Lena Farugia

FARUGIA, Lena. ((19*-) Actress, model, TV personality.

Biography

Born in New York City in the United States, she has been living and working in South Africa since 1977, the year she married a South African.

Training

Trained at the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts, the Lee Strasberg Institute and the Herbert Berghof Studio.

Career

Quoted from the programme of Agnes of God wherein she played the role of Agnes in 1983: 'Off-off Broadway and dinner theatre productions included House of Bernarda Alba, Bedtime Story, Lovers and Other Strangers. Bit and feature parts in film shot in and around New York followed, including Prince of Central Park for television, and Baron Wolfgang von Trapp. A featured role in a film entitled Seen Dimly Before Dawn led to co-starring in a French television series with Michel Constantine, Les Aventures Africaines. At this time Lena married a South African and came to live in Cape Town.'

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

She starred in Aubrey Berg’s production of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof together with Ron Smerczak andVictor Winding for PACT in 1982. This play opened at the State Theatre before moving to the Alexander Theatre. She starred in Pieter Toerien’s production of Agnes of God together with Pauline Bailey and Fiona Ramsay which was directed by Nikolas Simmonds at the Baxter Theatre and the Alhambra Theatre in 1983. She starred in Mastrosimone’s Extremities together with Michael Richard with direction by Hugh Wooldridge for Pieter Toerien in 1984. She wrote and starred in We and Them at the Leonard Rayne in 1989. **

For television she acted in The Fiddler and The Bear. On film she appeared in The Sandgrass People. In 1987 she co-produced and edited the screen version of Saturday Night at the Palace.

Continued quote from Agnes of God's programme: 'Apart from her appearance in the locally produced feature film Sharpies, she didn't act for almost three years and worked instead on film production mainly as a film editor and screen writer. She wrote and edited a six-part series for SATV entitled Land of the Thirst King, as well as So Reg Na My Smaak hosted by Pieter-Dirk Uys, for which she was nominated for a best script award that year. She returned to acting with Westgate for SATV for which she won a 1982 Tonight Award. She most recently starred in PACT's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.'

Sources

We and Them programme notes, 1989.

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