Astrid Lepa

Astrid Lepa (7 April 1924 – 30 November 2015) was an Estonian stage, television, voice, and film actress, screenwriter, and television director whose career began in the 1940s and ended shortly before her death, spanning over sixty years. Early life and education Astrid Lepa was born Astrid Lepler in Keila, Harju County to Eduard and Marta Lepler (née Beekman). Her father was a locksmith. She had one younger sister, Ester Lepa (1928–2013), who would go on to become a prominent singer (soprano) and music and vocal pedagogue. The family would change their surname to Lepa in 1936. She attended schools in Tallinn and graduated Tallinn 9th Secondary School in 1942, during World War II. From 1942 until 1946, she studied acting at the Estonian Drama Theatre, and from 1948 until 1950 studied at Tallinn Conservatory (now, the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre). Career Stage actress Astrid Lepa spent five years engaged at the Estonian National Opera, from 1944 until 1949, before an engagement at the Tallinn State Drama Theatre (now, the Estonian Drama Theatre) that lasted from 1949 until 1951. From 1951, she spent a year at the Estonian SSR State Philharmonic. During her long career on stage, she performed in productions of works by such varied playwrights and authors as Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Maxim Gorky, Konstantin Simonov, and Branislav Nušić.