Roman Wives #1: Barbara Lass

Barbara Lass was born Barbara Kwiatkowski in a small country village during the German occupation of Poland in 1940. At the age of 17, she won a beauty contest and landed the starring role in "Eve Wants to Sleep" (1958). 

Barbara left Poland in 1959, changed her last name to the more-internationally-friendly "Lass" and found success in the broader European film market. Throughout the 1960s and into the 1990s, she appeared in German, French, and Italian films. Staunchly opposed to the Communist dictatorship in her country of origin, Barbara also lent her voice to Polish-language broadcasts of censorship free news by Radio Free Europe.

Barbara met future superstar writer/director Roman Polanski in 1958, while he was wrapping up film school and she was wrapping up "Eve Wants to Sleep". They were married in 1959, in Paris.

The union between Lass and Polanski was short-lived. The couple divorced in 1962, after roughly two-and-a-half years. Some sources state that Lass cheated on Polanski with a French actor, but others imply that it was Polanski's wandering eye toward young girls that caused the split.

Barbara Lass suffered a brain hemorrhage and passed away in 1995 at the age of 54.

--

 This post was part of the Shades of Gray Roman Polanski Month.