Pamela Prati (until 2016 as Paola Pireddu; born 26 November 1958) is an Italian actress,

showgirl A showgirl is a female dancer or performer in a stage entertainment show intended to showcase the performer's physical attributes, typically by way of revealing clothing, toplessness, or nudity. History Showgirls date back to the late 180 ...

, model, singer, and television hostess. She has appeared in many television variety shows and in erotic

comedies Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

. She has hosted several programmes for

Mediaset Mediaset Italia S.p.A., also known as Mediaset, is an Italian-based mass media company which is the largest commercial broadcaster in the country. The company is controlled by the holding company MFE - MediaForEurope. Founded in 1987 by former ...

Canale 5 Canale 5 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel of Mediaset, owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. It was the first private television network to have a national coverage in Italy in 1980. On 4 December 2012, Mediaset launched Canale 5 HD, a s ...

, including ''Scherzi a Parte'' and ''La sai l'ultima?''. She is also credited as Pamela Field in some of her pictures.

Career

Little is known about Prati's early life. She maintains that she was born from a Spanish flamenco dancer that later abandoned her Italian mother in

Ozieri Ozieri ( sc, Otieri) is a town and ''comune'' of approximatively 11,000 inhabitants in the province of Sassari, northern Sardinia (Italy), in the Logudoro historical region. Its cathedral of the Immacolata is the episcopal see of the Roman Cath ...

in the

province of Sassari The province of Sassari ( it, provincia di Sassari, sc, provìntzia de Tàtari, sdc, prubìnzia di Sàssari, ca, província de Sàsser, french: province de Sassari, co, pruvincia di Sassari) is a province in the autonomous island region of Sa ...

, northern

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

; however the Italian tabloid

Chi Chi or CHI may refer to: Greek *Chi (letter), the Greek letter (uppercase Χ, lowercase χ); Chinese *Chi (length), ''Chi'' (length) (尺), a traditional unit of length, about ⅓ meter *Chi (mythology) (螭), a dragon *Chi (surname) (池, pin ...

has alleged that her father was in fact an Italian womanizer known as "Piscittu Murtu" (dead fish). She moved to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in her late teens where she worked as a model and made a brief appearance on television in the variety show ''La Sberla'' in 1976. Prati attracted much publicity when she appeared on the cover of singer

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 ...

's album ''Un po' artista un po' no'' in 1980. That same year she debuted in her first film, ''La moglie in bianco... L'amante al pepe'', an erotic comedy in which she had the starring role.Pamela Prati at the Internet Movie Database This was followed by other films, and in the meanwhile Prati began to study dance, singing and diction. She soon joined the ''Bagaglino '' Company, which was directed by Pier Francesco Pingitore and produced

variety shows Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a compèr ...

; Prati began making regular appearances on television as a showgirl and hostess, while she continued to act in films and television fiction. She has also performed on stage in theatrical productions. Prati participated in three beauty contests in 1983, which included ''Mora più bella d'Italia'', ''Miss Sardinia'' and ''Miss Universe''. In 1996, she released an album entitled ''Il tango delle 11''. She also collaborated with

Sandro Giacobbe Sandro Giacobbe (born 14 December 1949) is an Italian singer-songwriter. Life and career Born in Genova in 1949, Giacobbe started his career in the early 1970s and got his first success in 1974, with the song "Signora mia", which entered the ...

on a single, "Mi innamoro di te" in 1999, and eight years later, in 2007, she released her most recent single, "Papelon". In 1992, Prati hosted the Canale 5 variety programme ''Scherzi a Parte'', and from 1992 to 1994, she presented ''La sai l'ultima?''. She has also appeared on

reality shows Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

such as ''L'Isola dei Famosi 6'' in 2008, which is the Italian version of '' Celebrity Survivor'', and ''Grande Fratello VIP'' in 2016. In both reality shows she walked away before finishing the planned television schedule.

Filmography

Films

Television

Theatre

* ''Beautiful Thing'' (2007)

Discography

* ''Il Tango delle 11'', (1996, album CD) * "Mi innamoro di te", (1999, with Sandro Giacobbo, single) * "Papelon" (2007, single)

References

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prati, Pamela 1958 births Living people People from Ozieri Italian showgirls Italian television personalities Italian film actresses Italian television actresses Italian women singers