Zohra Lampert is a retired American actress, who has had roles on stage, film and television. She performed under her then-married name of Zohra Alton early in her career. Lampert achieved critical acclaim for her work on Broadway as well, earning two Tony Award nominations for her roles in Look: We've Come Through (1962) and Mother Courage and Her Children (1963). Her film performances include the title character in the 1971 cult horror film Let's Scare Jessica to Death. She won a Primetime Emmy Award for her guest role in a 1975 episode of Kojak.
Early life and education
Lampert was the only child of Rose and Morris Lampert, both Russian-Jewish immigrants. In 1940, the family lived in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, and Morris Lampert worked in a hardware store. She attended the High School of Music & Art and the University of Chicago, graduating in 1952. with Uta Hagen; she also studied with Mira Rostova.
She left the Playwrights Theater Club to study acting with Mira Rostova, Montgomery Clift's acting coach, even though her upbringing had taught her that acting "was an unserious thing to do." Along with Alan Arkin, Roger Bowen, and former Playwrights members Bill Alton (her ex-husband) and Andrew Duncan, Lampert became part of the second company of the Second City in Chicago but left for the New York company at Square East in 1961. That same year, Lampert, who began performing under her birth name after her divorce from Alton, gave a Tony-nominated performance in Look: We've Come Through. She also had a pair of small, noteworthy performances in the films Pay or Die (1960) and Splendor in the Grass (1961). In 1964, she became one of the 26 members of the newly established Lincoln Center Repertory Theater company.
In the 1960s/1970s, she was active in supporting roles in film and television. However, in 1971, she played the title character in the horror film Let's Scare Jessica to Death. The film went on to be regarded as a cult classic in later years. In 1975, Lampert won an Outstanding Guest Actress Emmy Award for her performance in an episode of Kojak. In 1977, she co-starred with Gena Rowlands in John Cassavetes' Opening Night.
She was a regular in the sitcom The Girl with Something Extra and the medical drama Doctors' Hospital. During the early 1970s, she originated the role of Ellie Jardin on the CBS soap Where the Heart Is until her character was killed off in 1972. In 1986, she appeared in an episode of Knight Rider (season 4, "Hills of Fire"). She worked less during the 1980s and 1990s. She appeared in The Exorcist III (playing actor George C. Scott's wife) and the 1999 film The Eden Myth.
After a ten-year absence from films, Lampert returned to acting in supporting roles in two films: The Hungry Ghosts (2009) and Zenith (2010).
Personal life
Lampert married radio personality Jonathan Schwartz in 2010. She was previously married to Bill Alton, a founding member of Second City and fellow Playwrights Theater Club actor.
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
! class="unsortable"|
|-
! scope="row"| 1959
| Odds Against Tomorrow
| Girl in Bar
|
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! scope="row"| 1960
|Pay or Die
|Adelina Saulino
|
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! scope="row"|1961
|Posse from Hell
|Helen Caldwell
|
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! scope="row"|2010
|Zenith
|Ms. Minor
|
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
| 1962
| rowspan="2"| Tony Awards
| rowspan="2"| Best Supporting or Featured Actress in a Play
| Look: We've Come Through
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1963
| Mother Courage and Her Children
|
| align="center"|
|}