Ania Pieroni

Ania Pieroni (born 28 February 1957) is an Italian former actress best known for her striking performances in landmark horror films of the early 1980s. She was born in Rome to an upper‑middle‑class family; her paternal grandfather served as mayor of Pescara while her maternal grandfather was a German architect, giving her a culturally diverse heritage. Her father, a Knight of Malta and pilot with a passion for American automobiles, encouraged a diplomatic path, prompting her to enroll in a faculty of political sciences after completing her Catholic primary and secondary education in Rome. Despite this academic inclination, Pieroni was drawn to the screen and made her cinematic debut in Alberto Lattuada's 1978 comedy Stay as You Are, where she appeared in a small but memorable role. Pieroni quickly became a cult figure in Italian genre cinema, starring as the enigmatic music student in Dario Argento's 1980 supernatural thriller Inferno, and later as the shoplifting provocateur in his 1982 giallo Tenebrae. Her most iconic performance arrived in Lucio Fulci's 1981 slasher The House by the Cemetery, where she portrayed the ill‑fated babysitter Ann, a role that cemented her status among horror aficionados. After her final film appearance in the comedy Fracchia contro Dracula (1985), she transitioned behind the camera, directing the local television station GBR from 1985 to 1991. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Pieroni’s personal life attracted media attention: an ill‑fated engagement to Count Roberto Gancia, a high‑profile affair with former Prime Minister Bettino Craxi, and later marriage to industrialist Gennaro Moccia in 2001, with whom she has five children. Although she declined a cameo in Argento's 2007 Mother of Tears, she remains a beloved figure in the horror community and occasionally participates in political campaigns, notably supporting Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia.