Acting

Lea Massari

Born 1933-06-30 · Roma, Lazio, Italy

Died 2025-06-23

Anna Maria Massetani better known as Lea Massari (30 June 1933 — 23 June 2025) was an Italian actress. When she was 22, she changed her name to Lea Massari after the death of her fiancé Leo. She studied architecture in Switzerland. Massari became a celebrity in art cinema for two roles, the missing girl Anna in Michelangelo Antonioni's L'avventura (1960), and as Clara, the mother of a sexually precocious 14-year-old boy named Laurent (Benoît Ferreux) in Louis Malle's Murmur of the Heart (1971). She worked in both Italian and French Cinema. Her career includes Sergio Leone's debut Il Colosso di Rodi, and international commercial films such as Les choses de la vie. She was a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1975. She won Nastro d'Argento as Best Supporting Actress for her role in Francesco Rosi's Christ Stopped at Eboli.

Credits

Newest first

Monica Vitti, une étoile dans la nuit
as Self (archive footage)
2017
Il était une fois Sergio Leone
as Self
2014
Journey of Love
as Zaira
1990
Una donna spezzata
1989
Una donna spezzata
Writer
1989
Secrets Secrets
as Marta
1985
The Seventh Target
as Nelly
1984
Return to Lisca Bianca Island
as Anna (voice) (archive footage)
1983
Sarah
as Carla Angelli
1983
La Flambeuse
as Louise
1981
Le Divorcement
as Rosa
1979
Christ Stopped at Eboli
as Luisa Levi
1979
The Meetings of Anna
as Anna's mother
1978
Sale rêveur
as Joséphe
1978
Edipo Re
as Iocasta
1977
A Dog Called... Vengeance
as Muriel
1977
Faces of Love
as Cecilia
1977
Antonio Gramsci: The Days of Prison
as Tania
1977
Violette & Francois
as Cécile Levene
1977
Stream Line
as Amanda Treves
1976
The Probability Factor
as Gloria
1976
Chi dice donna, dice donna
as Gilbert
1976
The Night Caller
as Norah Elmer
1975
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
as Self
1975
Midi Première
as Self
1975
Anna Karenina
as Anna Karenina
1974
Spécial cinéma
as Self
1974
Allonsanfan
as Charlotte
1974
Bloody Murder
as Helene Noblet
1974
Impossible Object
as Hippolyta
1973
The Son
as Maria
1973
The Silent One
as Maria
1973
The Woman in Blue
as Aurélie
1973
Indian Summer
as Monica
1972
And Hope to Die
as Sugar
1972
Midi trente
as Self
1972
Paolo e Francesca
1971
Devil's Ransom
as Britt
1971
Murmur of the Heart
as Clara Chevalier
1971
Céleste
as Hélène
1970
The Things of Life
as Catherine Bérard
1970
The Brothers Karamazov
as Agrafena Aleksàndrovna
1969
I Want Him Dead
as Aloma
1968
Volver a vivir
as María
1968
Garden of Delights
1967
The Misanthrope
as Célimène
1967
Io, Gigliola
1966
Made in Italy
as Monica (segment "1 'Usi e costumi', episode 3")
1965
The Camp Followers
as Toula
1965
The Unvanquished
as Dominique Servet
1964
Weeping for a Bandit
as María Jerónima
1964
Conquered City
as Lelia Mendores
1962
The Four Days of Naples
as Maria
1962
Paris Pick-Up
as Marthe Dravet
1962
A Difficult Life
as Elena Pavinato
1961
Dreams Die at Dawn
as Anna Miklos
1961
The Colossus of Rhodes
as Diala
1961
From a Roman Balcony
as Freya
1960
L'Avventura
as Anna
1960
Resurrection
as Maria Pawlowa
1958
I sogni nel cassetto
as Lucia Moretti
1957
Forbidden
as Agnese Barras
1955
Morte di un bandito
as Santa
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