Lory Del Santo

{{Short description|Italian actress, model and television personality (born 1958)}}

Loredana "Lory" Del Santo (born 28 September 1958) is an Italian actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder.

Life and career

Born in Povegliano Veronese, Del Santo started her career as a {{ill|valletta (entertainer)|lt=valletta|it|Valletta (spettacolo)}} (presenter's assistant) in the 1975 edition of Festivalbar.{{cite news|last=Bruno Ventavoli|title=La vendetta sexy della perfida Lory|url=http://www.lastampa.it/redazione/cmsSezioni/societa/200708articoli/24675girata.asp|accessdate=14 February 2012|newspaper=La Stampa|date=13 August 2007|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130416034922/http://www1.lastampa.it/redazione/cmsSezioni/societa/200708articoli/24675girata.asp|archivedate=16 April 2013|df=dmy-all}}Grasso, Aldo; Scaglioni, Massimo (1996 – 2003). "Del Santo, Loredana detta Lory". Enciclopedia della Televisione. Garzanti, Milano. pp.187-8. {{ISBN|881150466X}}.{{cite news|title=Lory Del Santo: "Sembro svampita, ma penso. Clapton era una mummia"|url=http://www.leggo.it/archivio.php?id=153080|accessdate=14 February 2012|newspaper=Leggo|date=12 December 2011}} In the late-1970s, she got her first film roles, mainly in sexy comedy films,{{cite book |last1=Lancia |first1=Enrico |last2=Poppi |first2=Roberto |title=Le attrici: dal 1930 ai giorni nostri |date=2003 |publisher=Gremese Editore |isbn=978-88-8440-214-1 |page=104 |language=it |chapter=Del Santo, Lory}} and in 1980 she represented Italy at the Miss Universe competition.{{cite web|title=Miss Universe 1980 |url=http://www.pageantopolis.com:80/international/Universe_1980.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207054547/http://www.pageantopolis.com/international/Universe_1980.htm |editor-last=West |editor-first=Donald |work=Pageantopolis.com |archive-date=February 7, 2012 |url-status=usurped | access-date = 3 August 2022 }} In the early-1980s, Del Santo became popular thanks to her participation in successful TV shows such as Antonio Ricci's Drive In and Renzo Arbore's Tagli, ritagli e frattaglie.

Del Santo was a focus of gossip columns, mainly for her relationship with Eric Clapton (who dedicated the song "Lady of Verona" to her).{{cite news|title=Clapton's ex reveals lost love song|newspaper=The Times|date=9 July 2006}} While he was still married to Pattie Boyd, Clapton fathered a son, Conor, who was born on 21 August 1986. Conor died on 20 March 1991, at the age of four and a half, when he fell out of an open bedroom window on the 53rd floor of a Manhattan apartment building.{{cite news |title=Eric Clapton's Son Killed in a 49-Story Fall |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/21/nyregion/eric-clapton-s-son-killed-in-a-49-story-fall.html |access-date=19 June 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=21 March 1991}} The death of their son was the inspiration for Clapton's songs, "Tears in Heaven" and "Circus".

Starting from early 2000s, Del Santo has taken part in several Italian reality shows, winning the third season of L'isola dei famosi. In 2006, she wrote an autobiography, Piacere è una sfida.