Liina Tennosaar

Born: 1965-05-23

Liina Tennosaar (born May 23, 1965) is an Estonian stage, film and television actress. Liina Tennosaar was born in Tallinn to Kalmer Tennosaar and Sirje Tennosaar (née Arbi). She has one full sibling and one half-sibling, from her father's second marriage. Her father was a popular Estonian journalist, singer and television personality who is possibly best recalled as "Uncle Kalmer" (Estonian: onu Kalmer), the host of the ETV children's television series Entel-Tentel. Her mother was a stage, film and television actress. She attended primary and secondary schools in Tallinn, graduating in 1982, before studying acting at the Tallinn State Conservatory, Performing Arts Department (now, the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre), graduating in 1986. Liina Tennosaar made her television debut at age 22 as Mari in the Ago-Endrik Kerge directed 1983 Soviet-Estonian comedy television feature-length film Püha Susanna ehk meistrite kool. This was followed by the role of Aili Tõru in the 1986 Ago-Endrik Kerge directed television drama film Võtmeküsimus and the role of Mari in the 1987 Peeter Simm directed historical dramatic television film Tants aurukatla ümber, based on the novel of the same name by Estonian author Mats Traat. In 2004, she appeared in the feature-length television film Taksirengit, directed by Jussi Niilekselä and based on a play by Mihkel Ulman. From 1997 until 1999, she played the character of Tiiu on the popular, long-running ETV television drama Õnne 13. She has made appearances on such Estonian television series as Urpo & Turpo, Ohtlik lend, Ühikarotid, Kelgukoerad, Kättemaksukontor, Elu keset linna and Viimane võmm. In 2017, she appeared as Inga in the TV3 mystery-drama series Merivälja. Tennosaar made her feature film debut in 1990 in a starring role as Juuli in the Arvo Kruusement directed Sügis for Tallinnfilm. The film was based on the Oskar Luts novel of the same name and the final part of a trilogy of both the novels and films made based on them. This was followed by a small role in the 1993 Pekka Karjalainen directed comedy Hysteria; a joint Finnish-Estonian production. In 2007, she appeared in a small role in the Veiko Õunpuu directed drama Sügisball; adapted from author Mati Unt's 1979 novel of the same name. That same year she appeared as Viire in the Andres Maimik and Rain Tolk directed road movie comedy Jan Uuspõld läheb Tartusse; a film that portrays Estonian actor Jan Uuspõld as a down-on-his-luck caricature of himself trying to hitchhike from Tallinn to Tartu to perform in a role at the Vanemuine theatre. This was followed by a role in the 2008 Ain Mäeots directed drama Taarka, in which she plays the main character's mother. The film was based on the play of the same name by Võro poet and author Kauksi Ülle. Other notable roles in films include Toomas' mother in the Hannu Salonen directed drama-thriller Vasha in 2009; Riina, in the Ain Mäeots directed drama Deemonid in 2012, and in the Andrejs Ekis and Tanel Ingi directed 2020 comedy Asjad, millest me ei räägi. Tennosaar has also appeared in number of film shorts and student films.


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Autumn Ball

as Woman #1 at Orgy
Released: 2007-09-13

Autumn in Estonia, where six people live, six solitudes, prisoners of the monotonous...

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8 Views of Lake Biwa

as Nina
Released: 2024-02-16

On the shimmering shores of Europe’s otherworldly edge, two teenage girls, Hanake and her best...

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The Black Hole

as Ilmi
Released: 2025-01-31

As aliens descend to study humans, the people caught up in their investigations face turning...

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Autumn

as Juuli
Released: 1990-12-20

The main character of the film is Paunvere tailor Jorh Adniel Kiir. Two young seamstresses,...

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Vasha

as Tom's Mum
Released: 2009-01-23

Tom, a wide-eyed, innocent sixteen year-old, finds himself an unwitting accomplice in a deadly...

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Taarka

as Taarka's Mother
Released: 2008-08-14

The first film in the Seto language in the world speaks about the brightest heroine of a small...

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Awakening

as Woman #2
Released: 1990-02-22

It is the night of March 25, 1949. A full moon hangs over Estonia. Endless rows of cattle cars...

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Not Too Hard and Not in the Face

as Specialist
Released: 2022-11-01

The 30-year-old protagonist Slava wakes up in a strange place with missing memories from last...

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Dora Who Came from Highway

as Passenger
Released: 2019-10-18

At the center of Estonia's first full-length horror film are the brothers Markus (Franz...

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Things, We Do Not Talk About

as uncredited
Released: 2020-03-06

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186 Kilometers

as Viire
Released: 2007-02-10

The well-known but out-of-luck actor Jan Uuspõld sets out to hitchhike from Tallinn through...

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Dance Around the Steam Boiler

as uncredited
Released: 1988-06-13

The movie travels through the 20th century by monitoring a steam boiler. We see the history of...

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Demons

as Riina
Released: 2012-11-09

When Joko, Ants and Reeda, all in their own good reasons, first enter a casino, they can't...

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Revenge Office

as Katrin
First aired: 2009-04-30

A group of women create a organisation named "Kättemaksukontor" to fight for the rights of women...

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ENSV

as Leila
First aired: 2010-09-05

A comedy-series depicting an Estonian family in 1980s that consists of a rebel-minded grandpa,...

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Tuuli Roosma mees

as Kevini ema
First aired: 2021-04-01

If you have the greatest wife on Earth and you are the lousiest man, who are you? The husband of...

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Who Shot Otto Mueller?

as Merle
First aired: 2022-09-09

This focused family drama with a crime plot begins when Otto Müller, a 65-years-old business...

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Naised Vormis

as Kerstin
First aired: 2022-10-05

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