| BIOGRAPHY
About as widely ridiculed as Barry Manilow, Pia Zadora is known
for her turbulent celebrity status and questionable talents, mostly
brought on by Hollywood scandal. Born in Hoboken, NJ, she appeared
on Broadway as a child actor before making her film debut in the
universally mocked Santa Claus Conquers the Martians in 1964.
She continued her stage career as a singer, dancer, and actor
after she married the Israeli corporate millionaire Meshulam Riklis
in 1977. When she won a Golden Globe for her role in the 1982
film Butterfly, rumors started to spread that he was funding her
success. It didn't help that she continued to star in terrible
movies such as Fake-Out, Voyage of the Rock Aliens, and The Lonely
Lady (which bears many similarities to the infamous flop Showgirls).
Her acting career took a major downturn during the mid-'80s,
so Zadora focused on recording pop vocal standards for Epic; she
released several records and went on tour with Frank Sinatra.
Her acting was limited to the stage and cameo appearances as herself,
with the only exceptions being her performances as the beatnik
chick in John Waters' Hairspray and Miss Muffett in the TV movie
Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme. Amid much controversy in 1988, Zadora
and Riklis bought and renovated Pickfair, the mansion originally
owned by Hollywood moguls Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks.
Zadora and Riklis divorced in 1993. |
FILMOGRAPHY
• Troop Beverly Hills (1989)
• Hairspray (1988)
• Pajama Tops (1987)
• Voyage of the Rock Aliens (1984)
• The Lonely Lady (1983)
• Butterfly (1982)
• Fake Out (1982) |
