Raffaella Carrà, one of Italy’s best-known television personalities, who shimmied, danced and sang across prime time as a racy presence during a staid era but also hosted a serious talk show, died on July 5 in Rome. Members of her staff declined to give the cause. But they said Ms. Carrà, who died in a hospital, had long been ill.Ms. Carrà was one of the first so-called showgirls on Italy’s national broadcaster, RAI, to move from musical entertainment to interviews with high-profile figures. The media often called her “the queen of Italian television.”With her energetically shaken bob, she was a broadcast fixture for generations of Italians in a career that lasted six decades. “She conveyed a message of elegance, kindness and optimism,” President Sergio Mattarella of Italy said in a statement on her death.

Source: International New York Times July 15, 2021 21:56 UTC