Moira Orfei

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title: "Moira Orfei" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1931-births", "2015-deaths", "people-from-codroipo", "actresses-from-friuli-venezia-giulia", "italian-film-actresses", "italian-circus-performers", "italian-romani-people", "romani-actresses", "20th-century-circus-performers", "20th-century-italian-actresses", "21st-century-italian-actresses"] description: "Italian actress and circus performer (1931–2015)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moira_Orfei" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Italian actress and circus performer (1931–2015) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Moira Orfei
image	Signore&signori-Orfei.jpg
caption	Orfei in the movie Signore & signori (1966)
birth_name	Miranda Orfei
birth_date
birth_place	Codroipo, Udine, Kingdom of Italy
death_date
death_place	Brescia, Italy
othername	Moira degli elefanti ("Moira of the Elephants")
spouse
children	2
occupation	{{Flatlist
website
::

| name = Moira Orfei | image = Signore&signori-Orfei.jpg | imagesize = | caption = Orfei in the movie Signore & signori (1966) | birth_name = Miranda Orfei | birth_date = | birth_place = Codroipo, Udine, Kingdom of Italy | death_date = | death_place = Brescia, Italy | othername = Moira degli elefanti ("Moira of the Elephants") | spouse = | children = 2 | parents = | occupation = {{Flatlist|

• Circus performer
• actress
• television personality | website =

Moira Orfei (; born Miranda Orfei; 21 December 1931 – 15 November 2015) was an Italian circus performer, actress and television personality of remote Romani origins. Moira was also considered the queen of the Italian circus, one stage name being "Moira of the Elephants". Cult movie fans know her for the many sword-and-sandal (peplum) films she starred in. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Gli_Italiani_si_voltano_Moira_Orfei_1954.jpg" caption="Young actress and circus performer Moira Orfei walks towards the [[Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II]] in [[Milan]], while a large group of men turn to look at her. 1954."] ::

Biography

Raised in a family who owned the circus company Circus Orfei, Moira became the symbol of circus in Italy and attained international fame. The Circus Moira Orfei itself was founded in 1960. She was photographed in various scenes as a rider, trapeze artist, acrobat, dominatrice of elephants and trainer of doves.

Her excessively garish image mirrors her eccentric and exuberant personality. It was Dino De Laurentiis who suggested that she change her name from Miranda to Moira. From then on, her face became an effigy of unchanging characteristics: heavy make-up with eyes coated with eyeliner, bright lipstick, an accentuated mole above the lip, hair tied in a turban. Promotional billboards were carpeted with this picture in every city that the circus stopped. She also became a film actress, acting in over forty films, from comedies to sword-and-sandal films (among which were many Italian crime films).

Personal life

Her parents were Riccardo Orfei, who was the clown Bigolon, and Violetta Arata. She married Walter Nones in 1961, and they had two children Stefano Orfei and Lara Orfei.

Death

On 4 August 2006, Moira Orfei suffered an ischemic stroke during a show in Gioiosa Ionica. The artist was still under medical care when she died nine years later from natural causes on 15 November 2015 in Brescia, Italy.

Filmography

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes	The Loves of Hercules	Under Ten Flags	Ti aspetterò all'inferno	Queen of the Pirates	The Giants of Thessaly	Ursus	Revenge of the Conquered	Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules	Rocco e le sorelle	Armi contro la legge	Atlas in the Land of the Cyclops	Che femmina e… che dollari!	Kerim, Son of the Sheik	Il re Manfredi	I tromboni di Fra' Diavolo	Ursus in the Valley of the Lions	Gli italiani e le donne	I due mafiosi	Toto vs. the Four	Toto and Cleopatra	Samson and the Slave Queen	Divorzio alla siciliana	The Monk of Monza	The Beast of Babylon Against the Son of Hercules	The Two Gladiators	I predoni della steppa	Revolt of the Praetorians	Samson and His Mighty Challenge	The Triumph of Hercules	Casanova 70	How We Got into Trouble with the Army	L'incendio di Roma	Two Sergeants of General Custer	Due mafiosi contro Al Capone	The Birds, the Bees and the Italians	Torture Me But Kill Me with Kisses	Paolo il freddo	Scent of a Woman	Dracula in the Provinces	Arrivano i bersaglieri	Pin il monello	Vacanze di Natale '90	Natale in India	Moira Orfei: Amore e fiori
1960	Nemea
Shipwrecked	Cameo appearance
Anouk
Jana
Atalanta	Cameo appearance
1961	Attea
Edma
Halis Mosab
Lola
Norma
Paesant girl	Cameo appearance
Moira
1962	Zaira
Grenda
Carmela
Diar
Claudia Caracci	Segment: "L'abito non fa il monaco"
1963	Claudette
Mrs. Fiore	Scenes cut
Octavia the Younger
Malva
Marisa
Sister Virginia
Ura
1964	Marzia
Malina
Artamne
Dalila
Pasiphae
1965	Santina
Taide Bonafini
Poppaeia
Baby O'Connor
1966	Rosalía
Giorgia Casellato
1968	Adelaide
1974	Herself	Cameo appearance
Mirka
1975	Bestia Assatanata
1980	Herself	Cameo appearance
1982	Herself	Cameo appearance
1990	Gloria
2003	Herself	Cameo appearance
2006	Herself	Documentary
::

References

References

1. (2015-11-15). "Addio a Moira Orfei, a Brescia il suo ultimo spettacolo". [[Giornale di Brescia]].
2. (15 November 2015). "È morta Moira Orfei, regina del circo". [[La Stampa]].
3. [http://www.mymovies.it/biografia/?a=4912 Una biografia online]
4. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/12012077/Moira-Orfei-circus-owner-obituary.html Moira Orfei, circus owner - obituary]

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::