Zoë Tamerlis Lund

Zoë Tamerlis Lund

Zoë Tamerlis Lund in 1993
Born Zoë Tamerlis
February 9, 1962
New York City, New York
Died April 16, 1999 (aged 37)
Paris, France
Other names Zoë Tamerlaine
Occupation Musician, model, actress, screenwriter
Spouse(s) Robert Lund (1986 - April 16, 1999)
Website
www.zoelund.com

Zoë Tamerlis Lund (February 9, 1962 – April 16, 1999), also known as Zoë Tamerlis and Zoë Tamerlaine, was an American musician, model, actress, author, producer and screenwriter.[1][2] She was best known for her association in two films with film director Abel Ferrara: Ms. 45 (1981), which she starred, and Bad Lieutenant (1992), which she wrote the screenplay.[3][4]

Early life

Lund was of Greek descent.[5] She was born on February 9, 1962[3] to mother Barbara Lekburg, a sculptor.[6]

Career

At a young age, Lund was an accomplished composer/musician; but the power of celluloid took a firmer grasp. "I could write a concerto with 17 violins that could be very powerful, but film works on a more visceral level where I can go into the collective audience and make sure my point gets across."[1]

Ms. 45

Lund made her debut in Abel Ferrara's Ms. 45 (1981). At the time she was only 17 years old during the making of the film.[1][7]

Lund said in an interview that she had a lot of input manifesting the character: "In the beginning stages of the film, the only material that existed was vague descriptions of several scenes. Being that my face is on camera, without dialogue, for something like 98% of the time, I was involved very much. As to the film being pro-woman, I go beyond that by saying that the film is as much pro-woman as it is pro-garment worker, whatever."[1]

Although it was not an immediate success, Ms. 45 eventually became a cult film in later years.[2]

1980s work

Not wanting to become part of what she called "Abel's stable" she marked her own career path and has not stopped since.[1]

Three years after Ms. 45 was released in 1981, Lund got her second chance to star in a movie, this time in a role that required her to play two different roles. Special Effects was written and directed by Larry Cohen. In it he cast Lund as a wannabe starlet who is murdered on film by a fallen director portrayed by Eric Bogosian, who then finds a lookalike to take her place in the movie he decides to make around the snuff footage. As the starlet, Lund's voice was dubbed by another actress, meaning it wasn’t until an hour into her second movie that audiences finally got to hear her distinctly New Yorker inflections.[2][3][4]

Lund also appeared in an episode of Miami Vice, and later appeared in Temístocles López's Exquisite Corpses (1989).[1][2][3]

Bad Lieutenant

Despite not wanting to become part of what she calls "Abel's stable",[1] Lund collaborated with Ferrara again on Bad Lieutenant (1992), which she co-wrote. Lund also agreed to appear in the film, playing the woman who helps Harvey Keitel’s title character freebase some heroin. It was a role she had spent years researching.[2]

According to Lund, "There was alot of rewriting done on the set. Two other characters were cut, and my character modulated and took on more and more. A lot of things had to be changed and improvised. The vampire speech — which is crucial to the Lieutenant — was written two minutes before it was shot. I memorized it and did it in one take. The speech is important because she is acute in knowing the journey the Lieutenant makes. She shoots him up, sends him off, knowing of his passion, she lets him go."[1]

Lund said in an interview that Bad Lieutenant was the most personal film she had ever acted in.[1]

Later career

Lund worked on unproduced screenplays about famous junkies such as John Holmes and Gia Carangi.[2] Lund also published several novels, including Curfew: USA and 490.[1]

Although she had never met supermodel Gia Carangi, she was working on a biographical screenplay of Carangi's life at the time of her death, and she appeared posthumously in the documentary The Self-Destruction of Gia.[3]

Personal life and death

Drug addiction

Lund was unapologetic about her heroin addiction. She wrote at length about heroin and advocated and romanticized its effects.[2] "She loved heroin, she was killed by heroin," Ferrara said on her heroin addiction. "...Zoe was one of these people who thought heroin was the greatest thing in the world, and she did until the day she died. She was down on coke, down on everything, but you know, heroin was the elixir of life for her."[7]

Religion

Lund said in an interview, "...I never lost my religion. I have always had a certain increasing awareness of religion...I do believe that the Gospel is the ultimate story. What is amazing about the book is that over the millennia, the gospel has become so refined to the point where the Christ story does present a very refined and highly charged model for the search for truth. We can use the book as a basis for our own path to spirituality and grace."[1]

Relationships

From 1980 to 1985 she was the companion of Edouard de Laurot.[8]

In 1986, Lund started dating her future namesake husband, Robert Lund. They lived together in an apartment located on 10th Street, and according to Paul Rachman, the Lunds reportedly owned "dozens of roaming pet rats." The couple were married later that same year. Although they never got divorced, Lund and her husband separated in 1997. Lund then moved to Paris afterwards.[6]

Death

Lund died in Paris on April 16, 1999 of heart failure, due to extended cocaine use, which replaced her long-term heroin use after her move to Paris in 1997.[1][3][4][6] She was 37.[2][4]

Legacy

In the early 2010s, American Hardcore director Paul Rachman made two documentary shorts about Lund's life: Zoe Rising and Zoe XO. The former short focused more on her childhood while the latter focused more on her relationship with Robert Lund.[6]

Abel Ferrara said of Lund in a 2012 interview, " Zoe was a brilliant, creative person before the drugs, the drugs just killed her."[7]

Filmography

Film
Year Film Role Notes
1981 Ms. 45 Thana Credited as Zoë Tamerlis
Alternative title: Angel of Vengeance
1984 Special Effects Andrea Wilcox/Elaine Credited as Zoe Tamerlis
Terror in the Aisles Thana archival footage
1989 The Houseguest Marla Credited as Zoe Tamerlaine
Exquisite Corpses Belinda Maloney Credited as Zoë Tamerlis
1992 Bad Lieutenant Zoe Writer
1993 Hot Ticket Direct-to-video release
Director, writer
1994 Hand Gun Zelda
Dreamland Caroline
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1985 Miami Vice Miranda 1 episode
1988 Hothouse Chickie 7 episodes

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 Zoe Tamerlis Lund interview
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Mott, Allan (7 November 2012). "Pretty In The Past: Zoë Lund". Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 "Zoë Lund (Tamerlis)". filmfanatics.net. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Angel of Vengeance, Casualty of Obsession: Zoe Tamerlis". 1 May 2009. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  5. ↑ Claire Perkins, Constantine Verevis (eds.), Film Trilogies: New Critical Approaches, p.148. Palgrave Macmillan, 2012, ISBN 0230371949
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Macaulay, Scott (1 November 2011). "FILMMAKER PAUL RACHMAN REMEMBERS ZOE LUND". Filmmaker. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Walker, Luke (15 March 2012). "Breaking Bad: The Second Coming of Abel Ferrara". Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  8. ↑ Taylor & Francis Online :: Edouard de Laurot: Engagement as ... www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09528822.2011.545614 by N Brenez - 2011 "7 Mar 2011 – Sketching out de Laurot's life, his companion the actress, scriptwriter and novelist Zoë Lund Tamerlis said: It is nearly impossible to believe all that can happen in the life of just one man, ... 'Entretien avec Zoë Lund', in 'Fury – le Cinéma d'action .."

External links