Jo Champa (born January 23, 1968) is an actress, producer and model. Rosina Jo Champa was born in 1968 in Long Branch,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, but grew up in

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 ...

, Italy. She became a model there as a teenager. Before the age of 18, she was already one of

Gianni Versace Giovanni Maria "Gianni" Versace (; 2 December 1946 – 15 July 1997) was an Italian fashion designer, socialite and businessman. He was the founder of Versace, an international luxury-fashion house that produces accessories, fragrances, make-u ...

's favorite models.Jo Champa
, Vogue Italia, October 11, 2010. As such she turned to the Italian film industry in 1986, with various screen acting assignments, for directors including

Claude d'Anna Claude d'Anna (born 31 March 1945) is a French film director and screenwriter. He has directed 16 films since 1970. His film ''Salome'' was screened in the Un Certain Regard section the 1986 Cannes Film Festival. A year later his film ''Macbeth' ...

('' Salome'', 1986), Ettore Scola ('' The Family'', 1987), Massimo Troisi (''

Le vie del Signore sono finite '' The ways of the Lord are over'' (''Le vie del Signore sono finite'') is a 1987 Italian comedy-drama film written and directed by Massimo Troisi. The film won the Nastro d'Argento for best screenplay. For his performance Marco Messeri won the ...

'', 1987), and

Damiano Damiani Damiano Damiani (23 July 1922 – 7 March 2013) was an Italian screenwriter, film director, actor and writer. Poet and director Pier Paolo Pasolini referred to him as "a bitter moralist hungry for old purity", while film critic Paolo Mereg ...

('' Il Sole Buio'', 1990). At the pinnacle of her career, Champa returned to the United States, starring in

Steven Seagal Steven Frederic Seagal (; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, screenwriter and martial artist. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan and eventually ended up running his father-in-l ...

's ''

Out for Justice ''Out for Justice'' is a 1991 American neo-noir vigilante action thriller film directed by John Flynn and co-produced by and starring Steven Seagal as Gino Felino, a veteran police detective who sets out to avenge his partner Bobby's murder by ...

'' (1991), followed two years later by

Bernardo Bertolucci Bernardo Bertolucci (; 16 March 1941 – 26 November 2018) was an Italian film director and screenwriter with a career that spanned 50 years. Considered one of the greatest directors in Italian cinema, Bertolucci's work achieved international ...

's ''

Little Buddha ''Little Buddha'' is a 1993 drama film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, written by Rudy Wurlitzer and Mark Peploe, and produced by usual Bertolucci collaborator Jeremy Thomas. An international co-production of Italy, France, and the United Kingdom ...

'' (1993), and then ''

Don Juan DeMarco ''Don Juan DeMarco'' is a 1995 American romantic comedy-drama film starring Johnny Depp as John Arnold DeMarco, a man who believes himself to be Don Juan, the greatest lover in the world. Clad in a cape and domino mask, DeMarco undergoes psychia ...

'' (1994) by

Jeremy Leven Jeremy Leven (born August 16, 1941) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and novelist. Born in South Bend, Indiana, Leven lives in Woodbridge, Connecticut, Paris, and New York City. Early life Leven was educated at St. John's Colle ...

. In 1998, she married Joseph Farrell, a Hollywood producer and marketer and an influential member of the Academy. Later in the ‘90s, she mostly worked for television guest starring in TV series such as ''

Walker, Texas Ranger ''Walker, Texas Ranger'' is an American action crime television series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis. It was inspired by the film '' Lone Wolf McQuade'', with both this series and that film starring Chuck Norris as a member of the ...

, JAG'', and ''

CSI: Miami ''CSI: Miami'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: Miami'') is an American police procedural drama television series that ran from September 23, 2002 until April 8, 2012 on CBS. Featuring David Caruso as Lieutenant Horatio Caine, Emily Procter as Dete ...

''.Jo Champa biography
IMDb. Champa can also be found in Helmut Newton's book ''Sumo'' where he found her to be one of his favorite models. In 2004 after many in vitro cycles she and her husband had a son, Sean Farrell. Most recently, she was in '' Somewhere'' (2010), directed by

Sofia Coppola Sofia Carmina Coppola (; born May 14, 1971) is an American filmmaker and actress. The youngest child and only daughter of filmmakers Eleanor Coppola, Eleanor and Francis Ford Coppola, she made her film debut as an infant in her father's acclaimed ...

. In Italy, she has hosted the very successful fashion TV show for

RAI TV RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

, ''Kermesse''. Champa has also served as special contributing editor and columnist for the Italian edition of ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'' and ''L'Uomo Vogue''. Italian ''Vogue'' has written that "She is an icon of Italian style. We love her because she is a refined and creative woman, a tireless supporter of Italian cinema and culture in the United States." She received the ''America Award'' of the Italy-USA Foundation in 2009. She has produced for the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

the tribute event "An Academy Tribute to Sophia Loren", with special guest Sophia Loren, with

Billy Crystal William Edward Crystal (born March 14, 1948)On page 17 of his book ''700 Sundays'', Crystal displays his birth announcement, which gives his first two names as "William Edward", not "William Jacob" is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. ...

hosting John Travolta,

Christian De Sica Christian De Sica (; born 5 January 1951) is an Italian actor and film director. Life De Sica was born in Rome the second son of Italian director Vittorio De Sica and Spanish actress María Mercader. His first cousin once removed was Ramón ...

and

Rob Marshall Robert Doyle Marshall Jr.http://www.alumni.cmu.edu/s/1410/images/editor_documents/alumnirelations/getinvolved/alumniawards/all_honorees_2018june1.pdf (born October 17, 1960) is an American film and theater director, producer, and choreographer. ...

among many others. In December 2011, she produced the launch of the

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor and multi-instrumentalist. He was born visually impaired, with congenital glaucoma, and at the age of 12, Bocelli became completely blind, following a brain hemorrhage resulting fr ...

Foundation at the

Beverly Hilton Hotel The Beverly Hilton is a hotel located on an property at the intersection of Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards in Beverly Hills, California. The Beverly Hilton has hosted many awards shows, charity benefits, and entertainment and motion pi ...

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, with a dinner and special performance starring

. She was the producer of the prime-time special of that same event for

Sky Italia Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian satellite television platform owned by the American media conglomerate Comcast. Sky Italia also broadcasts three national free-to-air television channels: TV8, Cielo and Sky TG24. As of 2018, following an ag ...

. In June 2012, she hosted and moderated a Special Evening for David and Susan Rockefeller at MOMA in New York presenting Susan Rockefeller's documentary, ''Mission of Mermaids''.Girard-Perregaux
, Event Page In September 2015, she hosted the gala evening for Sky Italy of Andrea Bocelli's charitable foundation in Florence, Italy. In 2016, she created, co-wrote, co-produced and hosted "Jo's Hollywood" for the TV channel SkyCinema in Italy from February 20 until the 28th it ran every day and was extremely successful in its ratings, a docu-reality about the history of Hollywood up until the Oscars. It ran a second season in 2017, again on SKYCinema in Italy. On July 28, 2019, Jo Champa was the emcee for “Celebrity Fight Night in Italy” working once again with “the Andrea Bocelli Foundation” at The Bocelli home in Forte dei Marmi Italy.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Champa, Jo 1968 births 20th-century American actresses Living people Actors from Long Branch, New Jersey Italian female models American emigrants to Italy People of Calabrian descent Models from Rome