Pia Zadora

Pia Zadora is an American actress and singer. A media personality and professional "guest star," Zadora was a seasoned child and teen performer who kept busy in the 1960s and 70s in a series of understudy and supporting roles on Broadway and in road companies before becoming the "Dubonnet Girl" of TV commercials in the late 70s. Starring in a series of ubiquitous advertisements finally brought the hardworking, ambitious actress a measure of the fame that had eluded her, one which increased after her marriage at 22 to reticent, paternal multimillionaire Meshulam Riklis, owner of Dubonnet's parent company.

Petite, energetic, her hair generally blonde and highly teased, with kewpie-doll looks and mannerisms to match, Zadora became the focus of an incredible barrage of publicity engineered with the purpose of making her a multimedia sensation. Starring vehicles such as "Butterfly" (1981) and "The Lonely Lady" (1983), though, failed with both critics and the public and her surprise win at the Golden Globes as most promising newcomer of the year was enough to almost sabotage the reputation of the award and lead to an investigation. These days Zadora, having attracted enough attention to fuel a career as a "personality," is content to successfully perform in an occasional concert, make cameo appearances in campy feature films and occasional appearances on stage.