Lia Laats was an Estonian stage and film actress whose career spanned over forty years.
10 Facts About Lia Laats
1.
2.
Lia Laats was born in Tallinn to Karl Rene Laats and Helmi Karin Laats, who both worked as domestic servants.
3.
Lia Laats had two older half-siblings from her father's previous marriage.
4.
Lia Laats studied at the National Drama Theatre in Tallinn, but left her studies in 1946 without graduating.
5.
From 1946 until 1948, Laats performed at the Estonia Theatre, in dramatic roles, comedies, operettas and musicals with the Estonian National Opera.
6.
Lia Laats made her screen debut in the 1947 Herbert Rappaport directed Soviet-Estonian language drama Elu tsitadellis for Lenfilm, based on the 1946 play of the same name by Estonian author and communist politician August Jakobson.
7.
Lia Laats was married to actor Kalju Vaha from 1947 until their divorce in 1962.
8.
Lia Laats had a heart attack, followed by a second heart attack in 1986 and was then required to have a pacemaker procedure.
9.
On 1 April 2004, Lia Laats suffered a cerebral infarction that left her unable to speak and partially paralyzed.
10.
Lia Laats was hospitalized in Tallinn, where she died on 24 April 2004, aged 78.