Gabriele Lavia is an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 actor, film director

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 and theatre director.

Lavia was born in Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

, Lombardy

Lombardy

Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...

. 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 film

Horror film

Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...

s, including Beyond the Door (1974), Dario Argento

Dario Argento

Dario Argento is an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in the horror film genre, particularly in the subgenre known as giallo, and for his influence on modern horror and slasher movies....

's Deep Red

Deep Red

Profondo Rosso is a 1975 giallo film directed and written by Dario Argento and co-written by Bernardino Zapponi. It was released on March 7, 1975 in Italy and June 11, 1976 in the United States. The film's score was composed and performed by Goblin...

(1976), Inferno

Inferno (1980 film)

Inferno is a 1980 Italian supernatural horror film written and directed by Dario Argento. The film stars Irene Miracle, Leigh McCloskey, Eleonora Giorgi, Daria Nicolodi, and Alida Valli. The cinematography was by Romano Albani, and Keith Emerson composed the film's thunderous musical score...

(1980), and Sleepless

Sleepless (2001 film)

Sleepless is a 2001 horror film by Dario Argento. The film stars Max von Sydow and Stefano Dionisi and marks Argento's return to the giallo subgenre...

(2001), and Pupi Avati

Pupi Avati

Giuseppe Avati, better known as Pupi Avati is an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter.-Early life and career:...

's Zeder

Zeder

Zeder is a 1983 Italian horror film directed by Pupi Avati, starring Gabriele Lavia. The story is about a young novelist's discovery of the writings of a late scientist who had found a means of reviving the dead.-Plot:...

(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

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 (from 1980 to 1987), Artistic Director of the Stable Theatre of Turin

Turin

Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

 (from 1997 to the 2000) and Artistic Director of the Festival of Taormina

Taormina

Taormina is a comune and small town on the east coast of the island of Sicily, Italy, in the Province of Messina, about midway between Messina and Catania. Taormina has been a very popular tourist destination since the 19th century...

 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

Heinrich von Kleist

Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist was a poet, dramatist, novelist and short story writer. The Kleist Prize, a prestigious prize for German literature, is named after him.- Life :...

's play Prinz Friedrich von Homburg, for which he won the Nastro d'Argento

Nastro d'Argento Best New Director

A list of Nastro d'Argento awards for Best New Director.*1974 - Marco Leto - La villeggiatura*1975 - Luigi Di Gianni - Il tempo dell'inizio*1976 - Ennio Lorenzini - Quanto è bello lu murire acciso*1977 - Giorgio Ferrara - Un cuore simplice...

"Best New Director" Award, and Sensi (U.S. title: Evil Senses) (1986), an erotic thriller.