''Piacere è una sfida''; neither Eric Clapton nor their son are mentioned in it, being very personal matters. During her entire career, she has chosen never to be accompanied by an agent or other specific figures, preferring total self-determination. The Italian singer
Zucchero Adelmo Fornaciari (; born 25 September 1955), more commonly known by his stage name Zucchero Fornaciari or simply Zucchero (), is an Italian singer, musician and songwriter. His stage name is the Italian word for "sugar", as his elementary teach ...
wrote in his autobiography about how Lory Del Santo had the idea to introduce him to Clapton, inviting the Italian singer for dinner with the couple. From this meeting, an artistic collaboration and a long friendship between the two musicians was born.


Personal life

In her book, Del Santo states that she had an affair with
George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
in December 1991 in
Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...
, shortly after the death of her (and Clapton's) son. She has two other children, Devin and Loren, whom she raised alone as a single mother. Since the first moments of notoriety in 1981, she has always declared herself against the bond of marriage, and she has never married. Her son, Loren Del Santo, took his own life in 2018 at just 19 years old, after having long suffered from a psychiatric illness called anhedonia, a disease that prevents those affected from experiencing pleasure, feelings or emotions of any kind. For years he had lived in the United States, in Miami, where he studied at Miami Beach High School. Born in 1999, Loren was the youngest of her children..


Filmography


Films


Television


As a director


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Del Santo, Lory 1958 births 20th-century Italian actresses Italian beauty pageant winners Italian female models Italian film actresses Living people Miss Universe 1980 contestants Participants in Italian reality television series People from the Province of Verona