Pia Zadora

Zadora (right) in Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, 1964

Zadora's first film role was Girmar, a young Martian girl, in 1964's Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, widely regarded as one of the worst films ever made.[8][9]

Zadora's acting career made little headway until, while touring with a musical production in 1972, she met Meshulam Riklis, 30 years older than she. The couple married on September 18, 1977. Not long after her marriage, Zadora had a breakthrough as the Dubonnet Girl, appearing in print and television commercials for the apéritif wine, in whose American distributor Riklis was a shareholder.[10] Zadora starred alongside Stacy Keach and Orson Welles in the 1982 film of James M. Cain's novel Butterfly, the plot for which involved father–daughter incest. The musical score featured Zadora singing "It’s Wrong for Me to Love You." She won that year's Golden Globe Award as Best New Star of the Year amid charges that Riklis had purchased the award with a promotional campaign that included Zadora's image presented prominently on Sunset Boulevard billboards,[11] an appearance in Playboy magazine, and entertaining Golden Globe voters.[12][13] Most critics responded negatively to her performance, however, and she received the 1982 Razzies for both Worst New Star and Worst Actress.

Zadora next starred in the 1982 film Fake-Out, also called Nevada Heat, a women in prison B-movie comedy co-starring Telly Savalas and Desi Arnaz Jr.. In 1983 she appeared in the film adaptation of the Harold Robbins novel The Lonely Lady, portraying an aspiring screenwriter who achieves success after surviving sexual assault. For this performance she received the 1983 Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress.[14] On the basis of being multiply recognized by the Golden Raspberry Awards, Zadora was named Worst New Star of the Decade (1980–89) and nominated as Worst Actress of the 1980s.[15]

In 1985, Zadora starred as the object of an extraterrestrial's affections in the musical comedy Voyage of the Rock Aliens. In addition to displaying her comedic side, the film showcased her musical talents and featured half of the songs from her 1984 album Let's Dance Tonight. In 1988 she appeared as a beatnik in John Waters's film Hairspray, about which the film critic Roger Ebert wrote "If nothing else is worth the price of admission to this movie, perhaps you will be persuaded by the prospect of Zadora reading from Allen Ginsberg’s Howl."[16]

In 2000, Zadora was nominated at the 20th Golden Raspberry Awards as Worst Actress of the Century, ultimately losing to Madonna.

Although as an actor Zadora's performances have generated critical hostility, she has attained greater critical success as a singer. Zadora's cover of the Shirley Ellis hit "The Clapping Song," recorded for the film score of The Lonely Lady in 1983, reached the U.S. top 40, and in 1984 she had a hit duet with Jermaine Jackson titled "When the Rain Begins to Fall" from the movie Voyage of the Rock Aliens. In 1985, she received a nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for the song "Rock It Out," losing to Tina Turner's "Better Be Good to Me." Also in 1985, Zadora released Pia & Phil, an album of standards with the London Philharmonic Orchestra,[17] and recorded a follow-up album in 1986 titled I Am What I Am.[18]

In 1988, Zadora worked with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on an album titled When the Lights Go Out. The album was released only in Europe, and the single "Dance Out of My Head" did not chart despite the top producers and club remixes by Shep Pettibone and Ben Liebrand. In 1989, Zadora recorded the album Pia Z with producer Narada Michael Walden; this album also failed to chart. The single "Heartbeat of Love" included club remixes by Robert Civillés and David Cole of C + C Music Factory. Pia Today! (1988) and Only for Romantics (1991), two additional albums/CDs of standards, received only limited promotional release.[19] Pia—The Platinum Collection, a three-CD compilation, was released in 1993 and sold in the United States via infomercials. The album included repackaged versions of Pia & Phil, I Am What I Am, and Pia Today!.[20]

In 1994, Zadora had a cameo appearance in the comedy Naked Gun 33​¹⁄₃: The Final Insult. In her segment of the film, Zadora performed the Steve Allen–penned "This Could Be the Start of Something Big" during a parody of an Academy Awards musical number.

According to her website, in 2020 Zadora released a new album featuring American standards, entitled All or Nothing At All.

In 2011, Zadora began a small attempt at a comeback with a cabaret show titled Pia Zadora: Back Again, and Standing Tall. In February, she performed at the Eissey Campus Theatre in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida and the Kaye Auditorium in Boca Raton.[21] She took the show to The Rrazz Room in San Francisco on June 8 where it ran for five performances until June 12.[22][23][24][25] Zadora appeared at San Francisco's Rrazz Room's 3rd annual Rrazziversary Gala Celebration and Benefit for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital on March 17, 2011, and at the Nevada Children's Center's Great Gatsby Gala on April 3, 2011.

In 2012, Zadora performed with the Desert Symphony Orchestra at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, California,[26] and appeared on the TV show Celebrity Ghost Stories.[27]

Since 2013, Zadora has hosted and performed Pia's Place at Las Vegas restaurant Piero's Italian Cuisine.[28]

• The Garden of Sweets (1961)
• Midgie Purvis (1961)
• A Gift of Time (1962)
• We Take the Town (1962)
• Fiddler on the Roof (1965)
• Henry, Sweet Henry (1967)
• Dames at Sea (1968)
• Little Mary Sunshine (1970)
• Applause (1972)
• Promises, Promises (1973)
• Damn Yankees (1976)
• Funny Girl (1991)
• Crazy for You (1995)

• 1982: Pia
• 1984: Let's Dance Tonight
• 1985: Pia & Phil
• 1986: I Am What I Am
• 1988: When the Lights Go Out
• 1989: Pia Z
• 1989: Pia Today! (promo only until it was issued as part of The Platinum Collection)
• 1993: Only for Romantics (promo only)
• 1993: The Platinum Collection (included Pia & Phil, I Am What I Am, and Pia Today!)
• 2020: All Or Nothing At All

• ^AB-side to "Bedtime Stories"
• ^BB-side to "When the Rain Begins to Fall"

• Won: New Star of the Year, Butterfly (1981)

• Won: Worst New Star, Butterfly (1983)
• Won: Worst Actress, The Lonely Lady (1984)
• Won: Worst New Star of the Decade, Butterfly and The Lonely Lady (1990)
• Nominated: Worst Actress of the Decade, Butterfly and The Lonely Lady (1990)
• Nominated: Worst Actress of the Century, Voyage of the Rock Aliens, Butterfly, and The Lonely Lady (2000)

• Won: Sour Apple (1982)

• Nominated: Best Rock Vocal Performance Female, for "Rock It Out" (1985)[43]

• Won: Young Star of the Year (1982)