Mari Lill

Biography

Mari Lill (born December 21, 1945) is an Estonian stage, film and television actress whose career began onstage in the late 1960s.

Mari Lill was born in Tallinn to Felix Lill and Asta Lill (née Multer) just after the end of World War II and the Soviet occupation and annexation of Estonia. Her father Felix was arrested by Soviet authorities and spent several years sentenced to forced labor in the gulag system in Siberia when she was still an infant. He was later able to return to the family when Mari was quite young. Lill is the middle child of three siblings; she has an older sister Kadri, and her younger brother was glass artist Ivo Lill. Lill grew up and attended schools in the district of Nõmme and spent time visiting her grandmother on the island of Saaremaa.

After graduating from secondary school, Lill studied acting under the supervision of course instructor Voldemar Panso at the Tallinn State Conservatory (now, the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre). Her diploma production was in the role of Helen Keller in a 1967 staging of William Gibson's The Miracle Worker. She graduated in 1968. Among her graduating classmates were actors Helle-Reet Helenurm, Katrin Karisma, Raivo Trass, Enn Klooren, Jaan Tooming, Peeter Jakobi, and Kalju Komissarov.

Known For

Come Back, Lumumba
Come Back, Lumumba
The Monster
The Monster
Free Money
Free Money
The Maggot Feeder
The Maggot Feeder
Smile at Last
Smile at Last
The Little Witch
The Little Witch

Filmography

2025 Baa-Baa!
as Maire
2025 The Little Witch
as The Little Witch
2024 Two of Me
as Grandma
2024 Alien 2 or: The Return of Valdis in 17 Episodes
as Handbagless Old Lady
2023 Free Money
as Granny Aino
2021 The Monster
as Old Lady
2021 Firebird
as Old Lady
2020 Kratt
as Grandma
2018 Fire Lily
as Carer
2017 Manslayer/Virgin/Shadow
as Kai Savolainen (Virgin)
2016 Class Reunion
as Old Lady
2012 The Maggot Feeder
as Spider (voice)
2009 The Vengeance Bureau
as Krista Tuvi
2007 Autumn Ball
as Cashier #1
1998 Libarebased ja kooljad
as Kupeldaja
1995 The Boys of Wikman
as Mrs. Laasik
1994 Jüri Rumm
as Madam Mihkel
1992 Come Back, Lumumba
as
1991 Old Man Wants to Go Home
as Maile
1990 Sunday Only
as