Pia Alfreda Schipani was born on 4 May 1953, in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA, of Polish (mother) and Italian (father) descent. As Pia Zadora she is a singer and actress probably best known for various albums and songs she has released throughout her career. Prior to becoming successful in the music industry, she had been in films that were mostly unsuccessful, however, all her efforts have helped put her net worth to where it is now.
How rich is Pia Zadora? As of mid-2016, sources estimate a net worth that is at $25 million, mostly earned through her success in the music industry. Aside from her music career, she earned some of her wealth from acting in films and the theatre. She’s won numerous awards for her music, and within the last decade, sold a mansion for more than $17 million. All of these have ensured her current wealth.
Pia Zadora Net Worth $25 Million
When Pia started her acting career she adopted a part of her mother’s maiden name, Zadorowski, as her stage name. One of her first appearances was in 1964 on stage in a Broadway production of “Fiddler on the Roof”. Her film debut also came in 1964’s “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians”, basically a flop, and so after this film, she didn’t have much work until the 1970s, when she started appearing in commercials. In 1982, she became a part of “Butterfly”, with Orson Welles and Stacy Keach, winning a controversial Golden Globe Award for Best New Star of the Year. Despite her award, critics reviewed her performance negatively and she was even awarded the Worst Actress of the Year in the 1982 Golden Raspberry Awards. Zadora then appeared in the film “Fake-Out”, which was also called “Nevada Heat”, starring Desi Arnaz Jr. In 1983, she became a part of “The Lonely Lady” which was rewarded with another Worst Actress of the Year award. The Golden Raspberry Awards even went so far as to award her the Worst New Star of the Decade. After “Voyage of the Rock Aliens”, she started to show musical prowess in “Let’s Dance Tonight” and “Hairspray”.
After so much negativity in terms of her acting career, she started singing and gained a large following in Europe. In 1985, she received a Grammy nomination for her song “Rock It Out” but lost to Tina Turner. “The Clapping Song” which was recorded for the film “The Lonely Lady” reached the US Top 40 charts, and her song in “Voyage of the Rock Aliens” also became number one in various countries of Europe. She then started to work on standards, as she was reportedly encouraged by Frank Sinatra to do so. She released the album “When the Lights Go Out” in 1988 and the following year released “Pia Z”. Though neither album hit the charts, she continued to make music and take minor appearances in films. In 2011, she started a cabaret show entitled “Pia Zadora: Back Again, And Standing Tall” which she performed in various locations. One of her recent appearances was in the television show “Celebrity Ghost Stories”.
For her personal life, it is known that she married Meshulam Riklis during 1977 with a significant age gap of 31 years. As a couple they had two children, and bought a mansion in Beverly Hills from Jerry Buss, then building a 25,000 square foot mansion in the lot replacing some of the structure. After their divorce in 1993, Zadora would sell the mansion thirteen years later. She then married Jonathan Kaufer in 1995 and they had a son, but the marriage ended in 2001. In 2005, she married Michael Jeffries and they currently reside in Summerlin, Nevada.
Full Name
Pia Zadora
Net Worth
$25 Million
Date Of Birth
May 4, 1954
Place Of Birth
Hoboken, New Jersey, United States
Height
5' (1.52 m)
Profession
Actress, Singer
Nationality
American
Spouse
Michael Jeffries (m. 2005), Jonathan Kaufer (m. 1995–2001), Meshulam Riklis (m. 1977–1993)
Children
Kady Zadora, Jordan Maxwell Kaufer, Kristofer Barzie Riklis
Golden Globe Award as New Star of the Year, Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress
Albums
"When the Lights Go Out" (1988), "Pia Z" (1989), "Here Comes Pia, Pia", "Let's Dance Tonight", "Only for Romantics" (2012), "The Platinum Collection" (1993)
Nominations
Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance (1985)
Movies
"Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" (1964), "Butterfly" (1982), "Rock It Out" (1982) , "Voyage of the Rock Aliens" (1984), "Hairspray" (1988), "Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme" (1990), " Naked Gun 331⁄3: The Final Insult" (1994)
#
Quote
1
They [Hollywood industry] may resent somebody infringing on their territory which is a natural thing. You don't come out of nowhere and win a Golden Globe! If I were a struggling little actress who won, they'd say, 'Oh come on, sweetheart. You won! Great!' and I'd be part of their clique. But no. They don't have that power over me; I'm not at their mercy. That may be what they resent. - on her Golden Globe win
2
"They never told me about winning all those Razzie Awards -- Maybe because they were afraid that, after reading all the reviews, I might kill myself!" (Quoted from "The E! True Hollywood Story: Pia Zadora")
3
I don't know, people say I'm a sex symbol, but I think I'm an actress.
#
Fact
1
Former stepmother of: Ira D.Riklis, Mona Ackerman and Marcia Riklis.
2
Suffered head injuries and a broken ankle after falling from a golf cart being driven by her son. [September 11, 2014].
3
Stepson Michael Jeffries Jr. was convicted of second-degree murder in the shooting death of a friend during an argument a party in October 2011. Jeffries faces 20 years to life in prison. [March 26, 2015].
4
Las Vegas, NV, USA: Opening at the Smith Center, July 27-28. [July 2012]
5
Born on a Tuesday.
6
Arrested on charges she scratched and choked her autistic son after he refused to go to bed, which resulted in a SWAT standoff after he called police. The case against her was dismissed after she completed alcohol and impulse control counseling. Her husband, who was home at the time, was fired from his job as a deputy sheriff four months later for refusing to cooperate with police during the incident. He filed a lawsuit against the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and Clark County Sheriff Douglas C. Gillespie a year later claiming his constitutional rights had been violated. [June 1, 2013].
7
Lives in Las Vegas with her third husband, a Las Vegas detective. She met her current husband after reporting a stalking incident to the Las Vegas Police.
8
She is of Italian origin by her father side (Calabria) and Polish by her mother side.
9
In 1961, the six-year-old was selected by noted screen and stage actor Burgess Meredith to appear in the Broadway production of "Midgie Purvis" starring the one and only Tallulah Bankhead.
10
Attended the American Academy of Dramatic Art while a child as a means of overcoming shyness.
11
Father, Alphonse Schipani, played violin in Broadway pit orchestras, and mother, Saturnina Zadorowski, was a theater wardrobe supervisor.
12
For "Rock It Out" she received a Grammy nomination in 1984 for "Best Single By A Female Rock Star.".
13
After remarrying in 1995, she appeared on Broadway in "Crazy For You" to favorable reviews, but during this production, she suffered a miscarriage, retired from show business, divorced her second husband and began living with her first husband and father to her children on the grounds of the former Pickfair Estate in Beverly Hills.
14
In 1990 she toured as an opening act for Frank Sinatra.
15
She made her first records in the 1960s, which included "Bye Bye Boy", for which she was billed as "Little Pia".
16
At the time when Zadora became the "ad girl" for the French wine-based aperitif, her first husband was a major shareholder of the American distributor for Dubonnet.
17
It was during a 1972 bus-and-truck production of "Applause" starring Alexis Smith that was touring in Ohio that Zadora met Meshulam "Rik" Riklis, a 49-year old corporate businessman. She was 17. Four years later they married.
18
Played youngest daughter Bielke for two years in "Fiddler on the Roof" on Broadway (1964-1966).
19
Considered for the role of Evita Peron in Evita (1996).
In 1984, her song "Rock It Out" earned a Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. Among her fellow nominees: Lita Ford, Bonnie Tyler, Wendy O. Williams and eventual winner Tina Turner.
22
Appeared in a Penthouse spread in 1983. The picture for her 1984 "Rock It Out" single was taken from this shoot.
23
Became the first thespian to "win" back-to-back RAZZIE Awards when she was named Worst Actress of 1982 for Butterfly (1982) and Worst Actress of 1983 for The Lonely Lady (1983) - thus making her the RAZZIE equivalent of Luise Rainer.
After she won the 1982 Golden Globe for New Star of the Year, Female - despite having made her film acting debut 17 years earlier - rumors swirled that then-husband Meshulam Riklis "bought" her the award. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association retired the category in 1983.
26
She had a relatively successful singing career. She made pop and traditional vocal albums in the 80s. Her biggest hit in the U.S. was 1983's "The Clapping Song". She earned a Grammy nomination in 1984 with "Rock It Out" (for Female Rock performance) and also scored a worldwide hit with "When the Rain Begins to Fall", a duet with Jermaine Jackson. It was not a hit in the U.S., however. Among her albums: Pia (1982) and Let's Dance Tonight (1984), Pia & Phil (1985), I Am What I Am (1986), Reflections/Today (1988) and When the Lights Go Out (1988) and Pia Z (1989). She also had songs on the soundtracks to her films Butterfly (1982), Fake-Out (1982) and Voyage of the Rock Aliens (1984). She went on to perform in Las Vegas, opening for such pop standard veterans as Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra and others.
$25 Million
