Lila Kedrova

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Lila Kedrova

Lila Kedrova (born October 9, 1918 - February 16, 2000) was an Academy Award-winning Russian-born actress in French cinema.

Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Kedrova spent most of her life in France.

In 1932, she joined the Moscow Art Theatre touring company. Then her film career began, mostly in French films, until her first English appearance in 1964 as Mme Hortense in Zorba the Greek. Her performance won her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. She then went on to play a series of eccentric or batty ladies in several Hollywood films.

In 1983, she reprised her role as Mme Hortense in the Broadway musical version of Zorba the Greek, winning both a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical and a Drama Desk Award in the process. In 1989 she played Madame Armfeldt in the London revival of A Little Night Music.

[edit] Partial filmography

Films she has played in include:

Zorba the Greek (1964), for which she won an Oscar.
A High Wind in Jamaica (1965)
Torn Curtain (1966)
Les Amants de Montparnasse (1968)
The Kremlin Letter (1970)
The Tenant (Le Locataire) (1976)
Tell Me a Riddle (1980) (Golden Mask award)
Testament (1983)
Sword of Valiant (1984)
Some Girls (1988)
La Prossima Volta il Fuoco (1993)

Lila Kedrova died at her summer home in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, of pneumonia, after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.

Preceded by: Margaret Rutherford for The V.I.P.s	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress 1964 for Zorba the Greek	Succeeded by: Shelley Winters for A Patch of Blue