Jo Champa is an actress, producer, and model born on January 23, 1968, in Long Branch, New Jersey, and raised in Rome, Italy. She began modeling as a teenager and was one of Gianni Versace's favorite models before turning to acting in the Italian film industry in 1986. She appeared in films by directors such as Claude d'Anna, Ettore Scola, Massimo Troisi, and Damiano Damiani. In the early 1990s, she acted in American films including Steven Seagal's Out for Justice (1991), Bernardo Bertolucci's Little Buddha (1993), and Don Juan DeMarco (1994). Later, she guest-starred in TV series like Walker, Texas Ranger, JAG, and CSI: Miami. She also appeared in Sofia Coppola's Somewhere (2010).
In 2016, Champa created, co-wrote, co-produced, and hosted "Jo's Hollywood," a docu-reality series about Hollywood's history aired on SkyCinema Italy. She has hosted the fashion TV show Kermesse for RAI TV and contributed as an editor and columnist to the Italian editions of Vogue and L'Uomo Vogue. In 2009, she received the America Award from the Italy-USA Foundation. She produced the Academy tribute event to Sophia Loren and the launch of the Andrea Bocelli Foundation in 2011, including a prime time special for Sky Italia. In 2012, she hosted an event at MOMA for Susan Rockefeller’s documentary Mission of Mermaids and in 2015 hosted a gala for Sky Italy for Andrea Bocelli's charitable foundation.
United States
