1946-05-22 San Francisco, California, USA
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.
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Disclosure | Ronnie (Z-Man) Barzell (archive footage) | 2020-06-19 |
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Time Warp Vol. 3: Comedy and Camp | Self | 2020-06-23 |
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Alice Jacobs Is Dead | Ben Jacobs | 2009-07-23 |
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Above, Beneath and Beyond the Valley: The Making of a Musical-Horror-Sex-Comedy | Self | 2006-06-30 |
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Maximum Security | Murdock | 1997-01-01 |
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Erotic Curse of Cairo | Dr. Fez | 1997-01-04 |
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For the Love of the Click | Dr. Fez | 1997-01-06 |
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Sex, Lies & Politics | Dr. Fez | 1997-01-02 |
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Secrets Revealed | Dr. Fez | 1997-01-07 |
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Rod Steele 0014: You Only Live Until You Die | Dr. Fez | 1997-01-05 |
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The Body Beautiful | Dr. Fez | 1997-01-01 |
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In the Heat of the Click | Dr. Fez | 1997-01-03 |
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Legally Exposed | Dr. Fez | 1997-01-22 |
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Over the Wire | Assassin | 1996-05-21 |
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Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold | Dr. Lindstrom | 1995-06-02 |
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Stripteaser | Bar Patron | 1995-06-23 |
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Night of the Scarecrow | The Warlock | 1995-08-08 |
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Deathstalker II | Jarek the Sorcerer | 1987-06-03 |
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Up 'n' Coming | Paul Fallon | 1983-01-07 |
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Every Girl Should Have One | Chris | 1978-01-01 |
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Supervixens | Cal MacKinney | 1975-04-02 |
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Beyond the Valley of the Dolls | Ronnie Z-Man Barzell | 1970-07-17 |
