Biography
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.
Acted in 52
1990s
- 1990
Journey of Love
Zaira
1980s
- 1985
- 1984
- 1983
Return to Lisca Bianca Island
Anna (voice) (archive footage)
Sarah
Carla Angelli
- 1981
La Flambeuse
Louise
1970s
- 1979
Le Divorcement
Rosa
Christ Stopped at Eboli
Luisa Levi
- 1978
The Meetings of Anna
Anna's mother
- 1977
Edipo Re
Iocasta
A Dog Called... Vengeance
Muriel
Faces of Love
Cecilia
Antonio Gramsci: The Days of Prison
Tania
Violette & Francois
Cécile Levene
- 1976
Stream Line
Amanda Treves
Chi dice donna, dice donna
Gilbert
- 1975
- 1974
Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina · 6 episodes
Bloody Murder
Helene Noblet
- 1973
Impossible Object
Hippolyta
The Son
Maria
The Silent One
Maria
The Woman in Blue
Aurélie
- 1972
And Hope to Die
Sugar
- 1971
Paolo e Francesca
Movie
Devil's Ransom
Britt
- 1970
Céleste
Hélène
1960s
- 1969
The Brothers Karamazov
Agrafena Aleksàndrovna · 7 episodes
- 1968
Volver a vivir
María
- 1967
Garden of Delights
Movie
- 1966
Io, Gigliola
TV
- 1965
Made in Italy
Monica (segment "1 'Usi e costumi', episode 3")
The Camp Followers
Toula
- 1964
The Unvanquished
Dominique Servet
- 1962
The Four Days of Naples
Maria
- 1961
A Difficult Life
Elena Pavinato
Dreams Die at Dawn
Anna Miklos
- 1960
From a Roman Balcony
Freya
1950s
- 1958
Resurrection
Maria Pawlowa
- 1957
I sogni nel cassetto
Lucia Moretti
- 1955
Forbidden
Agnese Barras
Appearances6
2010s
- 2017
Monica Vitti, une étoile dans la nuit
Self (archive footage)
- 2014
Il était une fois Sergio Leone
Self
