While SADISTIK must naturally have numerous trysts in the course of his
adventures, his one true love is his inseparable companion Dana. For
the run of the series from 1966 to 1969 the voluptuous, luscious
Luciana Paoli played his paramour. Before and during SADISTIK, Luciana
had a movie career often performing in European historical dramas,
adventure films and spy spoofs.
The Abruzzi, Italy native's first film, Beautiful But Dangerous in 1955 starred Gina
Lollobrigida and Vittorio Gassman. Future horror film master Mario Bava
(and Danger: Diabolik director) served as cinematographer. That same
year she also appeared in another historical drama, The Queen of
Babylon, with Rhonda Fleming and Ricardo Montalban. Luciana was in the
1965 sword and sandal film known under different titles including
Maciste, Avenger of the Mayans, which was cobbled together from a few
films. She shot her most well known film that year, Casanova '70 with
Marcello Mastroianni, which also featured Danger: Diabolik's co-star
Marisa Mell.
Various pin-ups of Luciana Paoli as Dana, Sadistik's fatal lover!
By 1966 she began starring in the SADISTIK photo novels but still acted
in films like the semi-amusing James Bond spoof Seven Golden Women Against Two 007s
(as one of the Golden Women) with Jayne Mansfield's
bodybuilding husband Mickey Hargitay. Luciana did a few more films
including a medical comedy with Alberto Sordi in 1968. She continued to
star in SADISTIK for another year and evidently retired.
Luciana Paoli was the subject of numerous photo
shoots... mostly cheesecake and pin-ups. Many pictures made it into
American magazines as well. Pictured above are a series of Paoli pin-ups from the February 1960 issue of Male magazine. The title was published by the sister company of Marvel Comics and the editor was Bruce Jay Friedman, later a well-known writer and father of cartoonist Drew Friedman.
The magazine mostly published pulpy and sexy adventure stories with
exciting illustrations by top-notch artists. Along with gags and
cartoons, pin ups were a regular feature and Volume 10, Number 2
features an spread on the future Dana. Here’s the brief text
accompanying the photos:
LUCIANA, WHAT DOES YOUR FATHER DO?
Everyone in
Rome knows what 20-year-old Luciana Paoli does--- stops traffic, causes
riots, competes with the Coliseum as Rome’s chief tourist attraction---
but no one has the faintest idea what the father of this new starlet
does. MALE knows. It’s been Luciana’s best kept secret. Daddy’s a
construction engineer.
“Most of us with the large figure say it prevents people from taking us
seriously as actresses. This is not so. My large figure won’t stop me
from becoming an actress.”
The August 1961 edition of Frolic has her
cover-featured as "The Gal Who Made The Roman Romeo's Rave." It boasts
she has a breast measurement of 42" and includes a pictorial. Four pages of Luciana photos were also
printed in the fourth issue of The Vagabond in 1961. More on her,
stateside, is unknown. With the publication of SADISTIK perhaps there
will be a renewed interest in this Junoesque beauty that left such a
mark in the genre of the dark photo books.
POW-POW-PAOLI! Three faces of Luciana: (R) A pin up from Gaze, an American magazine from Humorama, February, 1961. (Center) Luciana graces the cover of the Italian "New High Tension Special Collection" from February 1965. It appears to be from the same photo shoot as a pin up in Killing 29 and reprinted in Sadistik Limited Edition 1. Thanks to SS-Sunda for the image. (L) A frame capture from Luciana's classic spy spoof Sette donne d'oro contro due 07 (1966) around the time she started her role as Dana.
LUCIANA PAOLI
FILMOGRAPHY
courtesy imdb.com
Some of the films of Luciana Paoli: On the left, photos and poster of Casanova '70, starring Marcelo Mastroianni. (More pin ups from the film coming soon!) On the right, posters from her other films.
DANA CHEATS ON THE KING OF CRIME! Luciana Paoli appeared in other photo novels, including as Eva, the companion of Lord X. The publishers figured if the Diabolikal Super-Kriminal
could make a "Killing" with a black cover, a yellow circle and Dana,
then they could do as well with a black cover, yellow pentagon and Eva!
After appearing in the first issue, the editors promised her return...
though she never did. They milked Luciana's star appeal by featuring
her on the next cover and with an ad mentioning she was on 'vacation,' but by issue 3 she was replaced with 'Barbara."
LORD X #1 had some pages in
color, showcasing Luciana's strawberry blonde hair and other assets.
Whether in color or black & white, Luciana spends most of her time
getting menaced, pawed at, stripped and bound. Business as usual for
the fetching photo novel star!
A Paoli pin-up from Killing/Satanik No. 8
More ACTOR GALLERIES:
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