Biography

Lia Laats (February 17, 1926 – April 24, 2004) was an Estonian stage and film actress whose career spanned over forty years. Lia Laats was born in Tallinn to Karl René Laats and Helmi Karin Laats (née Tähe), who both worked as domestic servants. She had two older half-siblings from her father's previous marriage. She studied at the National Drama Theatre (now, the Estonian Drama Theatre) in Tallinn, but left her studies in 1946 without graduating. Lia Laats made her screen debut in the 1947 Herbert Rappaport directed Soviet-Estonian language drama Elu tsitadellis (English: Life in a Citadel) for Lenfilm, based on the 1946 play of the same name by Estonian author and communist politician August Jakobson.