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.
Filmography
Cast Credits
Archaeology of a Set: Return to Lisca Bianca
Character: Anna (archive footage) (uncredited)
MOVIE • 2017
Monica Vitti, une étoile dans la nuit
Character: Self (archive footage)
MOVIE • 2017
Il était une fois Sergio Leone
Character: Self
MOVIE • 2014
Journey of Love
Character: Zaira
MOVIE • 1990
Una donna spezzata
Character:
MOVIE • 1988
Secrets Secrets
Character: Marta
MOVIE • 1985
The Seventh Target
Character: Nelly
MOVIE • 1984
Return to Lisca Bianca Island
Character: Anna (voice) (archive footage)
MOVIE • 1983
Sarah
Character: Carla Angelli
MOVIE • 1983
La Flambeuse
Character: Louise
MOVIE • 1981
Le divorcement
Character: Rosa
MOVIE • 1979
Christ Stopped at Eboli
Character: Luisa Levi
MOVIE • 1979
The Meetings of Anna
Character: Anna's mother
MOVIE • 1978
Sale rêveur
Character: Joséphe
MOVIE • 1978
Edipo Re
Character: Iocasta
MOVIE • 1977
A Dog Called... Vengeance
Character: Muriel
MOVIE • 1977
Faces of Love
Character: Cecilia
MOVIE • 1977
Antonio Gramsci: The Days of Prison
Character: Tania
MOVIE • 1977
Violette & Francois
Character: Cécile Levene
MOVIE • 1977
Stream Line
Character: Amanda Treves
MOVIE • 1976
Crew