Who is Natasha Pavlovich? 'Tarzan' star Joe Lara shared daughter with ex partner who is a licensed pilot
'Tarzan: The Epic Adventures' star Joe Lara has died after a private jet carrying him and six others crashed into a Tennessee lake. Between 1996 and 2000, Lara starred in 22 episodes of the show, and was also a part of the 1989 TV movie 'Tarzan in Manhattan'.
The 58-year-old actor, according to reports, was said to have been travelling on the Cessna 501 with his wife Gwen Shamblin Lara, when the plane plunged into Percy Priest Lake.
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Deadly plane crash
As per the latest reports, Lara had reportedly boarded the flight to Palm Beach, Florida, with Gwen and five others at Smyrna Airport near Nashville on Saturday, May 29, 2021. The jet crashed shortly after taking off from Smyrna. The plane went down into Percy Priest Lake, about 12 miles south of Nashville. "All indications are that a total of seven people were on board," a release from Rutherford County officials said. "All are presumed dead." The victims are believed to be Joe and Gwen, along with Jennifer J Martin, David L. Martin, Jessica Walters, Jonathan Walters, and Brandon Hannah, according to the statement.
Lara, whose real name was William Joseph Lara, was away from television in recent years as he ditched acting in favour of country music.
While the couple is survived by three children, Lara was the father of one daughter from a previous relationship with Natasha Pavlovich.
Who is Natasha Pavlovich?
Born in the former Yugoslavia, Pavlovich is a descendent of Grand Duke Pavle Radenovic of Bosnia (late 14th Century), according to her IMDb page. She was Miss Beverly Hills 1989 (California-USA).
Actress and pilot
The Serbian-American actress has starred in 'Bitter Fruit', 'Las Vegas', 'Monk', 'I Did Not Know That', 'The Son of the Pink Panther', 'Judging Amy', and 'The Agency' among others.
Coincidentally, Natasha happens to be a licensed pilot. On February 9, 2004, she reportedly co-piloted a Mig-25 from Russia, travelling 2.4 Mach at 1,850 miles/hr, covering a mile every 2 seconds. When she reached the "edge of space" aka the Kármán line, she waved three flags - Russian, American and Serbian. And so, she became the first person of Yugoslavian origin to reach that altitude.
"I flew to an altitude of 86,000 ft, and did some aileron rolls and turns. Together, the pilot and I did an eight-point turn, a four-point turn, inverted flight, a wing over and some loops. It was really fun, and I was very excited about it," recalled Pavlovich in an interview.
"When I finished the flight, I went back to Belgrade,” Pavlovich said. “It was a big deal for people in Yugoslavia. Being a former Miss Yugoslavia, having an acting career in Hollywood, and flying the MiG to the edge of space was a big promotional success in Serbia. After that flight, I wanted to be an astronaut."
Apparently, it was Lara who influenced Pavlovich to get involved in aviation. The actor himself was the pilot of his own Cessna 185.
“We met in an acting class. I had some pilot friends in Santa Monica who invited me to go flying,” Pavlovich said in 2009. “That was back in the 1990s. I went on the flight, and I got interested in flying, so I started taking lessons.”
Legal trouble
According to reports, Pavlovich was one of eight parents who in 2018 spoke to Williamson County Commission to take action regarding juvenile Court Judge Sharon Guffee, alleging misconduct in her courtroom. The parents alleged that the judge abused her power.
Pavlovich was denied access to video recordings from her own hearing in juvenile court in 2016, when Guffee told Pavlovich and Lara that one of them needed to move out of their 5,000-square-foot house after a heated incident between the two months before.
In one of those recordings, Guffee can be heard saying, "Someone needs to move out ... until we can get this resolved. Y'all can flip a coin or I can decide. If y'all can't agree on it, just call me up and I'll pick one."
Two weeks later, Guffee had reportedly signed an order instructing Pavlovich to vacate her Brentwood home "immediately." As a result of this, Pavlovich became homeless for the next three months. She occasionally slept in her car and took showers at the YMCA. Since she was technically still a homeowner, she was turned away from shelters.
Additionally, Guffee also ordered Pavlovich not to speak her native language Serbian to her daughter in the presence of anyone who did not speak Serbian.