![Veronica Lazăr](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w185/dnKrX2ICWB4Pe4EsbCpA8O6Nard.jpg)
Veronica Lazăr
Veronica Lazăr (6 October 1938 – 8 June 2014) was a Romanian-born Italian actress.
Lazăr was born in Bucharest in 1938. She graduated from the Caragiale Academy of Theatrical Arts and Cinematography (where she also obtained a degree in psychology, which she practiced until 1994, dealing mainly in couples therapy) and subsequently played roles in Romanian theatre [notably a run of Right You Are (if you think so) in 1963-64]. She fled her home country to escape communism and eventually settled in Italy in 1965. She managed to learn the Italian language in only a few weeks and had planned to move on to the United States or Israel, but became entranced with Rome. There, she met and married Italian actor Adolfo Celi with whom she had two children, director Leonardo Celi and actress Alessandra Celi.
She made her screen debut as Marlon Brando's deceased wife in Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris (1972), and also appeared in some of the director's subsequent films, La Luna (1979), The Sheltering Sky (1990), and Besieged (1998).
Lazăr is probably best known internationally for her role as the demonic Mater Tenebrarum in Dario Argento's Inferno (1980), as well as the ill-fated Martha in Lucio Fulci's The Beyond (1981). She later appeared in Argento's The Stendhal Syndrome (1996) in a role that was removed from the North American version (though she is still billed in the end credits). Her other films included Michelangelo Antonioni's Identification of a Woman (1982), My Sister and I (1987), Towards Evening (1990), The Prince's Manuscript (2000) and Ginostra (2002). She had an extensive career in (mostly) Italian television, where she was often the lead or one of the lead characters. Lazăr headlined the 1978 adaptation of The Elective Affinities, Giacinta (1980) and was a big part of the 1989 BBC miniseries Summer's Lease. Her last role was that of the main character Lorenzo's loving grandmother in Bertolucci's Me and You (2012).
Veronica Lazăr was a renowned woman of culture and a cultural ambassador between Italian and Romanian cinema (the latter, a position she began in 1989). She was a linguistic interpreter and was seen as a symbolic figure with a protective aura by her countrymen in both Italy and Romania. She was also president of the Itaro Art Foundation and was instrumental in its 2007 retrospective on Romanian cinema held in Rome and Pisa. She was heavily involved with the acting students at Teatro Valle and often would cook meals for them at her home and bring them to the theatre. The students there nicknamed her "Nonna Veronica."
Lazăr also coordinated the construction of a hospital in Mali over the course of a year, on orders of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. When she returned to Italy, she brought with her African fabrics, statues, and carpets, many of which were still in her home when she died. Lazăr loved to play cards, share with her friends, and had a special affinity for the sea. At her funeral, she wanted her 18-year-old niece, a career musician already, to play the theme from Schindler's List throughout the Jewish cemetery in Prima Porta where she was laid to rest.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Veronica Lazăr, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 12.288 |
Birthday | 1938-10-06 |
Place of Birth | Bucharest, Romania |
Also Known As |
![Last Tango in Paris](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/dNgdUdNOWfHsZI3lDu6Epig7H2P.jpg)
1972
![Last Tango in Paris](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/dNgdUdNOWfHsZI3lDu6Epig7H2P.jpg)
Last Tango in Paris
7/1180
A recently widowed American begins an anonymous sexual relationship with a young Parisian woman.
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Last Tango in Paris
![Luna](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/4mO1Asyzl3gmuvFWYtfzI73LhXQ.jpg)
1979
![Luna](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/4mO1Asyzl3gmuvFWYtfzI73LhXQ.jpg)
Luna
6.409/93
While touring in Italy, a recently-widowed American opera singer has an incestuous relationship with her 15-year-old son to help him overcome his hero...
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Luna
![Paura: Lucio Fulci Remembered - Volume 1](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/6tWOhMCy8VmyCDUeW5okuh04p8G.jpg)
2008
![Paura: Lucio Fulci Remembered - Volume 1](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/6tWOhMCy8VmyCDUeW5okuh04p8G.jpg)
Paura: Lucio Fulci Remembered - Volume 1
6/3
This documentary examines the life and legacy of controversial Italian filmmaker Lucio Fulci through interviews with his colleagues, each of whom answ...
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Paura: Lucio Fulci Remembered - Volume 1
![Inferno](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/4ZNKoKl2JrKbium8ZncmxrwpeaW.jpg)
1980
![Inferno](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/4ZNKoKl2JrKbium8ZncmxrwpeaW.jpg)
Inferno
6.7/584
A young man returns from Rome to his sister's satanic New York apartment house.
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Inferno
![Identification of a Woman](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/kdYb8WOQwMADvzOIeIhQzmvlInT.jpg)
1982
![Identification of a Woman](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/kdYb8WOQwMADvzOIeIhQzmvlInT.jpg)
Identification of a Woman
5.9/63
The movie director Niccolò has just been left by his wife. Subsequently he embarks on an obsessive relationship with a young woman who eventually leav...
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Identification of a Woman
![Adolfo Celi, a Man for Two Worlds](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/rn7RKgZ8v2nxPt8VKYpRMQLLjrT.jpg)
2006
![Adolfo Celi, a Man for Two Worlds](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/rn7RKgZ8v2nxPt8VKYpRMQLLjrT.jpg)
Adolfo Celi, a Man for Two Worlds
0/0
italian documentary
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Adolfo Celi, a Man for Two Worlds
![Me and You](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/bvwPVIo33VT192KRx4aBiWTQ5Fc.jpg)
2012
![Me and You](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/bvwPVIo33VT192KRx4aBiWTQ5Fc.jpg)
Me and You
6.18/225
An introverted teenager tells his parents he is going on a ski trip, but instead spends his time alone in his mom's basement. But things didn't go as...
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Me and You
![The Stendhal Syndrome](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/ttgMlgv76nbh3vwRl91P4JkgroA.jpg)
1996
![The Stendhal Syndrome](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/ttgMlgv76nbh3vwRl91P4JkgroA.jpg)
The Stendhal Syndrome
5.559/245
A young policewoman slowly goes insane while tracking down an elusive serial rapist/killer through Italy when she herself becomes a victim of the brut...
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The Stendhal Syndrome
![My Sister and I](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/jzVrzAgf2Ea8KoVGFNNe4eEptBY.jpg)
1987
![My Sister and I](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/jzVrzAgf2Ea8KoVGFNNe4eEptBY.jpg)
My Sister and I
6.402/66
Carlo is a responsible sibling who deals with his black-sheep sister Silvia in this situation comedy. When Silvia returns after many years to attend h...
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My Sister and I
![Towards Evening](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/jD0y2mzrzRjwKU8ESDVFRtGMaqX.jpg)
1990
![Towards Evening](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/jD0y2mzrzRjwKU8ESDVFRtGMaqX.jpg)
Towards Evening
7.1/13
Italy, 1977. Professor Bruschi is a retired widower who lives according to a strict routine he set for himself. An ardent old-style communist, he has...
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Towards Evening
![Beyond the Clouds](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/dFvjnu8NxaGlJUuNHTsaw4Ng5ee.jpg)
1995
![Beyond the Clouds](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/dFvjnu8NxaGlJUuNHTsaw4Ng5ee.jpg)
Beyond the Clouds
6.2/117
Made of four short tales, linked by a story filmed by Wim Wenders. Taking place in Ferrara, Portofino, Aix en Provence and Paris, each story, which al...
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Beyond the Clouds
![The Wings of the Dove](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/2DEAGoLQqFSTt11mnugjXlL4Wbh.jpg)
1981
![The Wings of the Dove](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/2DEAGoLQqFSTt11mnugjXlL4Wbh.jpg)
The Wings of the Dove
5.235/16
A 20th-century prostitute (Dominique Sanda) arranges for her lover (Michele Placido) to wed a wealthy, dying millionairess (Isabelle Huppert) in Venic...
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The Wings of the Dove
![Leopardi](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/4Lv3SME2Dz8WNOrP1xqFXCL9aJI.jpg)
2014
![Leopardi](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/4Lv3SME2Dz8WNOrP1xqFXCL9aJI.jpg)
Leopardi
6.806/648
In 19th-century Italy, Giacomo Leopardi channels his debilitating illness and isolation into poetry.
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Leopardi
![Elective Affinities](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/puhDt71t2TjYniZRNSQFnzKO5zU.jpg)
1978
![Elective Affinities](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/puhDt71t2TjYniZRNSQFnzKO5zU.jpg)
Elective Affinities
0/0
Adaptation of Goethe's novel.
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Elective Affinities
![Besieged](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/ZV18CMRVkUT119mmkGCz6mj6AD.jpg)
1998
![Besieged](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/ZV18CMRVkUT119mmkGCz6mj6AD.jpg)
Besieged
6.7/58
When an African dictator jails her husband, Shandurai goes into exile in Italy, studying medicine and keeping house for Mr. Kinsky, an eccentric Engli...
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Besieged
![The Beyond](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/TkMDD7R9y84ZTfS8mtU1oIxKvd.jpg)
1981
![The Beyond](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/TkMDD7R9y84ZTfS8mtU1oIxKvd.jpg)
The Beyond
6.912/553
A young woman inherits an old hotel in Louisiana where, following a series of supernatural "accidents", she learns that the building was built over on...
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The Beyond
![Ginostra](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/cIwh5FLN2KSFIrg2VrVaFApnf0k.jpg)
2003
![Ginostra](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/cIwh5FLN2KSFIrg2VrVaFApnf0k.jpg)
Ginostra
4.6/7
An FBI Agent from America and his bride and young child travel to the Sicilian island of Ginostra to solve the murder of a key witness.
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Ginostra
![The Prince's Manuscript](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/hHqj62G9CnfmoChOGBnkSHU1BC3.jpg)
2000
![The Prince's Manuscript](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/hHqj62G9CnfmoChOGBnkSHU1BC3.jpg)
The Prince's Manuscript
8.2/2
The film is a biography of Giuseppe Tomasi (Bouquet), the prince of Lampedusa, who is the author of Il gattopardo, one of the most influential Italian...
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The Prince's Manuscript
![The Blonde](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/86aa28zt3Gjdwj3B0lboJRLbNFu.jpg)
1993
![The Blonde](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/86aa28zt3Gjdwj3B0lboJRLbNFu.jpg)
The Blonde
0/0
Coming back from work by night, shy watchmaker Tommaso runs over a girl with his car, luckily without serious consequences. Next day he finds her wait...
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The Blonde
![The Sheltering Sky](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/2SNkn51tC6tQ90DFipOhhjF5eCM.jpg)
1990
![The Sheltering Sky](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/2SNkn51tC6tQ90DFipOhhjF5eCM.jpg)
The Sheltering Sky
6.535/258
An American couple drift toward emptiness in postwar North Africa.
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The Sheltering Sky
![Renzo e Lucia](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/A3kQeZrCBxhahXvEuGIA8ikM8Sk.jpg)
2004
![Renzo e Lucia](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/A3kQeZrCBxhahXvEuGIA8ikM8Sk.jpg)
Renzo e Lucia
0/0
Loose adaptation of Italy's national epic, Alessandro Manzoni's “The Betrothed”. In war-torn 17th century Italy, shady feudal lord Don Rodrigo eyes yo...
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Renzo e Lucia
![Twins](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/jxUkD5Wz1aaYn7L982YS3qT6Z26.jpg)
2012
![Twins](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/jxUkD5Wz1aaYn7L982YS3qT6Z26.jpg)
Twins
0/0
Angela Wyler asks police chief Valerio Strada to find Christine, her twin who she hasn't heard in two years and who had a stormy relationship with the...
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