Biography

John La Zar was born and raised in San Francisco, California. He trained at the American Conservatory Theatre and has studied acting with Uta Hagen, Bill Ball, Jack Kosslyn, and Paul Shenar. La Zar was portraying the titular role in a University of Hawaii stage production of "Caligula" when he was approached by 20th Century Fox studio casting agent Phil Benjamin to audition for the part of deranged and debauched rock'n'roll music producer Ronnie 'Z-Man' Barzell in Russ Meyer's delightfully outrageous camp cult classic "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. " John's wonderfully wild and eccentric performance as 'Z-Man' should have led to bigger and better things, but alas did not. A majority of La Zar's subsequent roles have been decidedly minor: funny as sleazy pimp Carl McKinney in Meyer's typically off-the-wall "Supervixens," a Palestine general in the "David & Goliath" episode of "Greatest Heroes of the Bible," a limousine driver in "Eddie Presley," a warlock in "Night of the Scarecrow," and a strip club patron in "Stripteaser.