Carmela Carolina Fernanda "Carmen" Russo[1] (born 3 October 1959) is an Italian showgirl, television personality, actress, dancer, model, dance teacher and occasional singer.

She first came to the public's attention for her roles in the commedia erotica all'italiana (sex comedy) genre, such as Mia moglie torna a scuola, Giovani, belle... probabilmente ricche, and Paulo Roberto Cotechiño centravanti di sfondamento.

During her career, she released also three unsuccessful studio albums, Stars on Donna, Le canzoni di "Drive in...", and Una notte italiana  [it], and she was also chosen many times as a model for Playmen magazine during the 1980s.

Her parents moved to Pavullo nel Frignano, a town in the province of Modena, Emilia-Romagna, and in 1969 her family returned to Genoa, where she joined a dance academy.

In 1973, she finished middle school and her parents enrolled her at the Istituto Tecnico per il Turismo in Genoa, so that she would not give dance her full attention.

[2][3] The previous year, Russo also won the title of "Miss Emilia" held in Pavullo nel Frignano, but it was a qualification that had no value for the national contest.

[6] During this time, she continued to work as a showgirl in nightclubs, and in 1978, she hosted, with Ettore Andenna, the TV show La bustarella, which aired on Antenna 3 Lombardia.

Later, Russo appeared in many others films and debuted in the theater supporting Walter Chiari in Hai mai provato con l'acqua calda?.

[citation needed] In 1980, Russo participated in the making of two films: Patrick vive ancora with Gianni Dei[7] and La settimana bianca.

Russo's next films were starring roles in the sex comedies La maestra di sci and Mia moglie torna a scuola.

In December 1981, Russo performed the B-side of the song "Stiamo insieme stasera" during the Italian TV show Blitz aired on Raiuno.

Russo began with Quella peste di Pierina with Marina Marfoglia and Oreste Lionello, a few months after turning Buona come il pane.

In the same year at the height of popularity, she took part in Ti spacco il muso, bimba with Oreste Lionello and Sergio Vasta, Paulo Roberto Cotechiño centravanti di sfondamento with Franca Valeri, and finally Cuando calienta el sol... vamos alla playa, a '60s musical-comedy film set with Claudia Vegliante and Edoardo Vianello.

In 1986, Russo hosted Un fantastico tragico venerdì with Lino Banfi and Massimo Boldi, which devoted Carmen as a star of classical ballet.

[8] Russo also worked on two editions of the Sunday program Batalla de las estrellas,[8] which she co-hosted with José Luis Moreno on TVE for two years, as it aired at prime time on Saturdays.