Italian entertainment icon Raffaella Carra' has died, Italian media report.

She was 78.

The news of her death was given by her long-standing partner Sergio Iapino.

Carra' was a singer, dancer, actoress and a TV presenter in a career spanning between the 1960s and 2000s.

She was an entertainment idol for many, and was able to compete in a male-dominated scenario with the likes of Corrado, Mike Bongiorno and Pippo Baudo.

Her most famous songs were "Rumore", "Com'e' bello far l'amore da Trieste in giu'" and "Salutala per me".

She presented popular TV shows such as Carramba che Sorpresa, Carramba che fortuna, Fantastico 3, Canzonissima, and Pronto? Raffaella.

For many years she worked for Italian State TV Rai, but in 1987 she had signed for Mediaset.

In the 1990s, she also conducted shows on Spanish TV.

She had later also presented the Sanremo Song Festival, for Rai, in 2001.

She was the first television personality to show her belly button on camera. This was met with heavy criticism from the Vatican and from Catholic churches in the countries that watched her show Canzonissima.

Carra' won the Telegatto - an honour for TV personalities - 13 times.

Her acting career started in 1952 with the film "Tormento del passato", and over the next 20 years dedicated most of her time to the cinema, before moving to more TV participation.