Beba Loncar
Encyclopedia
Desanka "Beba" Lončar is a Serbian-Italian film actress. She appeared in 52 films between 1960 and 1982. She was born in Belgrade
, Yugoslavia
, now Serbia
. Known for her film career during the 1960s and 1970s, she first became a star in native Yugoslavia before moving to Italy where she achieved considerable success.
Blessed with appealing looks, Lončar got involved with performing at an early age through speaking bits in kids' programmes on TV Belgrade. She studied acting under tutelage of director Soja Jovanović
who gave Lončar an uncredited bit part in 1960's Diližansa snova.http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/intervjui-kultura/Mastrojani-mi-je-razbio-strah.sr.html
and Dušica Žegarac
in France Štiglic
's Deveti krug, a Holocaust story about a Jewish family from Ljubljana
that would later go on to achieve notable critical success.
Before Deveti krug was even released, 16-year-old Lončar got her first lead role - the part of Sonja Ilić, beautiful young girl in the teenage comedy Ljubav i moda. Acting in the cheeky comedy alongside established stars of Yugoslav cinema Miodrag Petrović Čkalja
and Mija Aleksić
, she left an impression on the general audiences that paved the way for her movie career.
Cannes Film Festival
during May in addition to winning the Golden Arena award at the 1960 Pula Film Festival in August as well as becoming Yugoslav official submission for the best foreign movie and actually getting nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 33rd Academy Awards
held in April 1961. Although the lead role of Ruth Alkalaj went to another young and up-an-coming actress - Dušica Žegarac - Lončar's portrayal of Magda got very positive notices.
With only two films under her belt, Lončar's cinematic profile was raised beyond all expectations. She next got cast as a female lead in Aleksandar Petrović's directorial debut - romantic drama Dvoje - alongside Miha Baloh
and Miloš Žutić. Playing the mysteriously flirtatious Belgrade girl Jovana Zrnić, she once again got plenty of positive reaction in the press. The movie got released in late July 1961, and although it didn't match the success of her previous one on the festival circuit, it got very good reviews for its innovative approach as a breath of fresh air in the Yugoslav cinema that up to that point mostly made genre films of very specific and rigid structure and narrative. The movie also marked the first time Lončar was officially billed with her nickname Beba rather than her given first name, a practice that would be continued for the remainder of her career.
Already a bona fide film star in Yugoslavia as well as a nationwide sex symbol
, Lončar started getting parts in foreign productions that were shot in Yugoslavia. Franz Antel
cast her in the supporting role of Afra in the Austrian movie ...und ewig knallen die Räuber, which was the first time she took part in a foreign film. Following a few more Yugoslav movies where she had notable roles such as Soja Jovanović
's comedy Dr whose screenplay was based on Branislav Nušić
's novel of the same name and Zdravko Randić's Zemljaci, Lončar took a supporting part in the British over-the-top adventure film The Long Ships directed by Jack Cardiff
and starring Richard Widmark
, Sidney Poitier
, Russ Tamblyn
, and Rosanna Schiaffino
that was entirely shot in Yugoslavia. Another such production was German-funded, English-language, western-musical In the Wild West directed by Sobey Martin
with Lončar in the main female role opposite Austrian singer-actor Freddy Quinn
. In between she also starred along with Milena Dravić
(another young Belgrade actress whose career path resembled Lončar's) as well Ljubiša Samardžić
, Boris Dvornik, and Miki Mićović in a romantic summer youth comedy Lito vilovito about local boys from the Dalmatian coastline seducing young tourist girls.
. Following a bitter court battle, their divorce was finalized in 1994 with Radeljak getting the custody of their only son.
During summer 2000, Lončar started living with Serbian skier Stevan Marinković Knićanin whom she eventually married. In late 2000, she moved from Rome to her hometown Belgrade where she's been living ever since.http://news.beograd.com/srpski/clanci_i_misljenja/stankovic/001223_sreca_na_starim_temeljima.html Despite not acting for almost 30 years, Lončar is still very much in demand by the Serbian and former Yugoslav media. However, she leads a very quiet, low-key life and rarely makes media appearances. Her latest one was for the 50th anniversary of the release of Ljubav i moda during June 2010.http://www.pressonline.rs/sr/vesti/dzet_set_svet/story/124710/Beba+Lon%C4%8Dar+za+Press%3A+Ne+%C5%BEalim+ni+za+%C4%8Dim.html
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, now Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
. Known for her film career during the 1960s and 1970s, she first became a star in native Yugoslavia before moving to Italy where she achieved considerable success.
Blessed with appealing looks, Lončar got involved with performing at an early age through speaking bits in kids' programmes on TV Belgrade. She studied acting under tutelage of director Soja Jovanović
Soja Jovanovic
Sofija "Soja" Jovanović was the first Yugoslavian woman director, noted for her work in theater, TV and film productions.After studying at the Theater Department of the Belgrade Music Academy, her first success was the stage production of Branislav Nušić's play A Suspicious Character in 1948, for...
who gave Lončar an uncredited bit part in 1960's Diližansa snova.http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/intervjui-kultura/Mastrojani-mi-je-razbio-strah.sr.html
Debut
Beba Lončar's break came when she got cast alongside another pair of first-time film performers Boris DvornikBoris Dvornik
Boris Dvornik was a Croatian actor.Born in Split to the family of a carpenter, Boris Dvornik discovered acting talent at an early age, while performing in children's plays. After studying to become an electrician, he began to pursue a full-time acting career...
and Dušica Žegarac
Dušica Žegarac
Dušica Žegarac is a Serbian film and television actress. She began acting in 1960 and her first appearance was in France Štiglic's film The Ninth Circle , for which she won the Golden Arena for Best Actress at the Pula Film Festival, the Yugoslav national film awards.She won her second Golden...
in France Štiglic
France Štiglic
France Štiglic was a Slovenian film director and screenwriter. His 1948 film On Our Own Land was entered into the 1949 Cannes Film Festival...
's Deveti krug, a Holocaust story about a Jewish family from Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
that would later go on to achieve notable critical success.
Before Deveti krug was even released, 16-year-old Lončar got her first lead role - the part of Sonja Ilić, beautiful young girl in the teenage comedy Ljubav i moda. Acting in the cheeky comedy alongside established stars of Yugoslav cinema Miodrag Petrović Čkalja
Miodrag Petrovic Ckalja
Miodrag Petrović was a Serbian actor who was one the most popular comedians of former Yugoslavia....
and Mija Aleksić
Mija Aleksic
Milosav "Mija" Aleksić was a beloved Serbian actor.Aleksić was born in Gornja Crnuća village in Gornji Milanovac municipality, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. During World War II, when Axis powers occupied the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, 17-year-old Mija Aleksić attended high school in Kragujevac...
, she left an impression on the general audiences that paved the way for her movie career.
Early career in Yugoslavia
Following the tremendous commercial success of Ljubav i moda, Deveti krug came out. Released in late April 1960, the film would end up playing at the 19601960 Cannes Film Festival
-Jury:*Georges Simenon *Marc Allégret *Louis Chauvet *Diego Fabbri *Hidemi Ima *Grigori Kozintsev *Maurice Leroux *Max Lippmann *Henry Miller...
Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
during May in addition to winning the Golden Arena award at the 1960 Pula Film Festival in August as well as becoming Yugoslav official submission for the best foreign movie and actually getting nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 33rd Academy Awards
33rd Academy Awards
The 33rd Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1960, were held on April 17, 1961 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California...
held in April 1961. Although the lead role of Ruth Alkalaj went to another young and up-an-coming actress - Dušica Žegarac - Lončar's portrayal of Magda got very positive notices.
With only two films under her belt, Lončar's cinematic profile was raised beyond all expectations. She next got cast as a female lead in Aleksandar Petrović's directorial debut - romantic drama Dvoje - alongside Miha Baloh
Miha Baloh
Miha Baloh is a Slovene actor. He started participating in local theatre productions after the Second World War and eventually enrolled in the AGRFT in Ljubljana, from where he graduated in 1952. In 1953 he began collaboration with the Permanent Slovene Theatre in Trieste...
and Miloš Žutić. Playing the mysteriously flirtatious Belgrade girl Jovana Zrnić, she once again got plenty of positive reaction in the press. The movie got released in late July 1961, and although it didn't match the success of her previous one on the festival circuit, it got very good reviews for its innovative approach as a breath of fresh air in the Yugoslav cinema that up to that point mostly made genre films of very specific and rigid structure and narrative. The movie also marked the first time Lončar was officially billed with her nickname Beba rather than her given first name, a practice that would be continued for the remainder of her career.
Already a bona fide film star in Yugoslavia as well as a nationwide sex symbol
Sex symbol
A sex symbol is a celebrity of either gender, typically an actor, musician, supermodel, teen idol, or sports star, noted for their sex appeal. The term was first used in the mid 1950s in relation to the popularity of certain Hollywood stars, especially Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte...
, Lončar started getting parts in foreign productions that were shot in Yugoslavia. Franz Antel
Franz Antel
Franz Antel was a veteran Austrian filmmaker.Born in Vienna, Antel worked mainly as a film producer in the interwar years. After World War II, he began writing and directing films on a large scale...
cast her in the supporting role of Afra in the Austrian movie ...und ewig knallen die Räuber, which was the first time she took part in a foreign film. Following a few more Yugoslav movies where she had notable roles such as Soja Jovanović
Soja Jovanovic
Sofija "Soja" Jovanović was the first Yugoslavian woman director, noted for her work in theater, TV and film productions.After studying at the Theater Department of the Belgrade Music Academy, her first success was the stage production of Branislav Nušić's play A Suspicious Character in 1948, for...
's comedy Dr whose screenplay was based on Branislav Nušić
Branislav Nušic
Branislav Nušić was a Serbian novelist of Aromanian descent, playwright, satirist, essayist and founder of modern rhetoric in Serbia. He also worked as a journalist and a civil servant.- Biography :...
's novel of the same name and Zdravko Randić's Zemljaci, Lončar took a supporting part in the British over-the-top adventure film The Long Ships directed by Jack Cardiff
Jack Cardiff
Jack Cardiff, OBE, BSC was a British cinematographer, director and photographer.His career spanned the development of cinema, from silent film, through early experiments in Technicolor to filmmaking in the 21st century...
and starring Richard Widmark
Richard Widmark
Richard Weedt Widmark was an American film, stage and television actor.He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, Kiss of Death...
, Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier
Sir Sidney Poitier, KBE is a Bahamian American actor, film director, author, and diplomat.In 1963, Poitier became the first black person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field...
, Russ Tamblyn
Russ Tamblyn
Russell Irving "Russ" Tamblyn is an American film and television actor, who is arguably best known for his performance in the 1961 movie musical West Side Story as Riff, the leader of the Jets gang....
, and Rosanna Schiaffino
Rosanna Schiaffino
Rosanna Schiaffino was an Italian film actress. She appeared on the covers of Italian, German, French, British and American magazines.-Early life:...
that was entirely shot in Yugoslavia. Another such production was German-funded, English-language, western-musical In the Wild West directed by Sobey Martin
Sobey Martin
Sobey Martin was an American director of television and short films, mainly in the 1950s and 1960s. Martin directed the film Four Nights of the Full Moon , starring an international ensemble cast led by Gene Tierney...
with Lončar in the main female role opposite Austrian singer-actor Freddy Quinn
Freddy Quinn
Freddy Quinn is an Austrian singer and actor whose popularity within the German-speaking world soared in the late 1950s and 1960s. Similar to Hans Albers two generations before him, Quinn adopted the persona of the rootless wanderer who goes to sea but longs for a home, family and friends...
. In between she also starred along with Milena Dravić
Milena Dravic
Milena Dravić is a Serbian actress.Born in Belgrade, Dravić was involved with the performing arts from the age of four: first with dance and later classical ballet...
(another young Belgrade actress whose career path resembled Lončar's) as well Ljubiša Samardžić
Ljubiša Samardžic
Ljubiša Samardžić is a Serbian actor and director, who is best known as Šurda in the Vruć vetar TV series.- Early life :Born to the family of a coal miner, his acting talent was discovered very early and he won a scholarship with respected director Bojan Stupica. Samardžić was educated at the...
, Boris Dvornik, and Miki Mićović in a romantic summer youth comedy Lito vilovito about local boys from the Dalmatian coastline seducing young tourist girls.
Selected filmography
- Ljubav i moda (1960)
- The Ninth CircleThe Ninth CircleThe Ninth Circle is a 1960 Yugoslavian film directed by France Štiglic. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film...
(1960) - And Love Has VanishedAnd Love Has VanishedAnd Love Has Vanished is a 1961 Yugoslavian drama film directed by Aleksandar Petrović. It was entered into the 1962 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Beba Lončar - Jovana Zrnić* Miha Baloh - Mirko* Miloš Žutić - Dejan* Borislav Radović* Nada Kasapić...
(1961) - SlalomSlalom (film)Slalom is a 1965 comedy film directed by Luciano Salce and starring Vittorio Gassman.-Cast:* Vittorio Gassman - Lucio Ridolfi* Adolfo Celi - Riccardo* Daniela Bianchi - Nadia* Beba Loncar - Helen* Lobna Abdel Aziz - Fahra Slalom is a 1965 comedy film directed by Luciano Salce and starring Vittorio...
(1965) - Casanova 70Casanova 70Casanova 70 is a 1965 Italian comedy film produced by Carlo Ponti, directed by Mario Monicelli and starring Marcello Mastroianni, Virna Lisi, and Michele Mercier.-Plot:...
(1965) - The Birds, the Bees and the Italians (1966)
- Hermann der Cherusker - Die Schlacht im Teutoburger Wald (1967)
- Some Girls DoSome Girls DoSome Girls Do is a 1969 British comedy spy film directed by Ralph Thomas. It was the second of the revamped Bulldog Drummond films made following the success of the James Bond films of the 1960's.-Cast:...
(1969) - Brancaleone at the Crusades (1970)
- Who Killed the Prosecutor and Why?Who Killed the Prosecutor and Why?Who Killed the Prosecutor and Why? is a 1972 thriller film directed by Giuseppe Vari and starring Lou Castel.-Cast:* Lou Castel - Carlo* Beba Loncar - Olga* Adolfo Celi - Inspector Vezzi* Massimo Serato - Uncle Fifi...
(1972) - Sunday LoversSunday LoversSunday Lovers is a 1980 internationally co-produced romantic comedy film directed by Bryan Forbes, Gene Wilder, Dino Risi and Edouard Molinaro. It starred Roger Moore, Gene Wilder, Priscilla Barnes, Lynn Redgrave, Denholm Elliott and Kathleen Quinlan...
(1980) - Kuća ukletih (1982)
Private life
Beba Lončar was married to Croatian businessman and socialite Josip "Dikan" Radeljak. The two met in Split during the 1970s and had a son Leo in 1982. After giving birth for the first time at the age of 39, Lončar decided to end her film career. Towards the end of the 1980s the couple separated as Radeljak left Lončar for the younger actress Ena BegovićEna Begovic
Ena Begović was a Croatian actress.Begović began acting early, making her first screen appearance at the age of 16 through a small part in Okupacija u 26 slika, a controversial 1976 film directed by Lordan Zafranović...
. Following a bitter court battle, their divorce was finalized in 1994 with Radeljak getting the custody of their only son.
During summer 2000, Lončar started living with Serbian skier Stevan Marinković Knićanin whom she eventually married. In late 2000, she moved from Rome to her hometown Belgrade where she's been living ever since.http://news.beograd.com/srpski/clanci_i_misljenja/stankovic/001223_sreca_na_starim_temeljima.html Despite not acting for almost 30 years, Lončar is still very much in demand by the Serbian and former Yugoslav media. However, she leads a very quiet, low-key life and rarely makes media appearances. Her latest one was for the 50th anniversary of the release of Ljubav i moda during June 2010.http://www.pressonline.rs/sr/vesti/dzet_set_svet/story/124710/Beba+Lon%C4%8Dar+za+Press%3A+Ne+%C5%BEalim+ni+za+%C4%8Dim.html