Biography

Orchidea De Santis, pseudonym of Orchidea De Sanctis (Bari, December 20, 1948), is an Italian actress. Of Salento origins but born in Bari due to her father's work as an officer in the Navy, she moved with her family, who ran a hotel in the capital of Puglia, first to Gallipoli and then to Rome, following her sister who was sixteen years older. At the beginning she was also a singer and, later, a theater actress. She has ranged from cinema to radio, from theater to music, until arriving on television. From 2006 to 2013 she managed a blog. She collaborates with various animal rights and environmental associations. Active especially in the Seventies, she was an interpreter of the Italian sexy comedy, initially mainly in costume and with a Boccaccian setting. Her presence in Alla mia cara mamma nel giorno del suo compleanno is curious, a film in which, for script needs, she was made up to appear ugly. In 1979, her film career came to an abrupt end following a serious injury on the set of Carlo Vanzina's film Arrivano i gatti when, due to an accidental fall into a trap door, she broke her elbow (which was later completely surgically reconstructed), risking permanent damage to her entire arm.