Lea Massari

Anna Maria Massetani (born 30 June 1933), known professionally as Lea Massari, is an Italian actress and singer.

Massetani was born in Rome and studied architecture in Switzerland. She adopted her stage name at the age of 22, after the sudden death of her fiancé Leo.

Massari became known 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).

Massari worked in both Italian and French cinema. Her career includes Sergio Leone's debut The Colossus of Rhodes (Il Colosso di Rodi, 1961) and international commercial films such as The Things of Life (Les choses de la vie, 1970).

Massari was a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1975.

Massari won the Nastro d'Argento for Best Supporting Actress award for her appearance in Francesco Rosi's Christ Stopped at Eboli (Cristo si è fermato a Eboli, 1979),.

Partial filmography

 * Proibito (1955) – Agnese Barras
 * Dreams in a Drawer (1957) – Lucia Moretti
 * Resurrection (1958) – Marja Pawlowna
 * L'avventura (1960) – Anna
 * From a Roman Balcony (1960) – Freja
 * Il Colosso di Rodi (1961) – Diala
 * A Difficult Life (1961) – Elena Pavinato
 * Morte di un bandito (1961) – Santa
 * Dreams Die at Dawn (1961) – Anna Miklos
 * Le Monte-charge (1962) – Marthe Dravet
 * The Four Days of Naples (1962) – Maria (uncredited)
 * The Captive City (1962) – Lelia Mendores
 * Weeping for a Bandit (1964) – María Jerónima
 * L'Insoumis (1964) – Dominique Servet
 * La coda del diavolo (1964)
 * Le Soldatesse (1965) – Toula Demantritza
 * Made in Italy (1965) – Monica (segment "1 'Usi e costumi', episode 3")
 * Il giardino delle delizie (1967) – Carlo's mistress
 * Volver a vivir (1968) – María
 * I Want Him Dead (1968) – Aloma
 * Les Choses de la vie (1970) – Catherine Bérard
 * Céleste (1970) – Hélène
 * Senza via d'uscita (1970) – Britt
 * Murmur of the Heart (1971) – Clara Chevalier
 * Paolo e Francesca (1971)
 * And Hope to Die (1972) – Sugar
 * La prima notte di quiete (1972) – Monica
 * La Femme en bleu (1973) – Aurélie
 *  (1973) – Maria Menela
 *  (1973) – Maria
 * Story of a Love Story (1973) – Woman
 *  (1974) – Hélène Noblet
 * Allonsanfàn (1974) – Charlotte
 * Peur sur la ville (1975) – Nora Elmer
 * Chi dice donna dice donna (1976) – Gilbert (segment "Papa e maman")
 *  (1976) – Gloria
 * La linea del fiume (1976) – Amanda Treves
 *  (1977) – Mère de François
 * Repérages (1977) – Cecilia
 * El perro (1977) – Muriel
 * Antonio Gramsci: The Days of Prison (1977) – Tania
 * Dirty Dreamer (1978) – Joséphe
 * Les Rendez-vous d'Anna (1978) – La mère d'Anna
 * Christ Stopped at Eboli (1979) – Luisa Levi
 * Le Divorcement (1979) – Rosa
 * La Flambeuse (1981) – Louise
 *  (1983) – Carla Angelli
 *  (1984) – Nelly
 * Segreti segreti (1984) – Marta, Laura's Mother
 * Viaggio d'amore (1990) – Zaira (final film role)