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Carmela Carolina Fernanda " Carmen" Russo (born 3 October 1959) is an Italian television personality, actress, dancer, singer and former model.
Russo started her career as a model in the mid-1970s participating in several beauty contests in Italy. She first came to the public's attention for her roles in the commedia erotica all'italiana (sex comedy) Film genre, such as Mia moglie torna a scuola, Giovani, belle... probabilmente ricche, and Paulo Roberto Cotechiño centravanti di sfondamento.
She subsequently established herself as a television star in the 1980s with the variety shows Drive In, Risatissima, and Grand Hotel. In 2003 and 2006, she also participated in the Italian and Spanish versions of the reality show Celebrity Survivor. She won in the Spanish version . In 2017, she also competed in Grande Fratello VIP 2, the Italian version of Celebrity Big Brother. During her career, she released also three unsuccessful studio albums, Stars on Donna, Le canzoni di "Drive in...", and , and she was also chosen many times as a model for Playmen magazine during the 1980s.
In 1977, Russo was hired by Federico Fellini for a minor role in the film City of Women starring Marcello Mastroianni. In the movie, she shows her breasts, but was not credited. She then appeared in the crime movie Genova a mano armata as the cashier at the bar, and also made an appearance in Die linkshändige Frau ( The Left-Handed Woman). The movie was a hit, especially in Germany, and was entered into the 1978 Cannes Film Festival.
During this time, she continued to work as a showgirl in nightclubs, and in 1978, she hosted, with Ettore Andenna, the TV show La bustarella, which aired on Antenna 3 Lombardia. In the same year, she appeared in Portobello with Enzo Tortora aired in Rai 2. Later, Russo appeared in many others films and debuted in the theater supporting Walter Chiari in Hai mai provato con l'acqua calda?. With this play, Russo won the Premio de Curtis. Due to the expansion of her career, she decided to settle permanently in Rome, which was also the home of the agency "Gymnasium".
In 1980, Russo participated in the making of two films: Patrick vive ancora with Gianni DeiFederazione italiana cineforum, p. 93 and Girls Will Be Girls. During the filming of Girls Will Be Girls, she met Gianfranco D'Angelo, who helped Russo to enter the world of television. In this year, Russo also shot Le porno killers, her first role as a protagonist. In the film, Russo played a bisexual killer. In the movie, she was credited as Carmen Bizet. Her artistic breakthrough came in 1981. She left Mention and ended the job as show girl in nightclubs. Russo's next films were starring roles in the sex comedies La maestra di sci and Mia moglie torna a scuola.
At the end of 1981, Russo signed with Fontana Records for the release of a single. Her first single, "Notte senza luna", was promoted on Italian radio. In December 1981, Russo performed the B-side of the song "Stiamo insieme stasera" during the Italian TV show Blitz aired on Raiuno. The performance was shot on the Italian destroyer Ardito (D 550). Russo also performed "Stuntman", an unreleased song.
Russo saw significant career success in 1982 and 1983. During this time, she starred in four films. Russo began with Quella peste di Pierina with Marina Marfoglia and Oreste Lionello, a few months after turning Buona come il pane. She was subsequently chosen by Pierfrancesco Pingitore for the movie Il tifoso, l'arbitro e il calciatore with Pippo Franco, Alvaro Vitali, Marisa Merlini, and Daniela Poggi and then for Giovani, belle... probabilmente ricche with Gianfranco D'Angelo, Nadia Cassini, and Edwige Fenech. In early 1983, Russo also released her first full-length studio album Stars on Donna, released as Carmen. The album contains cover versions of songs by Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder.
The theme of the show was originally sung by Cristina Moffa ("Zucchero, Zucchero"), later changed to the cover of Patty Pravo 1968 hit "La Bambola" singing by Russo. The closing credits music, "Chiammame Ambresso" written by Cristiano Malgioglio, was also sung by Russo. During the show, Russo promoted her albums Stars on Donna and Le canzoni di "Drive In...". Le canzoni di "Drive In"...' contains selected track of songs performed by Russo in the show. From the album was also released one single, "Mi scusi signorina". In 1984, Russo also took part for the commercial of the candys "Morositas".
In the same year at the height of popularity, she took part in Ti spacco il muso, bimba with Oreste Lionello and Sergio Vasta, Paulo Roberto Cotechiño centravanti di sfondamento with Franca Valeri, and finally Cuando calienta el sol... vamos alla playa, a '60s musical-comedy film set with Claudia Vegliante and Edoardo Vianello.
In 1985, Russo returned to television, appearing in Risatissima and then in Grand Hotel on Canale 5. She also recorded the theme "Sì", an Italo disco song that had moderate success. In 1986, Russo hosted Un fantastico tragico venerdì with Lino Banfi and Massimo Boldi, which devoted Carmen as a star of classical ballet. Also for this show, she recorded the theme "Camomillati Venerdì".
Russo participated in the TV musical Io Jane, tu Tarzan directed by Enzo Trapani. The show did not achieve success despite the ballets always being elaborate. Due to the failure of her last program in 1990, Russo did only some appearances as a guest on several TV shows: Buonasera con Tino Scotti, Blitz, Black- out, Mixer, Stasera niente di nuovo, Playboy di mezzanotte, Pop Corn, A botta calda, and "Domenica, on which she was a permanent guest in the 1990–1991 season.
Later in 1991, Russo went to Spain to host VIP Noche on Telecinco with Emilio Aragón for 60 episodes. The show was a surprise success, averaging a 41% share. Russo also worked on two editions of the Sunday program Batalla de las estrellas, which she co-hosted with José Luis Moreno on TVE for two years, as it aired at prime time on Saturdays.
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