Lisa Montell

About Lisa Montell

Who is it?: Actress, Soundtrack
Birth Day: July 05, 1933
Birth Place:  Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland, Poland
Other names: Lisa Montell
Occupation: Actor, author
Years active: 1955–1962
Spouse(s): Azenat Janti/David Janti (?-?) (divorced)
Children: 1

Lisa Montell

Lisa Montell was born on July 05, 1933 in  Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland, Poland, is Actress, Soundtrack. Smoulderingly beautiful and a fetching, exotic-eyed vision on the American screen during the 1950s and early 1960s, dark-maned Lisa Montell impressed more, especially to male film-goers, as a lovely diversion midst all the rugged terrain and tropical South Sea hazards than as a formidable actress. Similar in beauty and allure to the stunning Debra Paget and France Nuyen, the "Starlet of Many Faces" had a strong knack for ethnic accents and managed to play a variety of foreign types over her relatively brief time before the camera (Peruvian, Mexican, French, Italian, Burmese, Polynesian). Her film resume, which would include such cult-oriented classics as Daughter of the Sun God (1962), World Without End (1956) and the Roger Corman cheapies Naked Paradise (1957) and She Gods of Shark Reef (1958) were nearly all "B" and "C" grade (or worse) in scope and she eventually tired of the lack of challenge. She abandoned her career at the height of her beauty (around 1962) but found immense personal rewards in later decades as a spiritual exponent of the Bahá'í faith.Although Lisa was born Irena Ludmilla Vladimiovna Augustinovich in Warsaw, Poland, on July 5, 1933, she was not raised there and did not keep her given name for long. Of Russian-Polish descent, she was born to privilege. She and her family managed to flee safely to the United States just months before the Nazi invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. Her father, a successful businessman, changed the family name to Montwill and Irena's name was adjusted to Irene. The family moved into a spacious Fifth Avenue apartment in New York City and generously took in Polish refugees (both friends and family) as needed during WWII.Lisa studied art, voice and dance in Forest Hills and eventually was accepted into the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan. She later transferred to the High School for the Performing Arts where she developed an interest in acting. Following graduation, she attended the University of Miami (Florida) for a semester before her father, whose business involved iron mines in Peru, relocated the family to Lima. While there Lisa again studied drama in American-based acting workshops that were set up there. She received her first professional break in 1953 after being noticed and cast by Hollywood producers searching for local female leads for a film they were shooting in Peru.The film was called Daughter of the Sun God (1962) and it was set in the Peruvian jungles. Lisa plays a young adventurous blonde explorer on an expedition who is not only threatened by raging waters, desert heat and native ritualistic practices, but by various wildlife as well (crocodiles, pumas and gigantic snakes, to name a few). The film had financial problems and was so poorly made that it was held up nearly a decade before it was finally bought and released to the American market in 1962.While enjoying a South American jet-set life in Peru, Lisa went on to appear in a handful of other local films before learning of Hollywood's interest in her despite the unsuccessful marketing of her debut film. Following her father's untimely death, Lisa and her mother moved to Los Angeles where the ethnic-looking wannabe found work cast on TV as Eurasian, Latina and Native-American types.Billed as Irene Montwill, Lisa's first Hollywood film was Warner Bros.' Jump Into Hell (1955), a French Indochina (pre-Vietnam) war picture in which she played a French love interest to European soldier 'Peter Van Eyck'. The studio then put her under a temporary contract and she changed her name to the more exotic moniker of Lisa Montell. Despite more second-lead exposure in the RKO films, Escape to Burma (1955), a tea plantation drama starring Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Ryan, and Pearl of the South Pacific (1955), a tropical South Seas adventure with Virginia Mayo and Dennis Morgan, Lisa was not able to up her status in Hollywood.After filming the minor western, The Wild Dakotas (1956), she appeared in one of her better-remembered pictures, the cult sci-fi film, World Without End (1956), with Hugh Marlowe and Rod Taylor, which takes place on Earth in the 26th century. She went on to play a small role as a ballet dancer in the Leslie Caron MGM drama, Gaby (1956), and was also one of the Italian Martelli sisters (the others being Anna Maria Alberghetti, Eva Bartok and Lisa Gaye) in the musical comedy, Ten Thousand Bedrooms (1957), starring Dean Martin. On the western front, she appeared, with Chuck Connors, as an Indian maiden in Tomahawk Trail (1957). Things moved in a cult-like direction for Lisa with her tropical female roles in Roger Corman's Naked Paradise (1957) and She Gods of Shark Reef (1958), both filmed in the same spot in Hawaii. If nothing else, she got to show off her great figure and underwater swimming skills. Over the years, scores of adventurous guest roles came Lisa's way on TV, notably westerns, including the popular series as The Gene Autry Show (1950), Broken Arrow (1956), Tales of Wells Fargo (1957), Colt .45 (1957), Have Gun - Will Travel (1957), Sugarfoot (1957), Cheyenne (1955), Bat Masterson (1958) and Maverick (1957). Outside the western genre, came a few varied performances in everything from comedy (The Ann Sothern Show (1958)) to hip action adventure (Surfside 6 (1960)).Once wed to fellow actor David Janti, Lisa's last film was the minor "B" western, The Firebrand (1962), starring Kent Taylor. She retired soon after and devoted herself, exclusively, to educational pursuits as well as her Bahá'í religion. She was elected to the Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly of Los Angeles and served as Chairperson. Often a public speaker, she has been outspoken on such issues as poverty and discrimination. She was also quite active in the early stages of the civil rights movement and has spent active time with youth arts programs. She later wrote a book (as Lisa Janti) about her spiritual sojourn and, more recently, became the program director of the Center for Education at the Desert Rose Bahá'í Institute. In 2008, she was a guest attendee at the Western Legends Film Festival.
Lisa Montell is a member of Actress

Does Lisa Montell Dead or Alive?

As per our current Database, Lisa Montell is still alive (as per Wikipedia, Last update: May 10, 2020).

🎂 Lisa Montell - Age, Bio, Faces and Birthday

Currently, Lisa Montell is 90 years, 8 months and 23 days old. Lisa Montell will celebrate 91rd birthday on a Friday 5th of July 2024. Below we countdown to Lisa Montell upcoming birthday.

Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds
Popular As Lisa Montell
Occupation Actress
Age 89 years old
Zodiac Sign Leo
Born July 05, 1933 ( Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland, Poland)
Birthday July 05
Town/City  Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland, Poland
Nationality Poland

🌙 Zodiac

Lisa Montell’s zodiac sign is Leo. According to astrologers, people born under the sign of Leo are natural born leaders. They are dramatic, creative, self-confident, dominant and extremely difficult to resist, able to achieve anything they want to in any area of life they commit to. There is a specific strength to a Leo and their "king of the jungle" status. Leo often has many friends for they are generous and loyal. Self-confident and attractive, this is a Sun sign capable of uniting different groups of people and leading them as one towards a shared cause, and their healthy sense of humor makes collaboration with other people even easier.

🌙 Chinese Zodiac Signs

Lisa Montell was born in the Year of the Rooster. Those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Rooster are practical, resourceful, observant, analytical, straightforward, trusting, honest, perfectionists, neat and conservative. Compatible with Ox or Snake.

Some Lisa Montell images

Biography/Timeline

1950

Lisa Janti, known as Lisa Montell as a Hollywood Actress of the 1950-60s, was born Irena Ludmila Vladimirovna Augustynowic of Russian-Polish ancestry, and her family fled to Poland before World War II. On arrival in New York they changed their last name to Montwill so she grew up Irene Montwill. They lived in New York and Janti attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts but transferred to High School of Performing Arts after it opened in 1948 where she became involved with acting. However her family moved her senior year in high school to Fort Pierce, Florida where she graduated from St. Lucie High School and then began taking courses at the University of Miami. Shortly her family moved to Peru where her father had a Business interest. After becoming involved in English-speaking theatre she was noticed by Hollywood Producer Dick Welding who offered her a part in Daughter of the Sun God, filmed in Peru c. 1953 with actor william Holmes, (though it wasn't released until 1962.) Shortly afterwards her father died and the family chose to follow the opportunity Hollywood was giving her with her career. Her first role may have been in 1954 in the TV series The Public Defender, based on the film of the same name.

1954

Most of her later career was in the Western genre. Her first role may have been in 1954 in the TV series The Public Defender, based on the film of the same name.

1955

On television she was on the Cheyenne show episode "Border Showdown" (Showdown in Paso Also) of 1955 and the 1956 Jane Wyman's Fireside Theater episode "A Time to live" and the Sugarfoot show episode "Guns for Big Bear" in 1958. In 1962 she was in Combat! episode "A Day in June".

1956

In 1956 she joined the Bahá'í Faith. Janti states that her family background included a diverse religious family history of (paternal grandmother) Orthodox Russian and Islam, (father & paternal grandfather) Catholicism, (mother) a Christian Protestant, and (maternal grandmother) Judaism, but Janti herself was baptized Lutheran. In addition to her diverse background she explored various religions and philosophies, including studying with Manly Palmer Hall, when she learned of the religion. She learned of the Bahá'í Faith from other actors in a workshop and in her first meeting with Bahá'ís they resolved some questions she still had from her previous studies with the teaching of Progressive Revelation. In addition she had a profound personal experience affirming Bahá'u'lláh. For Janti joining the religion played a role in changing her career from an actor to a social development advocate which she felt was a more fulfilling way of serving the religion than as a Celebrity.

1957

She married in 1957 and had a daughter, born in 1959. Her first public talks for the religion began by 1960. By 1962 her continued discomfort with the trend of Hollywood movies according to her point of view continued her seeking to be of greater Service than being a Celebrity that could bring attention to causes. Janti was known as many diverse ethnic roles though she was Polish and could speak Spanish but the roles had dubious cultural and sexist stereotypes. She was drifting away from her acting career and began to work on several advocacy/service projects while continuing to work in the arts. About 1962-3 she was a chair of Human Relations Committee of Culver City and was giving talks on race unity. She also worked on Project People which she co-hosted with Tom Bradley around 1963-4 (before he became mayor of Los Angeles) on KCOP-TV, was among the group addressing a panel of Hopi Leaders at a World Peace Day observance and gave several talks as part of World Peace Day observances in Phoenix including one in Spanish. In 1964 she spoke at a Bahá'í youth conference in Pasadena as well as another talk at a Bahá'í event on race unity in Westwood. In 1965 she spoke at a Temple City Bahá'í event, and finally broke from acting completely. She spoke at a 100th anniversary observance of the Bahá'í Faith and moved to Tucson as a Director of a reading institute Child Development Centers Inc. After some years of volunteering at Head Start beginning in 1965 in Watts by 1970 she took a position directing a Head Start program near Tucson Arizona for the Tohono O'odham on their Reservation. By this time Janti had also been chair of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Culver City and serving as a delegate to the national Bahá'í convention multiple times. She attempted to pioneer internationally to Ghana but a change in policy of the government ended her opportunity there before she could start. Instead she continued her talks for the religion, and took a position with Bradley's administration after 1973 by being a liaison with various coalitions and commissions, dealing with various poverty, elderly, art and youth programs and continued advocacy through Bahá'í talks for equality for women at different conferences including one highlighting the 1975 UN Women's Conference in Mexico. And she served as chair of the Los Angeles Bahá'í Spiritual Assembly while honoring the educational center Plaza de la Raza with a replica of the Aztec calendar stone.

1980

By the 1980s Janti left Tom Bradley's staff, took graduate courses and then served on the faculty of School of Education at National University near San Diego teaching courses in holistic education based on the ANISA model. She also continued to speak at Bahá'í conferences like the Oregon state women's conference, served on the team commemorating Dizzy Gillespie's 50th yr in music in 1985 and was on the team giving a "spiritual parenting" workshop at a children's conference in Pasadena in 1987.

1992

In 1992, she worked on projects for the city of Los Angeles and as executive Director of U.P. Inc. founded by David Viscott. From November 2000 to September 2001, Janti worked on the Commission on Older Americans for Santa Monica. After publishing an introductory text on the religion in 2005, she served as the program Director of the Desert Rose Bahá'í Institute at least circa 2008-9 and she continued to write.

2013

Janti was known as the "Starlet of many faces" probably portraying more diverse ethnic roles though she was Polish including Polynesian, Native American, Mexican, Burmese, French, Italian, Spanish, east Indian and Persian – roles with dubious cultural and sexist stereotypes. Among the productions Janti was cast in are She Gods of Shark Reef, Ten Thousand Bedrooms, Pearl of the South Pacific, Jump Into Hell, The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold, and World Without End.

Lisa Montell trend