See also Biography Index (Z) :: Filmography Index (Z) :: Discography Index (Z)

When rumors of the untimely death of actress/writer Zoë Lund began to circulate in May of 1999 they were initially met with disbelief by those who knew of her from the films Ms. 45 and Bad Lieutenant. Surely a death notice more authoritative than the words "Zoë Lund 1962-1999" which had recently been placed next to her photo at the Anthology Film Archives theatre in New York City would need to be made if the reports were to be accepted. The foremost reason for disbelief in the rumors of her death, however, was the improbability that a woman whose life work had been associated with revolution, activism and commitment would end up departing with such a whisper. Public recognition of Zoë`s passing due to heart failure on April 16,1999 in Paris, France has not yet happened save for a few earnest tributes that appeared on Internet message boards and a memorial tribute in Manhattan that was organized by Zoë`s estranged husband, Robert Lund.

Born on February 9, 1962 in New York City, Zoë was a bright student with an inclination toward activism that manifested itself early on with her involvement in a student liberation organization. At the age of seventeen, two years after her own liberation from school, she became the personal assistant to Edouard (Yves) de Laurot, a film maker and critic with a history of political activism dating back to 1939 in Warsaw, Poland. Zoë`s first professional work was accredited to her birth name, Zoë Tamerlis, though in later years she was also known as Zoë Tamerlaine, Zoë Tamerlaine-Lund or Zoë Lund.

Zoë bore a prodigious talent for musical composition but felt that cinema offered a better medium for conveying ideas of importance. Though she harbored no aspirations of becoming an actress, at the age of eighteen she accepted the starring role in Abel Ferrara`s second film, Ms.45. The film depicts the story of a mute garment worker who seeks retribution after being brutally raped two times in one day. In an act of survival, Zoë`s character Thana bludgeons an attacker to death with an iron and takes possession of his .45 caliber handgun. Once armed, Thana is transformed into the Angel of Vengeance. Her newly adopted sensual appearance attracts a succession of men whom are swiftly eliminated as they cross her path.

Given the minimal script and constant screen presence of Thana, Zoë was allowed a great deal of freedom in the formation of her role and hence played a large part in the consequence of the entire film. In playing a character that was incapable of speaking, she relied solely upon facial expressions and physical appearance to convey Thana`s emotions as they metamorphosed from frustration to fury. The films sexual politics and strong female protagonist earned Ms. 45 a cult following among self-proclaimed feminists, but Zoë stressed that it was no more about women`s liberation than it was about mute`s liberation, worker`s liberation or the liberation of any individual.

In the years following Ms. 45 Zoë appeared in a number of films. As the female lead in Special Effects, (1984, dir. Larry Cohen), she played the dual roles of an aspiring actress whose murder at the hand of her director is captured on film, and a lookalike whom the director hires in an attempt to complete a film which incorporates the original murder footage. She can also be seen in Exquisite Corpses (1989, dir. Temistocles Lopez), The Houseguest (1987, dir. Franz Harland) and a 1985 episode of the television show Mi