Romanian Police Investigate Death Threats Against Prominent Jewish Actor

Romanian actress Maia Morgenstern who plays the role of Virgin Mary in the Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" speaks during an interview before the Romanian premiere of the movie in Bucharest, on 16 April 2004.Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images

BUCHAREST—Romanian police were investigating on Sunday death threats made against award-winning film and theatre star Maia Morgenstern and her children at the start of Passover celebrations.

Morgenstern, who played the figure of Mary in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ and runs the Jewish State Theatre in Bucharest, published an email she received in which the author threatens to violently kill Morgenstern and her children, as well as set fire to the Jewish theatre and its staff.