Silvana Pampanini

Silvana Pampanini (25 September 1925 – 6 January 2016) was an Italian film actress, director and singer. She was also the niece of the soprano of the golden era of opera, Dame Rosetta Pampanini. Silvana Pampanini caused a sensation when she took part in the 1946 Miss Italia contest and the following year she started her movie career. Madame Pampanini was born into a well-off family, she was educated, and studied opera and ballet since her childhood. According to interviews, Pampanini was a contralto with notable voice extension. However, she also said many times over the years that she preferred to pursue a career in cinema as it required less training and it was much less demanding than a career as an opera singer.

Beauty pageant

It was her singing teacher's idea to make her participate in the 1946 Miss Italy contest which had been cancelled during the war. Tall, attractive and self-confident, she was riotously appreciated by the audience, not by the panelists who had to hide themselves and call the police when they selected another girl whose beauty was more sophisticated and less eye-catching. A few days later both contestants were interviewed by the Italian national radio in Rome but the broadcasting was abruptly interrupted when the two young ladies started to quarrel and pull each other's hair. Later Miss Pampanini was wrongly reported as Miss Rome of 1947. A caption in a 1952 newspaper said, "She is considered Italy's all-time beauty." Actually in post-war Italy most young film actresses were selected from beauty pageants. Because of her physical looks and public persona Silvana was compared first to Deanna Durbin, then to Jane Russell.