Carmela Carolina Fernanda " Carmen " Russo [ 1 ] born 3 October is an Italian showgirl , television personality, actress, dancer, model, dance teacher and occasional singer. Russo started her career as a model in the mids 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 genre , such as Mia moglie torna a scuola , Giovani, belle She subsequently established herself as a television star in the s with the variety shows Drive In , Risatissima , and Grand Hotel.
In and , she also participated in the Italian and Spanish versions of the reality show Celebrity Survivor. She won in the Spanish version Supervivientes. During her career, she released also three unsuccessful studio albums, Stars on Donna , Le canzoni di "Drive in Russo was born in Genoa , on 3 October Her father, Giovanni Russo, was a Sicilian policeman, and her mother, Emilian Giuseppina Gherardini, worked as a cashier at the cinema "Olimpia".
Her parents moved to Pavullo nel Frignano , a town in the province of Modena , Emilia-Romagna , and in her family returned to Genoa, where she joined a dance academy. In , she finished middle school and her parents enrolled her at the Istituto Tecnico per il Turismo in Genoa, so that she would not give dance her full attention.
In , at the age of 13, Russo won her first important beauty contest, "Miss Liguria". In , Russo and Mention moved to Rome, home of the major Italian film studios. Every morning, Russo reportedly stood in long queues to submit auditions for a part in a movie. She was hired for a small part in the comedy movie Di che segno sei? The movie was a hit, especially in Germany, and was entered into the Cannes Film Festival. During this time, she continued to work as a showgirl in nightclubs, and in , 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 Raiuno. Later, Russo appeared in many others films and debuted in the theater supporting Walter Chiari in Hai mai provato con l'acqua calda?
