Ilona Staller

Ilona Anna Staller (born 26 November 1951), known by her stage name Cicciolina, is a Hungarian-Italian former porn star, politician, and singer. Staller gained fame in the early 1970s through her radio show Voulez-vous coucher avec moi? and became widely recognized by her stage name Cicciolina. She appeared in numerous films and gained attention for being the first to bare her breasts on live Italian television in 1978. Staller ventured into politics and was elected to the Italian Parliament in 1987, campaigning on a libertarian platform with the Radical Party.

Throughout her career, Staller made provocative offers, such as offering to have sex with Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden in exchange for peace. Staller also had a brief marriage to American artist Jeff Koons, with whom she had a son.

Early life

Staller was born in Budapest during the era of the Hungarian People's Republic. Her father, László Staller, left the family when she was 3. She was raised by her mother, who was a midwife, and her stepfather, who was an official in the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior. In 1964, at age 12, she began working as a model for the Hungarian news agency Magyar Távirati Iroda. In her memoirs and in a 1999 TV interview, she claimed that she had provided the Hungarian authorities with information on American diplomats staying at a Budapest luxury hotel where she worked as a maid in the 1960s.