Nicolina Elizabeth Farruggia (1 June 1951 – 18 January 2019), popularly as Lena Farugia, was an American-born South African actress, screenwriter, director and producer. She is best known for the roles in the films ''The Gods Must Be Crazy II'' and ''The Sandgrass People''.

Personal life

Farugia was born on 1 June 1951 and grew up in

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...

, USA. Her father, Giuseppe Farruggia, was a supervisor for the Penn Central railroad company. Her mother, Grazia "Grace" Grassi, was a designer with a fashion house. She studied at Thomas Moore College, and dance from

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

. She later completed her MA in history from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. In 1977, she married South African filmmaker, Robert Davies, but later divorced. Then on 28 August 1996, she married again. Farugia died on 18 January 2019 in South Africa at the age of 67.

Career

After joining with some theatre works, she followed courses in film editing at

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. In the meantime, she acted in

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and dinner theatre productions. After the marriage, she moved to South Africa with her then husband and started acting again. In 1976, she starred in a French television series ''Les Diamants du Président''. Then in 1977, she moved to South Africa and acted in the film ''Mister Deathman''. Along with her then husband, she formed the production company "Davnic Productions". In 1987, they produced the drama ''Saturday Night'' at the Palace directed by Davies. In 1981 and 1982, she joined the first two seasons of the television series ''Westgate'', both directed by Edgar Bold. In 1989, she played the female lead role as "Dr. Ann Taylor" in the blockbuster movie ''The Gods Must Be Crazy II'' directed by

Jamie Uys Jacobus Johannes Uys (; 30 May 1921 – 29 January 1996), better known as Jamie Uys, was a South African film director, best known for directing the 1980 comedy film ''The Gods Must Be Crazy'' and its 1989 sequel ''The Gods Must Be Crazy II''. ...

. After that success, she played another lead role as "Elizabeth Carter" in the film ''The Sandgrass People'' directed by Koos Roets. In 2005, she scripted, directed and edited the documentary film ''An African in Paris''. Other than cinema and television, she performed in many stage plays such as: ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' (1982), ''Agnes of God'' (1983) and ''Extremities'' (1984). In 1989, she wrote and acted in the play ''We and Them''.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Farugia, Lena 1951 births 2019 deaths American emigrants to South Africa Naturalised citizens of South Africa South African film actresses White South African people South African television actresses Actresses from New York City American people of Italian descent South African people of Italian descent 21st-century American women