BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Porn and politics usually don’t go hand in hand unless there’s some scandal brewing. But in Argentina, having been the first performer to appear fully nude in a film is a welcomed credential for government work.
Unlike American adult stars including Mary Carey and Stormy Daniels whose political aspirations fell short for a number of reasons, ‘60’s and ‘70’s Argentinean softcore film star Isabel Sarli has been named her nation’s official ambassador of pop culture.
The 77-year-old undersecretary was appointed by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and will work with the Ministry of Culture.
Although the 1955 Miss Argentina was best known for her hourglass figure and appearing in more than 30 titillating sexploitation films including “Fire,” “Meat,” “Love and Sex,” “The Virgin Goddess,” “Naked Temptation,” and “Tropical Ecstasy” that were labeled “dirty” by censors, Kirchner said she will be a true representative of national culture.
"It is as much for her acting skills in films as for being considered a popular icon of her day and an emblematic figure of Argentine cinema,” Kirchner said.
Sarli was nicknamed “La Coca,” either because of her Coa-Cola bottle shaped figure or her fondness for the soft drink.
Filmmaker Armando Bo whom she later married and appeared as her lover in a number of her films, discovered the former adult star and cast her in the 1956 film “Thunder in the Leaves.”
Tame by today’s standards, Sarli’s complete nudity and performances shocked moviegoers in the pre-porn days.
In an interview with The Film Society Of Lincoln Center in 2010 she recounted a rape scene in the movie “Flesh,” that turned her off to meat.
"The rape scene at the meat packing plant was horrible. In the famous scene when I'm thrown down on the carcass of meat, a piece of fat fell off the hook on to my face, right near my lips.
"It was disgusting, but I had to stay still. It affected me a lot — to this day, I eat very little meat."
The star retired from film in 1981.
