Ilona Staller

Ilona Staller
Ilona Staller at Eros Galicia at A Coruña 2009
Born	Anna Ilona Staller November 26, 1951 (1951-11-26) (age 59) Budapest, Hungary
Alias(es)	Cicciolina
Spouse(s)	Jeff Koons (1991-1998) [1]
Height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Eye colour	Blue
Hair colour	Blonde
No. of adult films	38
(Italian) Official website

Ilona Staller (complete name Anna Elena Staller, 26 November 1951), also known by her stage name la Cicciolina, is a Hungarian-born Italian porn star, politician, and singer. She continued to make hardcore pornographic films while in office.^[2] She is famous for delivering political speeches with one breast exposed.^[2][3]

Early life

Anna Ilona was born in Budapest, Hungary. Her biological father, László Staller^[4] left the family when she was just a girl, and then she was raised by her stepfather, who was an official in the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior, and her mother, a midwife. In 1964 she began working for a Hungarian modeling agency, M.T.I. In her memoirs and in a 1999 TV interview, she claimed that she had provided Hungarian authorities with information on American diplomats staying at a Budapest luxury hotel where she worked as a maid in the late 1960s.^[4]

Pornography and show business career

Naturalized by marriage and settled in Italy, she met pornographer Riccardo Schicchi in the early 1970s, and, beginning in 1973, achieved fame with a radio show called "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?" (French: Do you want to sleep with me?) on Radio Luna. For that program she adopted the name "la Cicciolina," which translates, loosely, as "Cuddles".^[4] She has referred to her male fanbase and later the Italian parliament as "cicciolini", translating loosely as "little tubby boys".^[2] Although she appeared in several films from 1970, she made her debut under her own name in 1975 with "La Liceale," whose U.S. title was "The Teasers," playing a lesbian classmate of Gloria Guida. In 1978, on the RAI show "C'era due Volte", her breasts were the first to be bared live on Italian TV.^[4]

She appeared in her first hardcore pornographic film, Il telefono rosso ("The Red Telephone") in 1983. She produced the film together with Schicchi's company Diva Futura.

Her memoirs were published as Confessioni erotiche di Cicciolina by the Olympia Press of Milan in 1987. That same year she appeared in Carne bollente (called "The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empress" in the US), co-starring John Holmes. The film would later create a furor when it was revealed that Holmes had tested positive for HIV prior to appearing in it.^[5]

Staller married American sculptor Jeff Koons in 1991. Koons produced a series of sculptures and photographs of them having sex in many positions, settings and costumes, which were exhibited under the title "Made In Heaven."^[6] The marriage broke up in 1992, and their son Ludwig Maximillian was born shortly afterwards. Staller left the US with the child, and a lengthy custody battle ensued. Koons won custody in 1998 but Ludwig remains with Staller in Italy. In 2008, Staller filed suit against Koons for failing to pay child support.^[4][7]

Staller has appeared nude in the Playboy Magazine's editions in several countries. Her first Playboy appearance was in Argentina in March 1988. Other appearances for the magazine were in the U.S. (September 1990), Hungary (June 2005), Serbia (July 2005) and Mexico (September, 2005).

In 1994, she appeared in the film "Replikator", and in 1996, she had a role in the Brazilian soap opera "Xica da Silva."^[8] as Princess Ludovica di Castelgandolfo di Genova. In 2008, she was a contestant on the Argentine version of "Strictly Come Dancing" named "Bailando por un Sueño". She withdrew after breaking a rib in rehearsals.^{[9][dead link]}

Political career

In 1979, Staller was presented as a candidate to the Italian Parliament from the "Lista del Sole", Italy's first Green party. In 1985, she switched to the Partito Radicale, campaigning on a libertarian platform against nuclear energy and NATO membership, and for human rights.

She was elected to the Italian parliament in 1987, with approx. 20,000 votes. While in office, and before the outset of the Gulf War she offered to have sex with Saddam Hussein if he would release the foreign hostages.[2] She was not reelected at the end of her term in 1991.

In 1991, Staller was among the founders of the political movement Partito dell'Amore (Love Party), spearheaded by her friend and fellow porn star Moana Pozzi.

In January 2002, she began exploring the possibility of campaigning in Hungary, her country of birth, to represent Budapest's industrial Kőbánya district in the Hungarian parliament. However, she failed to collect enough petition signatures for a non-partisan candidacy. In the same year, she ran in local elections in Monza, Italy, promising to convert a prominent building into a gambling casino, but she attracted few votes. In 2004, she announced plans to run for mayor of Milan with a similar promise.

She renewed her offer to have sex with Saddam Hussein in October 2002, when Iraq was resisting international pressure to allow inspections for weapons of mass destruction, and in April 2006 made the same offer to Osama bin Laden.^[2]

Musical career

Staller has recorded several songs, mostly from live performances, with explicit lyrics being sung to a children's melody. Her most famous song is "Muscolo Rosso," a song entirely dedicated to il cazzo, which means "the dick" in Italian. Because of its extensive use of swear words, the song could not be released in Italy, but became a hit in other countries, especially in France, where the listeners did not grasp the meaning of the lyrics. The song gained considerable popularity in the internet era, when many Italian speakers were able to hear it for the first time.

Several unreleased songs were recorded during her RCA period and the Diva Futura agency period. some of these unreleased songs were subsequently used during her TV shows, live performances or as soundtracks in her porn movies.

LPs/CDs

• 1979 Ilona Staller (RCA PL 31442) published at least in Italy and Colombia (The Colombian record has titles in Spanish). Also music tape exists.

Tracklist

• I was made for dancing / Pane Marmellata e Me / Labbra / Benihana / Lascia l'ultimo ballo per me / Cavallina Cavallo (by Ennio Morricone) / It's all up to you / Professor of Percussions / Più su sempre più su

• 1987 Muscolo Rosso (BOY RECORDS) published in Spain only.

Tracklist

• Russians / Inno (Come un angelo) / Satisfaction / Telefono Rosso (Avec Toi) / Balck Sado / Goccioline (Bambole) / Perversion / Animal Rock / Nirvana / Muscolo Rosso / Muscolo Rosso (reprise)

• 1988 Sonhos Eróticos printed in Brazil only (ALL DISC 00.101.009, also music tape 00.107.009). Basically a reprint of the English long playing Erotic dreams plus the two Cicciolina songs "Muscolo Rosso" and "Avec toi". The other songs are performed by Erotic Dreams Band. Some Cicciolina's speeches are used in "La prima volta" song. Cover is dedicated to Cicciolina.

Tracklist

• Muscolo Rosso / Emmanuelle / Bilitis / Le Réve / La Prima Volta / I feel love / Je t'aime... moi non plus / Histoire d'O / Les Femmes / Black Emmanuelle / Love to love you bay / Avec Toi

• 1994 Sonhos Eróticos (Brazil only, All Disc RQ 032) Reprint of 1988 LP with a new layout of the cover, with background from brown to pink and violet.
• 2000 Ilona Staller (CD, in United Kingdom only, Sequel Records/Caste Music NEMCD398); reprint on CD of the 1979 LP, plus the two extended tracks of the red vinyl mix.

7" disks

• 1976 "Voulez vous coucher avec moi?" (Italy only, with neither serial number nor cover; on the vinyl it is written "Nuovo Playore 1° Radio Rete 4 D.R." only); from the same-named radio programme on Radio Luna station by Riccardo Schicchi where the nickname Cicciolina was born.
• 1979 "I was made for dancing" / "Più su sempre su su" (Italy only, RCA PB 6323)
• 1979 "Cavallina Cavallo" / "Più su sempre più su" (Japan only, RCA SS 3205)
• 1980 "Buone Vacanze" / "Ti amo uomo" (Italy only, RCA BB 6449)
• 1981 "Ska Skatenati" / "Disco Smack" (Italy only, LUPUS LUN 4917)
• 1987 "Muscolo Rosso" / "Avec Toi" (SFC 17117-7) symbolo the Italian Radical Party on the cover. The record was published in France and limitedly in other European countries.
• 1987 "Muscolo Rosso" / "Russians" (Spain only, BOY-028-PRO) promo for journalist; no cover.

12" mix and picture disks

• 1979 "I was made for dancing" (extended version) / "Save the last dance for me" (English original version of "Lascia l'ultimo ballo per me") (Italy only, RCA PD 6327, red vinyl mix without cover, promo for Djs).
• 1987 "Muscolo Rosso" / "Russians" (Spain only, BOY-028) versions are not extended, the same as 7".
• 1989 "San Francisco Dance" / "Living in my Paradise" / "My Sexy Shop" (Acv 5472) Picture disk; limited edition; published in Europe, together with her colleague Moana Pozzi's release.

Collaborations

• 1979 Dedicato al Mar Egeo, LP soundtrack by Ennio Morricone published in Japan only; though she does not sing, she is portrayed naked on the inlay and back-cover. She recorded two songs from that album ("Cavallina a cavallo" and "Mar Egeo") later in the year. The LP exists in 2 versions, one with Japanese titles, the other with Italian titles. Also CD version exists.
• 1979 Aquarium sounds, LP of an Italian TV programme; she sings on the "Elena Tip" track.

Literature

• Filippucci, Giovanni Romanini; Ubaldi (1989). Les aventures de Cicciolina. France: Média 1000. "Graphic novel about her life" 
• Staller, Ilona; Riccardo Schicchi (1992). Cicciolina. Taschen. ISBN 3-8228-9761-2. "Large-format Italian, German, English and French language album" 
• Barbano, Nicolas (1999). Verdens 25 hotteste pornostjerner. Denmark: Rosinante. ISBN 87-7357-961-0. "Features a chapter on her" 

Quotations

• "My breasts have never done anyone any harm, while bin Laden's war has caused thousands of victims." -- October 2002 ^[10]

References

• Article on Cicciolina's Sexual Politics by the International Museum of Women

Notes

1. ^ Leonard, Tom (2008-03-27). "Porn star La Cicciolina sues ex-husband Jeff Koons for child support". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1583034/Porn-star-La-Cicciolina-sues-ex-husband-Jeff-Koons-for-child-support.html. Retrieved 2010-05-05. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d} "Cicciolina's Sexual Politics". International Museum of Women. http://www.imow.org/wpp/stories/viewStory?storyId=1205. 
3. ^ "Promising to Be Demure, Italian Porn Star Weds". LA Times. 02 Jun 1991. http://articles.latimes.com/1991-06-02/news/mn-469_1. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d e} [1]
5. ^ Holden, Stephen (January 12, 2001). "WADD: The Life and Times of John C. Holmes". NY Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?_r=1&res=940CE0DF1F3AF931A25752C0A9679C8B63. 
6. ^ Jones, Jonathan (30 June 2009). "Not just the king of kitsch". http://u.tv/News/Not-just-the-king-of-kitsch/57aca175-4791-43dc-a925-104cdd01fd7b. 
7. ^ Tod Hunter (2008-03-27). "Cicciolina Sues Ex-Husband Koons for Child Support". xbiz.com. http://xbiz.com/news/91852. Retrieved 2008-03-27. 
8. ^ Biography for Ilona Staller at the Internet Movie Database
9. ^ "Cicciolina of porn and political fame fractures rib but dances on". Earth Times. 22 Apr 2008. http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/200646,cicciolina-of-porn-and-political-fame-fractures-rib-but-dances.html. 
10. ^ Sydney Morning Herald, Australia

External links

• Official website (Italian)
• Ilona Staller at the Internet Movie Database
• Ilona Staller at the Internet Adult Film Database
• Ilona Staller at the Adult Film Database

Persondata
Name	Staller, Ilona
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1951-11-26
Place of birth	Budapest, Hungary
Date of death
Place of death