Lea Massari
Known for: Acting
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.
Filmography
Series
Midi Première
Self
1975
Series
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
Self
1975
Series
Spécial cinéma
Self
1974
Series
Midi trente
Self
1972
Film
Murmur of the Heart
Clara Chevalier
1971
Film
The Things of Life
Catherine Bérard
1970
Film
The Colossus of Rhodes
Diala
1961
Film
Indian Summer
Monica
1972
Series
Io, Gigliola
1966
Film
The Night Caller
Norah Elmer
1975
Film
L'Avventura
Anna
1960
Film
And Hope to Die
Sugar
1972
Film
The Meetings of Anna
Anna's mother
1978
Film
The Four Days of Naples
Maria
1962
Series
Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina
1974
Film
I Want Him Dead
Aloma
1968
Film
The Camp Followers
Toula
1965
Series
The Brothers Karamazov
Agrafena Aleksàndrovna
1969
Film
The Probability Factor
Gloria
1976
Film
Faces of Love
Cecilia
1977
Film
Il était une fois Sergio Leone
Self
2014
Film
A Difficult Life
Elena Pavinato
1961
Film
Stream Line
Amanda Treves
1976
Film
Christ Stopped at Eboli
Luisa Levi
1979
Film
The Woman in Blue
Aurélie
1973
Film
Secrets Secrets
Marta
1985
Film
The Seventh Target
Nelly
1984
Film
Allonsanfan
Charlotte
1974
Film
The Silent One
Maria
1973
Film
A Dog Called... Vengeance
Muriel
1977
Morte di un bandito
Santa
Film
Bloody Murder
Helene Noblet
1974
Film
Monica Vitti, une étoile dans la nuit
Self (archive footage)
2017
Film
Chi dice donna, dice donna
Gilbert
1976
Film
Paris Pick-Up
Marthe Dravet
1962
Film
Weeping for a Bandit
María Jerónima
1964
Film
Conquered City
Lelia Mendores
1962
Sale rêveur
Joséphe
1978
Film
Sarah
Carla Angelli
1983
Film
Return to Lisca Bianca Island
Anna (voice) (archive footage)
1983
Film
Antonio Gramsci: The Days of Prison
Tania
1977
Film
Devil's Ransom
Britt
1971
Film
Made in Italy
Monica (segment "1 'Usi e costumi', episode 3")
1965
Film
From a Roman Balcony
Freya
1960
Film
Garden of Delights
1967
Film
Céleste
Hélène
1970
Film
The Unvanquished
Dominique Servet
1964
Film
Journey of Love
Zaira
1990
Film
I sogni nel cassetto
Lucia Moretti
1957
Film
Resurrection
Maria Pawlowa
1958
Film
Impossible Object
Hippolyta
1973
Film
Dreams Die at Dawn
Anna Miklos
1961
Film
The Son
Maria
1973
Film
Violette & Francois
Cécile Levene
1977
Film
Edipo Re
Iocasta
1977
The Misanthrope
Célimène
1967
Film
Volver a vivir
María
1968
Film
Forbidden
Agnese Barras
1955
Una donna spezzata
1988
Film
Paolo e Francesca
1971
Film
Le Divorcement
Rosa
1979
Film
La Flambeuse
Louise
1981