Acting
May 21, 1946
San Francisco, California, USA
John Lazar
Acting
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." However, on occasion John has landed a more substantial part; he's especially memorable as evil sorcerer Jarek in the enjoyably silly tongue-in-cheek sword and sorcery fantasy hoot "Deathstalker II." La Zar had a recurring role as scientist Dr. Fez on the soft-core cable TV series "Click." In addition to his regrettably sparse film and TV credits, John has acted in stage productions of such plays as "The Crucible," "Macbeth," "Carnival," "High Mass," "No Exit," and "Everyman." Outside of acting, La Zar is also a ballet dancer, master swordsman, and expert martial artist. He lives in Los Angeles, California.
Feature Films (23)
Terrorists infiltrate Innsmouth, a new maximum security prison, and inmate Mace Richter, a former police officer, is the only one who can foil their plans.
Maximum Security
An all-girl rock band moves to Hollywood in the hope of achieving success, only to fall into a whirlpool of wickedness and decadence.
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
Rod Steele (aka Agent 0014) is anything but the world's greatest super spy, but when diabolical villainess Tangerina threatens the world again, he's the world's last and only hope.
Rod Steele 0014: You Only Live Until You Die
Deathstalker helps Reena the Seer out of a few jams, and she solicits his help for a bigger task. She reveals that she is actually Princess Evie, but the evil sorcerer had her abducted and cloned in order to seize control of the kingdom. Together they travel to the evil sorcerer's stronghold to restore the princess to her rightful position, encountering challenges along the way both from the sorcerer's goons and the fierce Amazon women.
Deathstalker II: Duel of the Titans
A scientist races to find the cure to a horrific virus before it turns his wife into something monstrous.
Alice Jacobs Is Dead
Bruce is a telephone lineman who accidentally overhears a murder plot. When 911 informs him that there is nothing that they can do about it, he takes matters into his own hands, and gets entangled in a world of sex and mystery.
Over the Wire
Television & Series (3)
Dr. Sado is a blood thirsty serial killer psychiatrist who lures hapless victims into her office lair via advertisements in smutty magazines. To assist in her perverted and horrific crimes are a weird cabal of mostly incompetent henchpersons who constantly stoke tension with their bungling.
Sado Psychiatrist
In 1999, Cult Movies TV was inspired in part by two earlier video documentaries that Copner and Barnett produced, Bela Lugosi Then And Now and On The Trail Of Ed Wood.
Cult Movies TV
7 90-minute episodes loosely based on the Milo Manara comic series of the same name. A series of erotic (R-rated) tales about a magic box that releases extraordinary passions when activated.
