Gabriele Lavia (born October 10, 1942) is an Italian actor, film director and theatre director.
Lavia was born in Milan, Lombardy. Since 1970 he has had roles in nearly thirty films and television programs. He is probably best known in the United States for his appearances in several horror films, including Beyond the Door (1974), Dario Argento's Deep Red (1976), Inferno (1980), and Sleepless (2001), and Pupi Avati's Zeder (1983), in which he starred.
In Italy, Lavia has had a long and successful career as a theatrical actor and director. He was the Artistic Co-director of the Eliseo Theatre of Rome (from 1980 to 1987), Artistic Director of the Stable Theatre of Turin (from 1997 to the 2000) and Artistic Director of the Festival of Taormina Art (in 1993).
He has directed six films, most of which he has written or co-written, including Il Principe di Homburg (1983), based on Heinrich von Kleist's play Prinz Friedrich von Homburg, for which he won the Nastro d'Argento "Best New Director" Award, and Sensi (U.S. title: Evil Senses) (1986), an erotic thriller.
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