Nai Bonet | |
---|---|
Born | Christine Shapazian January 6, 1939 Saigon, Vietnam |
Years active | 1964–1980 |
Nai Bonet is a producer, screenwriter, actress, singer, and belly-dancer. Born Christine Shapazian on January 6, 1939 in Saigon, Vietnam. Bonet began her professional career at age 13, when she headlined as a belly-dancer in a show at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. [1] She began appearing in films in 1964 (frequently portraying a belly-dancer), as well as in television, commercials, variety shows, her photos adorned several album covers and she continued to appear as a night club headliner. In 1966 she released the novelty song Jelly Belly, [2] and she filmed a music video for the song [3] which was featured on Scopitone video jukeboxes. [4]
In the 1970s, Bonet decided to focus exclusively on her acting career, "But I wasn't getting anywhere in pictures," she said in 1978. [5] After conceiving, producing and starring in two film flops (1979's Nocturna and 1980's Hoodlums), Bonet gave up her career.
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1964 | Diary of a Bachelor | Bachelorette | |
1965 | John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! | Specialty Dancer | |
1965 | The Beverly Hillbillies | First Harem Girl | Episode: The Sheik |
1965 | Boeing Boeing | Air India Stewardess | uncredited |
1966 | The Spy with a Cold Nose | Belly Dancer | |
1967 | Devil's Angels | Tanya | |
1973 | Soul Hustler | Helena | |
1973 | The Soul of Nigger Charley | Anita | |
1977 | The Greatest | Suzie Gomez | |
1977 | Fairy Tales | Sheherazade | |
1979 | Nocturna | Nocturna | a.k.a. Nocturna: Granddaughter of Dracula |
1980 | Hoodlums | Loretta | a.k.a. Gangsters |
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