Valeria Golino is an Italian actress and film director. She is known to English-language audiences for her role in Rain Man, Big Top Pee-wee and the two Hot Shots! films, especially the olive-in-the-belly-button scene. The second child of an Italian germanist and a Greek painter, Valeria
Golino grew up in Naples until her parents parted. After three years in
Athens with her mother and another three in Naples with her father, she
began to work as a model. She left high school after her first movie
and didn't study performing arts at all. In 1985 she got the leading
role in Vergiß die Feuer nicht (1985) by Peter Del Monte and the next year won the Best Actress Award
at the Venice Film Festival for Storia d'amore (1986). After some European
co-productions (Letzter Sommer in Tanger (1987), Brille mit Goldrand (1987), Fürchten und Lieben (1988)) she began to work in
Hollywood (Manege frei für Pee Wee (1988)). She soon gained prominent roles in Rain Man (1988),
Hot Shots! - Die Mutter aller Filme (1991) and Hot Shots! Der zweite Versuch (1993). Now she works in the US (Blackout - Ein Detektiv sucht sich selbst (1994), Dangerous Hell (1996)), Europe
(Die Hure des Königs (1990), Ludwig van B. - Meine unsterbliche Geliebte (1994)) and in Italy. too, especially with young directors
(Come due coccodrilli (1994), Le acrobate (1997), L'albero delle pere (1998)). In 1994 she produced and acted in I sfagi tou kokora (1996)
by Greek director Andreas Pantzis. Her voice is more appreciated in Hollywood
(where she took speech therapy) than in Italy (where she is sometimes
dubbed); in "The Slaughter of the Cock" she acts as a deaf and dumb
woman. She speaks four languages: Italian, Greek, French and English.
Her brother is a musician and their uncle Enzo Golino is a famous journalist.
