Heather Parisi

Heather Elizabeth Parisi (born January 27, 1960) is an American-born Italian dancer, singer and television personality. She was one of the most popular personalities on Italian television from the late 1970s to the 1990s. As of 2011, she and her family mainly live in Hong Kong.[1]

Heather Parisi
Born
Heather Elizabeth Parisi

(1960-01-27) January 27, 1960
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
NationalityItalian
Occupations
  • Dancer
  • showgirl
  • television personality
  • singer
  • film director
Spouse(s)Giorgio Manenti (m. 1993; div. 1999)
Umberto Maria Anzolin
(m. 2013)
Children4

Life and career

Born in Los Angeles, Parisi worked in the United States for the San Francisco Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre in New York City. During a vacation in Italy, she was noticed by the choreographer Franco Miseria, who made her audition for RAI. In 1979, Parisi debuted on the show Luna Park, hosted by Pippo Baudo.[2]

Her rise as a television star took place in the fall of the same year, with the first edition of the Saturday night show Fantastico, which had very high ratings (an average of 23.6 million viewers). In each episode, Parisi performed a ballet and interpreted the opening song "Disco Bambina." The song became a hit, peaking several weeks at first place on the Italian hit parade.[2][3]

Parisi was cast in four more editions of Fantastico and in other successful variety shows, and she also had several other musical hits, including the song "Cicale" which ranked first at the hit parade for four weeks between 1981 and 1982.[2][3] She slowed down her activities in the mid-'90s.[2]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Parisi chose to remain unvaccinated.[4] On her website in December 2021, Parisi logged an entry entitled "Damned for Eternity" [5] in which she told women that they "should be ashamed" of having children vaccinated against COVID-19 and that it was "criminal".[6] In a different post, Parisi stated that "For me, being socially responsible is one of the most overestimated virtues."[7]

Filmography

As an actress
Year Title Role Notes
1986 Grandi magazzini Dolly Film debut
1999 A Midsummer Night's Dream Nick's wife

As a director and screenwriter
Year Title Role Notes
2009 Blind Maze None Debut as a director and screenwriter

Other appearances
Year Title Role Notes
1979 Luna Park Herself/ Dancer Television debut; variety show
1979–1988 Fantastico Variety show (seasons 1–5, 8)
1981 Stasera niente di nuovo Variety show
1983 Al Paradise Herself/ Co-host Variety show (season 1)
1987 Pronto Topolino? Herself/ Dancer Game show
1989 Telegatto 1989 Herself/ Co-host Annual ceremony
Un disco per l'estate 1989 Herself/ Host Annual music festival
1989–1990 Finalmente venerdì Herself/ Co-host Variety show
1991 Stasera mi butto Talent show (season 2)
1991–1992 Ciao Weekend Variety show
1993 Bellezze al bagno Herself/ Host Game show (season 5)
1995 Castrocaro Music Festival Herself/ Co-host Annual music festival
1995–1996 Arriba!!! Arriba!!! Herself/ Host Children's program
2002–2003 Zecchino d'Oro Talent show (seasons 45–46)
2003–2004 Domenica In Herself/ Co-host Talk show (season 28)
2004 Miss Italia 2004 Herself/ Judge Annual beauty contest
2005–2006 Ballando con le Stelle Talent show (seasons 1–2)
2016 Nemicamatissima Herself/ Host Variety show
2018 Amici di Maria De Filippi Herself/ Judge Talent show (season 17)

Discography
Album
  • 1981 - Cicale & Company (CGD, CGD 20276)
  • 1983 - Ginnastica fantastica (Polydor, 815 721 1)
  • 1983 - Il fantastico mondo di Heather Parisi (reprint of Cicale & Company with three new songs)
  • 1991 - HP (Mercury, 846 417-1)
  • 1991 - Io, Pinocchio (Mercury, 510 738-2)
Singles
  • 1979 - Disco bambina/Blackout (CGD, CGD 10200)
  • 1981 - Ti rockerò/Lucky girl (CGD, CGD 10302)
  • 1981 - Cicale/Mr. pulce (CGD, CGD 10349)
  • 1981 - Quando i grilli cantano (CGD, CGD YD 601) promo juke box
  • 1983 - Radiostelle/Alle corde (CGD, CGD 10456)
  • 1983 - Ceralacca/Raghjayda (Polydor, 815-750-7)
  • 1984 - Crilù/No words (Polydor, 881-420-7)
  • 1984 - Ciao ciao/Maschio (Polydor, 821697-7)
  • 1985 - Crilù in Bangkok/Morning in Tokyo (Polydor, 881 924-1, 12") (as Angel Program)
  • 1986 - Teleblù/Videolips (Polydor, 883-952-7)
  • 1987 - Dolceamaro/All'ultimo respiro (Polydor, 887-180-7)
  • 1987 - Baby come back/I'm hot (White Records, 109 428)
  • 1989 - Faccia a faccia/Feelings come and go (Polydor, 871-572-7)
  • 1989 - Livido/Livido (Instrumental Version) (Polydor, 873-192-7)
  • 1991 - Pinocchio/Se te ne vai (Polydor, 866 194 7)

References
  1. "Heather Parisi: chi è, età, carriera, curiosità e vita privata". Il Corriere della Città (in Italian). May 2, 2020. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  2. Aldo Grasso, Massimo Scaglioni, Enciclopedia della Televisione, Garzanti, Milano, 1996 – 2003. ISBN 881150466X.
  3. Dario Salvatori (August 5, 1989). Storia dell'Hit Parade. Gramese, 1989. ISBN 8876054391.
  4. "WSM Article". Archived from the original on March 17, 2022.
  5. "Parisi website/ blog". Archived from the original on March 17, 2022.
  6. "Parisi website/ blog (direct link)".
  7. "Parisi posting". Archived from the original on March 17, 2022.
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