Polish-born Barbara Lass' was on track to a career as a dancer when, at the age of 17 in 1957, she won a contest hosted by a movie magazine and was offered a film role as a result. By 1959, she left Poland for western Europe and an international film career that spanned three decades and 30 films. She also changed her last name from the very Polish Kwiatkowska to the very simple Lass.
Lass was seen mostly in comedies, as befitting her cute appearance, but she did manage to squeeze in a few horror roles, such as "Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory", "Effie Breist" and "The Thorn in the Flesh."
Barbara Lass was once married to convicted child rapist Roman Polanski. She married him in 1959 when she was 19 and he was 26, but they divorced in 1961. It's easy to see what attracted Polanski to Lass, and even easier to imagine why she divorced him.
Lass died in 1995 at the age of 54 from a brain hemorrhage.
Another one I'm not familiar with, but she's a cutie - in the picture she's got a bit of a Barbara Steele vibe, but a little less...worldly...or maybe otherworldly...
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear she passed so young. Great post, Steve!
Roman Polanski is also a brilliant director, whose artistic legacy. like it or not, will endure. There was that statutory rape, yes...bad.Don't we all know that already?
ReplyDeleteReally, we don't need to be reminded by you via such a cheap shot. God I hate you moral vigilantes who seek to obscure all vestiges of worth and define a mans life by employing some kind of populist vilification..
Apparently, you do need to be reminded by me via such a cheap shot.
ReplyDeleteRoman Polanski is a rapist and a coward who fled and ultimately escaped justice.