Moana Pozzi

Pozzi was born in Genoa, Italy, the daughter of Alfredo Pozzi, a nuclear engineer, and Rosanna, a housewife. Her name, Moana, is a Polynesian name meaning "ocean".{{Cite web|url=http://wehewehe.org/gsdl2.85/cgi-bin/hdict?e=q-11000-00---off-0hdict--00-1----0-10-0---0---0direct-10-ED--4-------0-1lpm--11-en-Zz-1---Zz-1-home-moana--00-3-1-00-0--4----0-0-11-00-0utfZz-8-00&a=d&d=D13432|title=Hawaiian Dictionaries|website=wehewehe.org|access-date=18 July 2018}} In her youth, Pozzi lived for periods of time in Canada and Brazil, due to the nature of her father's work requiring him to travel. By the time she was thirteen years old, the family had returned to their native Italy, where she finished school. In 1979, a few weeks before her 18th birthday, she gave birth to her only child, a son named Simone, who was raised by her parents and told that his mother was his older sister. The family moved to France in 1980 and Pozzi, then 19 years old, decided to stay in Rome.

In Rome, Pozzi started working as a model and studied acting. Sometimes she performed in television advertisements or as a walk-on in comedy movies.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/22/style/media-the-beatification-of-a-porn-star.html|title=The beatification of a porn star|last1=Povoledo|first1=Elisabetta|newspaper=The New York Times|date=22 September 2004|access-date=29 July 2014}} In 1981, she performed in her first hardcore movie, Valentina, ragazza in calore (Valentina, Girl in Heat), credited as Linda Heveret. A minor scandal ensued since, at the same time the movie was in theatres, she was still working on a children's television programme, {{ill|Tip Tap Club|it|italic=y}}, on Rete 2. She denied being the same person, but was suspended from television anyway.{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/@mousevirals/disney-has-to-change-moanas-title-in-italy-to-avoid-confusion-with-a-famous-porn-star-9e88d6cb3b13|title = Disney Has to Change Moanas Title in Italy to Avoid Confusion with a Famous Porn Star!|date = 19 November 2016}} This gave Pozzi her first popularity in newspapers and magazines.{{Citation needed|date=March 2014}} In 1985, Federico Fellini wanted her to perform in his movie Ginger and Fred.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-changes-moana-title-italy-avoid-porn-star-confusion-948679|title = Disney Changes 'Moana' Title in Italy to Avoid Porn Star Confusion| website=The Hollywood Reporter |date = 18 November 2016}}

Pozzi performed in about 100 porn movies, mostly in Italy, but also some in Los Angeles with Gerard Damiano as director. She sold about 1 million videotapes. She was on the covers of 50 major magazines, not including pictorials in porn magazines. She was reportedly worth more than lire 50 billion (1990 prices), about 26 million euro.{{sfn|Giusti|2004}}

In 1994, Pozzi fell ill, unable to eat without vomiting, and losing weight. She took time off from work to travel with her husband Antonio Di Ciesco to India and then to France. She died in Lyon, France, on 15 September 1994, at the age of 33, reportedly of liver cancer.{{cite web |title=Moana Pozzi, 20 anni fa moriva la pornostar del mistero: la fotostoria |url=http://www.blitzquotidiano.it/photogallery/moana-pozzi-20-anni-fa-moriva-la-pornostar-del-mistero-la-fotostoria-1964772/ |website=Blitz Quotidiano |date=5 September 2014 |publisher=Società Editrice Srl Multimedia |access-date=12 June 2016}} The cause of her death has been a subject of debate, with numerous suggestions being made, ranging from Pozzi being a spy for the KGB, killed by exposure to radioactive polonium, to dying from the result of assisted suicide orchestrated by her husband.{{Cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/italian-actress-porn-star-was-423469|title=Italian Actress and Porn Star Was a KGB Agent, New Documentary Claims|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=18 July 2018|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Cronache/2007/04_Aprile/02/eutanasia_pornostar_moana_pozzi.shtml|title=Di Ciesco: "Così ho aiutato Moana a morire" |newspaper=Corriere della Sera|access-date=18 July 2018 | date=3 April 2007|language=it}} In 2007, Di Ciesco, her husband, told a Rome newspaper he injected air into Moana's intravenous medicine drip.{{cite news |title=Husband claims he helped porn star to die |url=https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2007/04/12/Husband-claims-he-helped-porn-star-to-die/82411176405303/ |access-date=8 March 2025 |work=UPI |date=April 12, 2007 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=Porn icon death probe seeks records |url=https://www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/porn-icon-death-probe-seeks-records |website=ITALY Magazine |access-date=8 March 2025 |language=en |date=July 30, 2007}} Some people have questioned whether or not Pozzi died, and believe she may have faked her death to escape fame.{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/death-of-a-porn-star-to-be-investigated-by-italian-prosecutor-312467.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220515/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/death-of-a-porn-star-to-be-investigated-by-italian-prosecutor-312467.html |archive-date=15 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Death of a porn star to be investigated by Italian prosecutor|work=The Independent|access-date=18 July 2018|language=en-GB}} In 2006, over a decade after her death, the Italian crime show Chi l'ha visto? aired her death certificate which showed she had indeed died of liver cancer, along with her cremation certificate, showing her ashes had been given to family members.{{Cite web|url=http://www.chilhavisto.rai.it/dl/clv/Misteri/ContentSet-c94542e1-d1f4-4323-b0cf-9a2a5ced0e6a.html|title=Chi l'ha Visto – Misteri – Moana Pozzi – La scheda|website=www.chilhavisto.rai.it|language=it|access-date=18 July 2018}} Despite the release of paperwork and interviews with family members, the public and media has continued to speculate on how or if Pozzi died.{{Cite news|url=http://www.italymagazine.com/italy/porn-icon-pozzi-helped-die|title=Porn icon Pozzi helped to die|last=ITALY|date=1 April 2007|work=ITALY Magazine|access-date=18 July 2018|language=en}}

In 2006, Simone Pozzi revealed to the public that he was her son, not her brother as he had been raised to believe.{{cite web |last1=Imberti |first1=Nicola |title=Mistero Moana |language=it |url=http://www.iltempo.it/cultura-spettacoli/2014/09/15/mistero-moana-a-vent-anni-dalla-morte-l-ultimo-film-1994-1.1308542 |website=iltempo.it |publisher=Daily IL Time srl |access-date=2 June 2015 |archive-date=19 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019045530/http://www.iltempo.it/cultura-spettacoli/2014/09/15/mistero-moana-a-vent-anni-dalla-morte-l-ultimo-film-1994-1.1308542 |url-status=dead }} As told by him, he was born in 1979, just a few weeks before his mother's 18th birthday, and was told growing up that his grandparents were his parents and that his mother was his older sister, to avoid the scandal of an out-of-wedlock birth in the family. Pozzi's mother confirmed the claims. Later that year, he, along with investigative journalist Francesca Parravicini, published a book about Pozzi's personality, career and relationships.{{sfn|Pozzi|2006}}

Pozzi was a popular and beloved figure in Italy and made a name for herself outside of the pornography industry. Following her death, The New Yorker remarked on the country being in mourning as the result of her passing and the Archbishop of Naples gave a homily in her honor.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1994/10/31/the-life-and-death-of-moana-a-diva-of-porn|title=The Life and Death of Moana, A Diva of Porn|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=18 July 2018|language=en-US}} In fact, she considered herself Roman Catholic.{{Cite magazine|first=Giovanna|last=Cavalli|title=Mia figlia non era una peccatrice. Aveva una grande fede ma è stata traviata|language=it|work=Dipiù|date=5 January 2024|number=53|pages=62-65}} During her lifetime, Pozzi supported LGBT rights, denounced the Mafia, and campaigned for legalization of sex work.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/22/style/media-the-beatification-of-a-porn-star.html|title=MEDIA : The beatification of a porn star|last=Povoledo|first=Elisabetta|work=The New York Times |date=22 September 2004 |access-date=18 July 2018|language=en}} Upon her death, she left much of her fortune to cancer research.{{sfn|Giusti|2004}} Since she remains a well-known figure in Italy, the Walt Disney Company made the decision to release the animated film Moana as Oceania in Italy and changed the title character's name to Vaiana for that localization.{{cite web |url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/disney-changes-moana-title-in-italy-because-porn-star |title=Disney changes 'Moana' title in Italy, because porn star |website=Fox News |date=18 November 2016 |access-date=2 January 2017}}{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2016/11/16/disney-renamed-its-new-film-moana-to-avoid-confusion-with-porn-s/|title=Disney renamed its new film Moana 'to avoid confusion with porn star'|first=Tristram Fane|last=Saunders|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=16 November 2016|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}

Pozzi inspired the main character of the 1999 film Guardami (Look at Me).

In 2009 a miniseries based on her life was directed by {{ill|Alfredo Peyretti|it}} and starred Violante Placido in the title role.

In 2010 her former manager Riccardo Schicchi produced and directed I segreti di Moana (The Secrets of Moana), in which the title role was played by Vittoria Risi.{{cite news |title=Vittoria Risi: "Io e Moana Pozzi" |url=http://www.tgcom24.mediaset.it/spettacolo/articoli/articolo476183.shtml?refresh_cens&fontsize=medium |language=it |access-date=17 June 2013 |newspaper=TGCOM |date=11 March 2010}}

• {{cite book|first=Moana|last=Pozzi|title=La filosofia di Moana|language=it|location=Rome|publisher=Moana's club|year=1991|type=self-published|oclc=1352509030}}
• {{cite book|first=Moana|last=Pozzi|title=Il sesso secondo Moana|language=it|location=Rome|publisher=Moana's club|year=1992|type=self-published}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book|first=Noa|last=Bonetti|title=Un'amica di nome Moana: confidenze a cuore aperto di un'indimenticabile star a luci rosse|language=it|location=Milan|publisher=Sperling & Kupfer|year=1994|isbn=88-200-2061-0}}
• {{cite book|first1=Patrizia|last1=D'Agostino|first2=Antonio|last2=Tentori|first3=Alda|last3=Teodorani|title=Pornodive: storia delle amiche proibite degli italiani|others=Preface by Ernestina Miscia|language=it|location=Rome|publisher=Castelvecchi|year=1995|isbn=88-8210-019-7}}
• {{cite book|first1=Andrea|last1=Di Quarto|first2=Michele|last2=Giordano|title=Moana e le altre: vent'anni di cinema porno in Italia|language=it|location=Rome|publisher=Gremese|year=1997|isbn=88-7742-067-7}}
• {{cite book|first=Brunetto|last=Fantauzzi|title=La pornoViva: il terribile segreto di Moana|language=it|location=Rome|publisher=Flash|year=1995}}
• {{cite book|first=Brunetto|last=Fantauzzi|title=E... viva Moana: giallo politico! Chi ha ucciso la pornodiva del potere|language=it|location=Rome|publisher=Pettirosso|year=2005}}
• {{cite book|first=Brunetto|last=Fantauzzi|title=Moana: la spia nel letto del potere|language=it|location=Rome|publisher=Edizioninuove|year=2006|id={{ICCU|IT\ICCU\LO1\1263209}}}}

• {{cite book|first=Brunetto|last=Fantauzzi|title=Moana: amori e segreti|language=it|location=Ariccia|publisher=First Class|year=2009|id={{ICCU|IT\ICCU\TO0\1931165}}}}
• {{cite book|first=Marco|last=Giusti|author-link=Marco Giusti|title=Moana|language=it|location=Milan|publisher=Mondadori|year=2004|isbn=88-04-53306-4}}
• {{cite book|editor-first=Ermanno|editor-last=Krumm|title=Mimmo Rotella: Moana ultimo mito Galleria Cà di Frà - Galleria Tega, 25 settembre 2003|language=it|location= Rome|publisher=Prearo|year=2003|isbn=88-7348-032-2}}
• {{cite book|first=Simone|last=Pozzi|title=La verità su mia sorella Moana Pozzi|language=it|location=Turin|publisher=Seneca|year=2005|isbn=}}
• {{cite book|first=Simone|last=Pozzi|editor-first=Francesca|editor-last=Parravicini|title=Moana: tutta la verità|language=it|location=Reggio Emilia|publisher=Aliberti|year=2006|isbn=88-7424-134-8}}

{{Commons category}}

• [http://www.moanamoana.it/ Official website of Moana Pozzi Association] {{in lang|it}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060213091800/http://www.chilhavisto.rai.it/Clv/misteri/2005-2006/PozziMoana.htm The original death register shown in a TV programme] {{in lang|it}}{{Dead link|date=March 2024}}
• [http://www.moanapozzixxx.com Moana Pozzi Online]
• {{IMDb name|0694860|Moana Pozzi}}
• {{iafd name|id=MPozzi|gender=female|name=Moana Pozzi}}
• {{afdb name|id=4870|gender=female|name=Moana Pozzi}}
• {{Egafd name|m00079|Moana Pozzi}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pozzi, Moana}}

Category:20th-century Italian actresses

Category:Italian pornographic film actresses

Category:Italian television personalities

Category:Deaths from liver cancer in France

Category:Actresses from Genoa

Category:1961 births

Category:1994 deaths

Category:Politicians from Genoa

Category:Italian Roman Catholics