The L Word

Background:

A sensual lead of Lakota Indian and Swiss-Russian extraction who inspired to become an actress after seeing Catherine Deneuve's “Donkey Skin” when she was a child, Karina Lombard got her career start as a model after being discovered by the fame photographer Bruce Weber. This led to her successful career as an actress. Making her professional acting debut in the Canadian miniseries “The Island/L'Isle” (1990), Lombard soon made a name for herself for playing roles in American movies like “The Firm” (1993, as the prostitute who seduced Tom Cruise), “Wide Sargasso Sea” (1993, as a Creole woman in Jamaica) and “Legends of the Fall” (1994, as Brad Pitt's wife). However, she is probably best recalled for her role as Marina in the hit TV series “The L Word,” a story about the lives and loves of a group of lesbian friends. She first played the role in the Season One and her character was brought back to the show in its forth season in 2007. Other TV credits include the telefilm “Murder at the Cannes Film Festival” (2000), from which she won a First Americans in the Arts Award, and the USA Network series “The 4400” (2005-2006).

Recently appearing in the French miniseries “Suspected” and an episode of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”(both 2007), the 39-year-old actress is set to star in the big screen version of “Mundo para Julius, Un” (2008), a Spanish language by director Simon Brand.

As for her private life, Lombard, whose measurements are 33A-24-34 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine), is a naturalized U.S. citizen and speaks 5 different languages, namely English, French, German, Italian and Spanish, as a result of living throughout Europe when she was a young. She mentions “Amelie,” “All About Eve,” “Some Like It Hot,” “Amadeus” and “Bladerunner” as some of her favorite films to watch. She also enjoys reading such books as “Mists of Avalon,” “The Game of Life & How to Play it,” and “Many Lives, Many Masters,” as well as listening CDs from musicians like Mozart and Erik Satie.

On a more personal note, Lombard was once married to model/actor /playwrite Anthony Crane. Her love life has also been linked to controversial director Damian Chapa, the former husband of Natasha Henstridge. Lombard currently resides in Southern California Beach community of Venice.

Mixed Ethnicity

Childhood and Family:

Karina Lombard was born Katrina Lombard on January 21, 1969, in Tahiti, to Nupuree Lightfoot, a Lakota Sioux Indian medicine woman, and Henry Lombard, the Swiss-Russian heir to a Geneva banking dynasty. When Karina was one year old, her parents divorced, after which she went on to live with her father in his mansion in Barcelona, Spain. Along with her four siblings, Helen, Inez, Charles and Denise, young Karina was sent to Calvinist boarding schools across Switzerland. At age 11, she attended a boarding school in Lausanne called Vinet, in which she later described that “being American Indian meant being treated like a savage.” Upon graduating, 18-year-old Karina moved to New York, where she was accepted into the prestigious Actors Studio.

Karina was married to Anthony Crane, a model/actor /playwrite, for over seven years before finally separated.

Murder at the Cannes Film Festival

Career:

Growing up in boarding schools and away from mainstream, Karina Lombard did not see her first film until at age 8. However, as soon as she watched the Catherine Deneuve vehicle “Donkey Skin,” the young girl knew that she wanted to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. She participated in several school plays, from which she received regard from her classmates, and after completing her studies at age 18, she made her way to New York to train with the Actors Studio.

Lombard was in a restaurant when she was spotted by photographer/documentarian Bruce Weber, who gave her a major break in modeling career. She appeared in an advertising campaign for Calvin Klein, and shortly afterwards, her face decorated the pages of Vogue and Elle magazines. Her appearance on the cover of the magazine 20 ANS impressed the producer and director of “The Island/L'Isle,” a French Canadian miniseries, and she was offered a lead on the program. “The Island” marked Lombard's TV acting debut.

After three years in New York, Lombard made her American acting debut when she landed a small part in the Oliver Stone-directed “The Doors” (1991), starring Val Kilmer as the lead singer and composer of the famous and influential 1960's rock band. She moved on to a lead role two years later with John Duigan's “Wide Sargasso Sea” (1993), where she was cast as Antoinette Cosway, a young female landowner in 1840s Jamaica who marries a just-arrived Englishman to keep off losing her property. Her work in the film won Lombard positive reception from such critics as William Burrill and Roger Ebert. Later that same year, she delivered an unforgettable performance as the woman who seduced Tom Cruise on the beach in “The Firm,” directed by Sydney Pollack. She went on to portray the Native American wife of Brad Pitt in the Oscar-winning “Legends of the Fall” (1994).

Next, Lombard was cast opposite Bruce Willis, Bruce Dern and Christopher Walken in Walter Hill's “The Last Man Standing” (1996) and had a supporting role as a slave girl in the adventure movie “Kull the Conquerer” (1997), starring Kevin Sorbo in the title role of a barbarian who unexpectedly becomes a king. The following year, she portrayed an interesting photographer in the film “Expose/Footsteps,” in which she also produced and penned a song called “Rose.” The same year, she starred in the miniseries “The Violent Earth” and appeared in an episode of “Early Edition.” She closed out the decade with a supporting role as Royan in the miniseries “The Seventh Scroll.”

Entering the new millennium, Lombard teamed up with Mario Van Peebles, James Remar and Ice-T to star in the low budget “Guardian” (2000), and was handed a First Americans in the Arts (FAITA) for her performance in the comedy made-for-TV film “Murder at the Cannes Film Festival” (also 2000), in which she played a police chief named Renee Reno. She starred as Margareth in the disappointing thriller “Deception” (2001), directed by Max Fischer, before taking some time off.

In 2004, Lombard starred in the French film “Big Kiss,” helmed by fellow Chicago native Billy Zane, and guested in an episode of The WB's short-lived series, “Dr. Vegas.” However, it was her role as Marina Ferrer, the woman who seduces straight-girl Jenny Schecte (played by Mia Kirshner), on the first season of the Showtime series “The L Word” (2004) that brought the actress back on the limelight.

From 2005 to 2006, Lombard portrayed Alana Mareva in 14 episodes of the USA Network sci-fi series “The 4400,” and returned to “The L Word” in its forth season in 2007, reprising her role as Marina. 2007 also saw her co-star as Claude Perkins in the French miniseries “Suspected,” opposite Ingrid Chauvin and Elodie Frenck. Later, in October of 2007, she made a guest appearance as Pippa Sanchez in the “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” episode of “A la Cart.”

Lombard will star with Patricia Velasquez in the Spanish-language film “Mundo para Julius, Un” (2008), based on a novel by Alfredo Bryce Echenique.

Apart from her TV and feature film work, Lombard also has acted in several theater productions, including “Uncle Vanya,” “Summer And Smoke,” “M. Butterfly,” “Cat On A Hot Tin Roof,” “Betrayal,” “Joan Of Arc” and “Danny And The Dep Blue Sea.” Her theater training and stage experience mainly comes from New York City's Gallery Theatre, the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and the Neighborhood Playhouse, in addition to the Actors Studio. She is also known as an accomplished musician, singer, and writer. She had a music project with Cirque Du Soleil, sang the title track for “L’Isle” and in 2004, performed live on stage with Dorian Cheah. She is working on her first music CD.

Awards:

• First Americans in the Arts Awards (FAITA): Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a TV Movie/Special (Lead), “Murder at the Cannes Film Festival,” 2001