Romina Power

Biography

Childhood

Power is the eldest daughter of American screen idol Tyrone Power and his second wife, Mexican actress Linda Christian. She was named after Rome, where her parents had fallen in love; her middle name is in reference to the church of Santa Francesca Romana, the site of their wedding ceremony.

Initially, she grew up in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles. After her parents divorced in 1956, Power and her younger sister Taryn were sent to live with their maternal grandmother in Mexico. They went to live briefly with their mother and her new husband, Edmund Purdom, but were later sent to boarding schools in England, Switzerland, and Italy. Among the schools Power attended was Cobham Hall School in Kent, England. Later, both Power and her mother lived in a penthouse in the Roman quartiere of Parioli.

Acting career

Power began trying out for film roles at age 12. She made her screen debut at age 14 in the Italian film Menage all'italiana, starring alongside Ugo Tognazzi and Anna Moffo. Power subsequently appeared in several films, achieving notoriety for acting in roles that highlighted her sex appeal. In December 1966, her role in the film How I Learned to Love Women came under attack from the Italian public and government, as well as the Catholic Church. Ludovico Montini, brother of Pope Paul VI, and other Christian Democratic senators charged that Power was forced to rehearse "lewd scenes for the film countless times." The Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, called the film's moral content dubious and opined that minors should have been banned from viewing it. In 1969, her starring role in the film Marquis de Sade: Justine resulted in its banning in Italy and in the seizure of all prints.

In an interview Power gave in 1966, she said that despite her typecasting she did not regard herself as a "Lolita." In a later interview in 1970, Power expressed regret for having let her mother choose sexually suggestive film roles for her.

Musical fame

In 1975, Power and her husband Albano "Al Bano" Carrisi founded the singing duo Al Bano and Romina Power, which became a sensation in Continental Europe and Latin America. They released multiple albums in different languages and achieved 7th place for Italy in both the 1976 and 1985 Eurovision Song Contests. Their biggest hits included "Felicità", "Sharazan", and "Ci sarà".

Later years

In 2005, Power was a judge in the Italian TV show Ballando con le Stelle. Between 2006 and 2007, she organized exhibitions of her paintings, mainly in Milan. At the same time she dedicated herself to directing her film Upaya.

In 2007, Power moved back to the United States, buying a house in Sedona, Arizona. According to an interview she gave to the Italian press at the time, she felt to be perceived by the Italian public merely as a performer of "Il ballo del qua-qua" (a song for children), and that she found it difficult to establish herself in Italy as a painter and writer. Power also stated that she was disturbed by the intrusive attention of the local press, which published multiple articles speculating about her private life and the disappearance of her daughter Ylenia.

Shortly after Power's relocation in 2008, her mother Linda Christian was diagnosed with colon cancer. Power went to live in her mother's house in Palm Springs, where she remained until her mother's death on July 22, 2011. In a November 2009 interview she gave to Italian TV she stated she had considered, at least for some time, a possible return to Italy.

In the fall of 2012 her album Da lontano was released, containing songs written in 1999. In the summer of 2013, Power and Carrisi reunited for a concert performance in Moscow.

Personal life

Stanislas "Stash" Klossowski de Rola, the eldest son of the painter Balthus, proposed marriage to Power when she was 15 and he was 23. She accepted and her mother approved, provided that he wait until Power turned 18 and was allowed to develop artistically first. Klossowski de Rola introduced Power to Paul McCartney, Jane Asher, and Syd Barrett, with whom she later became friends. The couple later postponed their wedding indefinitely.

In 1969, Power announced her engagement to Albano Carrisi. Upon their engagement, Carrisi persuaded Power to refrain from accepting any more risqué film roles and restricted the presence of her mother on set. They married on July 26, 1970.

Power and Carrisi separated in 1999. Their divorce was finalized in 2012. They have four children:

• Ylenia Maria Sole (born November 29, 1970), their eldest daughter who went missing in New Orleans, Louisiana in January 1994 (declared dead in absentia in 2014).
• Yari Marco Carrisi (born April 21, 1973)
• Cristèl Chiara Carrisi (born December 25, 1985), who appeared in Italian reality TV show La Fattoria 2 (The Farm).
• Romina Yolanda Carrisi (born June 1, 1987), who appeared in the 2005 edition of Italian reality TV show Isola dei Famosi (a version of Survivor) with her father.

Power is a polyglot who speaks five languages: English, Italian, Spanish, French and Dutch. She is a follower of Tibetan Buddhism.

Filmography

Films

Television

Discography

Solo

• 12 canzoni e una poesia (1969)
• Ascolta, ti racconto di un amore (1974)
• Con un paio di Blue-Jeans (1974)
• Da lontano (2012)

With Al Bano

• Atto I (1975)
• 1978 (1978)
• Aria pura (1979)
• Sharazan (1981) (Spanish)
• Felicità (1982)
• Felicidad (1982) (Spanish)
• Che angelo sei (1982)
• Que ángel será (1983) (Spanish)
• The Golden Orpheus Festival 1984 (1984)
• Effetto amore (1984)
• Sempre sempre (1986)
• Siempre siempre (1986) (Spanish)
• Libertà! (1987)
• Libertad (1987) (Spanish)
• Fragile (1988)
• Fragile (1988) (Spanish)
• Fotografia di un momento (1990)
• Fotografía de un momento (1990) (Spanish)
• Weihnachten bei uns zu Hause (1990) (also known as Corriere di Natale)
• Navidad ha llegado (1991) (Spanish)
• Vincerai (1991)
• Vencerás (1991) (Spanish)
• Notte e giorno (1993)
• El tiempo de amarse (1993) (Spanish)
• Emozionale (1995)
• Amor sagrado (1995) (Spanish)
• Ancora... Zugabe (1996)
• The Very Best – Live aus Verona (2015)
• Raccogli l'attimo (2020)

Bibliography

• Al Bano & Romina Power: Autoritratto dalla A alla R (Rizzoli, 1989)
• Cercando mio padre (Gremese, 1998)
• Ho sognato Don Chisciotte (Bompiani, 2000)
• Kalifornia (It's Here Now) (Arcana, 2004)
• Upaya (Fazi Editore, 2005)
• Ti prendo per mano (Mondadori, 2015)
• Karma Express (Mondadori, 2017)

References

References

1. (October 3, 1951). "Daughter Born to Tyrone Powers". Redding Record Searchlight.
2. (February 8, 1979). "Power's 'Gay' Life, Louella's Girl Too, Spice Tell-All Tales". Fort Lauderdale News.
3. [http://www.rominapower.guru/#!about/c10fk Biography of Romina Power at her official web site.]
4. (December 4, 1966). "A Film Veteran at 15". Los Angeles Times.
5. (December 22, 1965). "In Father's Footsteps?". New York Daily News.
6. (December 13, 1966). "Sheilah Graham in Hollywood". Des Moines Tribune.
7. (December 2, 1966). "'Erotic' Teen Scenes Protested in Rome". New York Daily News.
8. "Pope's Brother Calls Film Lewd". Hackensack Record.
9. (May 25, 1969). "Italy Bans Movie Starring Young Romina Power". Arizona Daily Star.
10. (August 5, 1966). "Italy's Teen-Agers Idolize Romina Power". Long Beach Press-Telegram.
11. "Bradley Broadley". Colorado Springs Gazette.
12. "The Last Word". Burlington Daily Times-News.
13. [http://spettacoli.tiscali.it/articoli/07/05/30/romina_power_lascia_italia.html Spettacoli.tiscali.it] {{webarchive. link. (September 11, 2007 , Romina Power: "Addio lascio l'Italia")
14. [http://www.tgcom.mediaset.it/gossip/articoli/articolo363839.shtml Tgcom.ùrfozdry/oy], La Power: "Italia addio per sempre"
15. [http://www.bild.de/unterhaltung/leute/al-bano/und-romina-power-versoehnung-nach-14-jahren-31405624.bild.html Bild.de: ''Al Bano and Romina Power: Reunion after 14 Years''] (German). Retrieved May 12, 2013.
16. [http://www.express.de/promi-show/-felicit---comeback-al-bano-und-romina-power-singen-wieder-zusammen,2186,23761030.html Express.de: ''Comeback: Al Bano and Romina Power Singing Together Once More''] {{Webarchive. link. (December 12, 2013 (German). Retrieved May 12, 2013.)
17. (November 1, 1966). "Child Actress to Wed Polish Baron". St. Joseph News-Press.
18. (January 8, 1967). "Walter Scott's Personality Parade". Cedar Rapids Gazette.
19. (November 26, 1966). "Wedding of 14 Year Old Romina Power Delayed". San Francisco Examiner.
20. (April 5, 1969). "Dorothy Manners' Hollywood". Scranton Tribune.
21. (October 14, 1969). "Reason To Hire A Press Agent". San Francisco Examiner.
22. (July 27, 1970). "Tyrone's Romina Weds". Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
23. "Al Bano e Romina si separano". La Repubblica.
24. (February 3, 2020). "Albano e Romina Power se la meritano una timeline con tutte le tappe della loro storia d'amore". Cosmopolitan.
25. "Yari.tv". Yari.tv.
26. "We'll live it all again".
27. Marcella, Domenico. (May 19, 2017). "La meditazione? Il "potere" di Romina Power".