He introduced sex and glamour to Italian TV, and then brought the same formula to politics, dominating the country and its culture for more than 20 years.
Daughter of Italian and Jewish American parents, Elly Schlein wants to remake the center-left opposition to Giorgia Meloni, if only her party can survive it.
Inflation and anxiety over nuclear weapons may be eating into some popular support for the war, but key governments remain insulated from the pressures for now.
Her nationalist party was the top vote-getter, leaving Ms. Meloni poised to be Italy’s first female prime minister and the first with post-Fascist roots.