Actress Spaak's first role was in the French 13-minute short ''L'hiver
(1959), directed by Jacques Gautier, which was followed by a brief uncredited role in the French prison break film Le Trou'' (1960), which was directed by
Jacques Becker. Spaak's brief appearance in
Le Trou caught the eye of a Paris television reporter, and his subsequent interview with her was seen by
Sophia Loren who thought that Spaak would be suitable for a major role in
Sweet Deceptions, a film that her producer husband
Carlo Ponti was intending to make in Rome. Released in 1960, Spaak's role as a 17-year-old student who has an affair with a middle-aged man brought her to attention of the wider public.
For Love and Gold (1966, written by
Age & Scarpelli),
Adultery Italian Style (1966). Her first film role in an American production was as the mistress of an investor who wants to buy a landmark New Orleans hotel in the 1967 release
Hotel. Spaak's next significant role was as a young widow opposite
Jean-Louis Trintignant in the 1968 sex comedy
The Libertine. This was followed by
Diary of a Telephone Operator (1969, with
Claudia Cardinale), the
giallo film ''
The Cat o' Nine Tails (1971, written and directed by Dario Argento), the nunsploitation film Story of a Cloistered Nun (1973), the controversial comedy My Darling Slave (1973), the Spaghetti Western Take a Hard Ride (1975) opposite Jim Brown and Lee Van Cleef, Sunday Lovers (1980), Honey (1981) and Alice'' (2010, written and directed by
Oreste Crisostomi). She originated the role of Rossana in the
Riccardo Pazzaglia-
Domenico Modugno musical
Cyrano (unrelated to the
Anthony Burgess-
Michael J. Lewis production of the same name) in 1979.
Singer In the 1960s and 70s, Spaak also developed a parallel singing career, recording a number of albums. As a singer, she was regarded by some as the Italian equivalent of French chanteuse
Françoise Hardy. Spaak recorded some of Hardy's songs in 1963 for the DET label under the direction of
Ezio Leoni, who had previously worked with Hardy.
Talk show host As her film career began to decline in the 1980s, Spaak transitioned to journalism and television. She was a co-host of the
Canale 5-
Rete 4 program
Forum, one of the longest-running continuous shows in Italian history, from 1985 to 1988. She then hosted a popular talk show called
Harem that ran for 16 years, from 1988 to 2002. She then hosted a short-lived talk show, ''Il sogno dell'angelo'', on
La7 from 2002 to 2003. In 2007, she participated as a contestant on the Italian edition of
Dancing with the Stars, but was eliminated in the third round. In 2015, she appeared on the 10th season of the reality show ''
L'isola dei famosi''. == Personal life ==