Lisa Montell
| Lisa Janti | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Irena Ludmilla Vladimirovna Augustinovich July 5, 1933 Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland |
| Occupation | Actor; Author |
| Years active | 1955–1962 |
| Spouse(s) | Azenat Janti/David Janti (?-?) (divorced) 1 daughter |
Lisa Janti (born July 5, 1933) is known as Lisa Montell as a Hollywood actress of the 1950-60s, and then shifted her career to one of advocacy and service to various disadvantaged groups and to her adopted religion, the Bahá'í Faith.
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 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.
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.
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Wikipedia