Biographie
Liana Orfei was chiefly known as a circus performer. She was the daughter of circus owner Paride Orfei (also known as 'Pippo') and his wife Alba Furide. Beginning her career at the age of 2 as a small clown named Lacrima, she later became a skilled trapeze artist, acrobat, juggler, and animal trainer. In 1954, she married fellow juggler Angelo Piccinelli. Together with her two brothers, Liana launched her own three-ring circus in 1962. By 1970, this venture had expanded into the Circorama spectacle, showcasing top performers and numerous exotic animals, punctuated by film screenings on a cinemascope screen.
Liana stepped into the film industry in 1959, followed by her older sister Moira the next year. Like Liana, Moira was deeply rooted in the circus world and earned the nickname 'Moira of the elephants.' Both sisters appeared in numerous peplum and adventure films, often alongside visiting American stars. Liana notably provided an exotic and alluring presence, especially in roles opposite Lex Barker in the swashbuckling trilogy Terror of the Red Mask (1960), Knight of 100 Faces (1960), and Pirates of the Coast (1960), as well as with Kirk Morris in Hercules in the Valley of Woe (1961). She was cast as Victor Mature's Viking wife in The Tartars (1961), an Atlantean queen in The Giant of Metropolis (1961), a pirate’s loyal Creole companion in Rage of the Buccaneers (1961), the leader of an Italic tribe in The Avenger (1962) alongside Steve Reeves, an Egyptian in Queen of the Nile (1961), and a Greek in Damon and Pythias (1962). Her notable contribution to spaghetti westerns was in Django Kills Softly (1967), where she played the blonde love interest of the titular hero, a goldmine owner held captive by a corrupt town boss. In one of her final roles, she appeared as a character inspired by herself in Federico Fellini's The Clowns (1970).
Liana retired from acting in the mid-1980s but remained deeply involved in the circus. Alongside her producer husband Paolo Pristipino, she organized the Golden Circus Festival at Rome's Teatro Tendastrisce starting in 1984, featuring numerous top performers.
