Pia Zadora

Pia-n-Andy

She taught me everything I know about acting.

Impacted? I suppose you could say that.

Pia and her husband will FOREVER be known as the idiots who tore down the legendary Mary Pickford/Douglas Fairbanks estate, Pickfair. And then she's continued to lie about the reason why for decades. At first it was because of termites. And then the idiot goes on TV a few years ago claiming the place was haunted. Ugh!

She's talentless trash!

My favorite interview with her. I love what she says about critics regarding her decision to tear down Pickfair: "It was my goddam house."

Her greatest acting role

She was sensational in The Lonely Lady!

THE STUPID BITCH COULD HAVE PURCHASED ANY PIECE OF PROPERTY SHE WANTED, TO BUILD HER MCMANSION ON! Why buy a beloved Hollywood Landmark just to destroy it?

I always liked Pia. She had a really cute ass and a pretty good sense of humor. Killer combination.

Perhaps her greatest triumph---

R8 very concerned about the well-being of houses in Beverly Hills he'll never be in

Stupid bitch at R11, I don't have to own The Mona Lisa to appreciate it. Whether it's hanging in my rented 2 bedroom apartment or not, it's still an international treasure.

Loved her in 'Voyage of the Rock Aliens' - also in 'Hairspray'

She desecrated Pickfair, and thus must burn in eternal hell fire; but her falling head-first into a tuba will never not make me LMFAO.

Have always loved her. A world treasure in my books.

I pattern my singing on hers.

I often use her recipe for chili dogs that she shared on The Merv Griffin Show.

They’re perfect for weddings.

I stayed at a hotel next door to her restaurant/piano bar in Vegas last Summer. I heard the food was excellent, but it was closed while I was there because of Covid.

Saw her in 1971 or 72 in a bus and truck tour of Applause that starred Patrice Munsel. Munsel was an embarrassment but Zadora, in the role created on Broadway by DL legend Bonnie Franklin, was great. You've heard of the little girl with a big voice? She was this tiny little elfin thing with a huge Wagnerian voice that rang through the 2500 seat house. She was great and the only thing the audience liked about the show. I thought she would go on to become a huge star but instead she went on to become Pia Zadora.

I was born in 1980, and even as a tiny gayling, I.always thought that the name "Pia Zadora" sounded like something from the distant past. It sounded like it was the perfect name for one of the flapper-looking ladies on the sheet music covers in the piano bench at my neighbor's house (they were in their 70s then).

If being bad feels good then I want to be bad.

The house would have been a century old. What multi-millionaire wouldn't gut it completely?

Haha at that robe just barely covering her tiny little titty.

Her sleazy rich husband did enormous damage she never recovered from staging her early near nude publicity stunts at Cannes and elsewhere. It was held against her. not blamed on him.

For r19.

I too was born in 1980. Oddly, I always knew her name, but had no idea who the Hell she was or what she even did. She seemed to pop up as some sort of punchline on TV game shows and comedic movies like Troop Beverly Hills and the Naked Gun series. I vaguely remember my dad thinking that she was sexy for a brief period of my youth. To be honest I only in the last decade knew a thing about her outside that very distinctive name. As it turns out - her name is about the only notable thing about this woman after all. Well, that and thirsty desperation.. I guess she is basically the equivalent of Angelyne?

I will always love her! I play her "Let's Dance Tonight" album regularly to this day!

What was the reaction like to the garden hose rape back when it was new? People had to have been laughing, right?

I’m a child of the 1970s. Her name was always the punchline to a joke. Only later, as an adult, did I discover her camp appeal.

Pia is one of the backup girls in this fabulous clip that is often posted on the theater gossip threads. I saw her just a few days ago as a child in Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.

As a kid I was traumatized by the garden hose rape scene in The Lonely Lady when I saw it on HBO. Other than that I only knew her as a pop culture punchline as others have mentioned.

Flash forward to the early 2000s and someone on Datalounge introduced me to the most fabulous piece of 80s pop trash I can’t believe I missed at the time - “When The Rain Begins To Fall” featuring Pia Zadora and Jermaine Jackson. This video has everything! Arab motorcycle gangs. Hookah bars. Fringed white leather. Epaulettes. And not a single drop of rain! Brave choice. After that I became somewhat obsessed with Pia’s recording career. Preferably the schlocky 80s stuff but her standards albums are okay too.

[Quote] As it turns out - her name is about the only notable thing about this woman after all. Well, that and thirsty desperation.. I guess she is basically the equivalent of Angelyne?

Hardly. Pia's career ran the gamut, whether you see her as talented or not.

She has a Jam & Lewis album. Is it any good? She also had a standards album backed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. And she released another standards album in the last year or so. Whatever your opinon of her, that woman is a do-er.

"When the Rain Begins to Fall" is pop culture favorite in Germany.

I think Pia's greatest triumph was in 1964's "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" as Girmar.

She's another one that's fallen victim to the latest fad. She's now Padre Pia. Worship him!

The interview at R5 is hilarious. Pia's a hot mess. And the queen interviewing her keeps dumping the booze down her throat.

She always had a strange looking face

‘She’s in the attic!’.

Her daughter has a solid voice.

Somehow I picture her and E.G. Daily sharing a condo in Boca.

The only thing I remember of Pia, besides the Pickfair disaster, was seeing her in a bathtub scene getting her tits scrubbed by some dirty old man. You mean she did other things? When did her career go straight down the shitter?

I don't know R32 - more people watched Angelyne in the opening credits for Moonlighting than Pia in anything ever I would guess.

Ugh, R39 scrolling I held my breath, but you got there first damnit. I would have repeated it though, it should give the impression that the audience is chanting it.

[quote]I think Pia's greatest triumph was in 1964's "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" as Girmar.

Yeah, she was quite the actress in that.

I like her on social media. She seems to be the ultimate fag hag, two of her best friends are Liza Minnelli and Tina Turner impersonators. She's big into the Vegas scene.

She's not a fan of Dump by any means and has taken a few potshots at him.

"She is often the subject of a popular urban legend that she once appeared in a theatrical production of The Diary of Anne Frank as the title character and her performance was so disliked that, when the Nazi's came on stage, an audience member shouted "she's in the attic!".

I love her song It's wrong for me to love you. It's haunting though maybe a bit schmaltzy.

I live in Vegas and have planned to go see her twice at her cabaret act at Piero's (which is also the restaurant where Sharon Stone gets dragged down the stairs and out the kitchen in 'Casino'). Neither time it has worked out because I ended up going out to dinner with friends from out of town, and we visited too long to make her show. If and when she returns after quarantine, I'll be first in line to see her.

Her husband is a Las Vegas cop

R37 I love a few of her responses to "Either/Or" at the end: ".....No"

Pia Z. (the entertainer) was and shall forever remain a non-entity to me. My best friend was a dancer and one of his first jobs was working for P.Z. in the late 1970s. I was invited to a show in a small theater in Hollywood before it officially opened in Vegas. The theater was packed with show-biz hags and has-beens. I made a beeline for the empty seat next to drunk June Lockhart (Maw on Lassie) and her much younger musclebound date. It turns out June had a potty-mouth/ loved my 15 dollars, thrift shop Leopard-skin coat, loathed "Dora Pia." My next Zadora moment came via her sound man on "Butterfly." To me, he was Master Craig. A tall, hairy, Jew-Leatherdaddy w/house + dungeon in the Hollywood hills. One evening the dungeon phone rang while he lay on top of me. Zadora.

I think she's genuinely a good person who got swept up in a Svengali type situation. I agree with those who said she wasn't really movie star material. She was sexy, but unconventional looking. They should have brought her back to Broadway, where her talents would have worked.

That being said, she managed to turn things around after a disasterous couple of years. She got a Grammy nomination, Frank Sinatra personally requested Pia to open for him on his tour, Johnny Carson apologized to her, and she snagged Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on the heels of Janet's Control success.

R43 she was in Naked Gun and Hairspray

I was once eating lunch with my sister in New York and she said quietly and confidentially, "Is that Pia Zadora at the next table?" When I looked she said exasperatedly, "Don't look!" So that's how I was impacted.

Who?

"When The Rain Begins To Fall" with Jermaine Jackson

Pia by Andy Warhol

Never much of an actress, but far from the worst actress of all time. She ended up being a pretty good singer. The first time I heard her sing some Broadway standard, I thought "Wow! Who knew she actually does have some talent?" I'm glad to hear she's embraced the campy cult legacy of some of her movies. Seems like a fun lady.

I started ironing my hair, man!

Doing Lloyd Bochner before he died fucking Alexis Carrington

I actually have this record!

Pia looks good in that interview above. I was expecting a plastic surgery nightmare but she looks good.

I liked her assessment about Frank Sinatra. He could be very intimidating.

Express Yourself Lite

OP, I'm thinking about this....I'm THINKING....I'll get back to you.

This is a local Vegas award that Pia "won" three years ago. Notice how she walks right by the girl holding the award, and then snaps, "Where's my award? I wanna see it!" Then she walks right by the poor girl again, who's attempting to offer her a gift bag. I don't even think Pia's drunk...she just has tunnel vision.

Kitten with a Whip

I just watched the clip at R66 and she's genuinely funny and has a great sense of humor about herself and her position in the entertainment industry.

She'd be a cool chick to hang out with.

If I had to decide between Pia Zamora and Rula Lenska as dining companions I would choose Rula.

[quote]I like her on social media. She seems to be the ultimate fag hag, two of her best friends are Liza Minnelli and Tina Turner impersonators. She's big into the Vegas scene.

A friend and I saw her at Piero's on a trip to Vegas. She was WONDERFUL.

First: the bar at Piero's can hold maybe 50 people at most, so it's really intimate. She has a little stage with her Warhol portrait behind it and a super-1980s diamante microphone. And she's tiny, tiny, tiny.

We were the first ones there. It was a holiday weekend and hardly anyone showed up. Before the show, Pia came out, looked around, and sat down with us to thank us for coming out. She cheerfully answered all our questions and said her favorite roles were "Hairspray" and the Naked Gun movie, because she always thought her strength was comedy

After a few minutes, she brought over her cop husband and son (the one she got in the fight with and got arrested), who obviously is special needs in some way. The husband also thanked us and took our pictures with Pia. The son sat at our table for the show.

She sang Sinatra standards, drank "Piatinis," and made jokes that were pretty damn funny. "The year I won the Golden Globe, I was often mentioned in the same breath as Meryl Streep. 'That Pia Zadora,' they'd say, 'she ain't no Meryl Streep.' Well, I won the damn thing and I'm not giving it back!"

The other one I remember was an exhortation to "drink up, drink up. I've been watching the bar all night and haven't seen Bill Cosby back there, so you're safe."

It was campy and sincere at the same time. She's no Ella Fitzgerald, but, yeah, she can sing. Well worth a couple hours if you find yourself in Vegas. And, yes, she brought out a Liza Minnelli female impersonator to do a couple of numbers while she took a break.

I could swear I saw her naked tits as a child, but I couldn’t tell you the movie I watched. I just remember her nipples pointed down DRAMATICALLY.

I could be thinking of Irene Cara, but could they have similar breasts?

Her face is made for the wide screen and the 16:9 aspect ratio. I liked to capture it on a panoramic lens.

Never realized before but she could have been Patti Boyd’s sister .

"She has a Jam & Lewis album. Is it any good?"

It pains me to say, but the answer is: not really. The production is okay, I guess. But the vocals are so layered that it could be anybody singing. Jam and Lewis have smoothed out any trace of the distinctive Broadway belting that Pia displayed on her "Pia and Phil" album. All that's left is an ethereal, characterless vocal over Jam and Lewis' trademark New Jack Swing beats. The songs are a bit dull, too. Think Jam and Lewis work on the Human League's "Crash," not Janet Jackson's "Control" album.

[quote]How has your life been impacted by this torch song chanteuse?

Most us prefer THIS "Torch Song" chanteuse.

About 20 years ago, she did a show at Bimbo's nightclub in San Francisco. A friend and I got tickets just because we thought it would be campy fun. The place was about half full, but she did put on a pretty good show, despite at one point bringing her 7-year old daughter onstage to sing a duet with her, which was really awful and cringeworthy.

But the best part of the whole night was when she was telling a story about a song. At the end of the story, she said, "But I won't sing that song tonight." Then from somewhere in the back of the room, some queen with a loud, nasally voice, shouted out, "Thaaaank yooooouuu!"

My friend and I died. We couldn't stop laughing. I'll never forget that moment!

Pia is a wonderful comedic actress. Her role as a beatnik, in John Waters’s “Hairspray” was hilarious. She has a sense of humor about her early career. In the 1980s, her performance in “The Lonely Lady” was a disaster. The criticism was brutal; though the script and direction were horrible.

Pia, after discovering the movie was slated for TV, told the press: “I’m leaving the country.”

R77 I did like her cameo in The Naked Gun movie where she ended up with a tuba on her head, then fell into the orchestra pit at the Academy Awards.

"She's in the attic!"

She's a good singer, always was, even back in the 80s. She now has a smooth Broadway sound but can belt it out when needed.

Before COVID, she was performing regularly in her own room at Piero's supper club in Vegas.

She's still popular in the town, helping out at local charities, etc.

Always was a big supporter of gay rights and AIDS fundraising.

I follow her on Facebook and she has a knowing sense of humor about her checkered past in show biz. "I'm gonna keep that Golden Globe, dammit!"

The Lonely Lady was an "adult movie" that would play on HBO and Cinemax at 1am on a Saturday night

I had a bath-house semi-regular in Palm Springs circa 92-93. He was doing trompe loeil work on the Pickfair renovations as her husband had bought it along with her Golden Globe. He was painting a border of vines and leaves in one room. He said that Pia's daughter would sometimes rush in and loudly announce "Ladies and Gentlemen, Miss MARY PICKFORD" before Pia would enter the room, telling her to stop. Said Zadora was extremely nice.

So, I'm 1 degree.

My Mom met Pia at a store in Beverly Hills in the 80s and Pia gave my parents tickets when she toured the Midwest for her "Pia and Phil" album and went out to dinner afterwards.

R34 God love those wild people in Maastricht; young and old singing along with the lyrics to this schmaltzy Jermaine Jackson song, which I had never, ever heard of.

I am without words.

David Letterman on the Academy Awards introducing celebrities:

"Mia, Pia. Pia, Mia."

She showed her tits and almost everything else in Butterfly, her first movie, which co-starred Stacy Keach. It's based on a novel by James M. Cain (Mildred Pierce, The Postman Always Rings Twice) and is a sordid tale about incest.

She won the Golden Globe for best newcomer. They abolished the category shortly after the outcry.