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Laura Gemser

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Overview

Laurette Marcia "Laura" Gemser (born October 5, 1950, Java, Indonesia) is a Dutch-Indonesian actress turned Italian citizen. She is known for her work with director Joe D'Amato and Bruno Mattei, in particular, for doing a set of exploitation-style and Emanuelle films. Gemser has also been credited as Moira Chen, most notably in Love Is Forever (1983).

Gemser left Indonesia in 1955, at the age of four, and moved with her parents to the Netherlands. She grew up in the Dutch city of Utrecht, where she attended the MULO Regentesseschool high school. After that, she attended the Artibus Art School in Utrecht, where she specialized in fashion design. In 1975 she moved to Italy.[1]

After modelling in various magazines in the Netherlands and Belgium, Gemser began to take part in some soft erotic films. She became internationally recognized after starring in a number of Black Emanuelle films in the 1970s.[1]

Her lone mainstream credit was in the 1983 TV movie Love Is Forever, where she was credited as "Moira Chen", a name she used for Endgame that same year. The director insisted on her using a pseudonym because of her background in erotica. The crew were so nervous about what having her associated with the film would do to its reputation that they couldn't even call her "Laura" and had to call her "Rosalie." Gemser continued to do films: at times, she worked with her actor husband, Gabriele Tinti. (She also had an uncredited role as "Estedes' Friend" in 1976's Voyage of the Damned. Her Photos page includes a picture of her standing next to Orson Welles!) In the 1990s, she left the movies to do costume designing for film. In addition, she lost her husband, who died of cancer in 1991. Today she lives in retirement and low profile in Rome.

References

  • 1. ^ Article on Laura Gemser in Leeuwarder Courant, February 5, 1977.

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