Bekim Fehmiu
Encyclopedia
Bekim Fehmiu was a Yugoslavia
n theater and film actor
of Albanian
ethnicity. He was the first Eastern European actor to star in Hollywood during the Cold War.
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
to Albanian
parents. He spent his childhood in the city of Prizren
, Kosovo
. His family permanently moved to Kosovo
, where, as a 20-year-old amateur boxer and manual worker, he was advised to apply to an acting academy because of his good looks. He graduated from the Faculty of Drama Arts (FDU) in Belgrade
.
, a subtle portrayal of Roma life which won two awards in Cannes and was nominated for an Oscar. Known for his macho appearance and mild manner, Fehmiu was then wooed by Western filmmakers and signed a contract with the Academy Award winning producer Dino De Laurentiis
For the 1970 Hollywood epic The Adventurers, co-starring Charles Aznavour
and Candice Bergen
, he learnt English in three months. He played the role of the busy father in Raimondo Del Balzo's heartbreaking film L'Ultima Neve Di Primavera in 1973. Noteworthy is the film's music score by Franco Micalizzi. By the end of his career he had acted in nine languages, including French, Spanish and Italian. In 1974 Fehmiu appeared in the tile role The Adventures of Ulysses
, with Irene Papas
as Penelope, and in John Frankenheimer's Black Sunday, where he played the role of a Palestinian terrorist alongside Robert Shaw
and Marthe Keller
.
The New York Times dubbed him the "Yugoslav heart-throb" for his youthful conquests and acquaintances with the likes of Brigitte Bardot
and Ava Gardner
. Decades after his last appearance on the screen, readers of a leading Italian women's magazine voted him one of the ten most attractive men of the 20th century.
Bekim Fehmiu appeared in 41 films between 1953 and 1998. Fehmiu was the first Albanian theater and film actor who acted in theaters and movies all over Yugoslavia, and he acted in a whole series of roles that changed the history of the Cinema of Yugoslavia
and left a mark in the artistic developments abroad.
, Ava Gardner
, Charles Aznavour
, Irene Papas
, Claudia Cardinale
, Olivia de Havilland
, Robert Shaw
, Fernando Rey
, Dirk Bogarde
and Candice Bergen
. Early appearances in numerous European films saw Fehmiu do well, but in 1970, he did the internationally released film The Adventurers, and the film failed to get audiences interested in either Fehmiu himself or the film's original author, Harold Robbins
. After The Adventurers, critics said that "his American debut in a starring role with a huge, star-studded, international cast backing him up was poorly acted and the epic film a complete misfire. The Adventurers ruined any chances for Fehmiu to achieve similar stardom in Hollywood".
Despite his Hollywood films achieving little critical success, he excelled mainly in European art house cinema as well as in the theatre, which was his natural medium.
He acted in Serbo-Croatian
, Albanian
, Spanish
, English
, French
, Italian
and Macedonian
. In 1987 in protest at the Yugoslavian government's treatment of Kosovan Albanians, he walked off the stage at the Yugoslav Drama Theatre
in Belgrade
, during the play Madame Kollontai by Agneta Pleijel. He left the stage, and soon after, films.
area of Belgrade.
. Initial reports stated he committed suicide. Interior Minister
Ivica Dačić
said Fehmiu was found shot in his apartment and the gun was registered in Fehmiu's name. He was 74 years old.
His body was cremated and the ashes were scattered in the river of Lumbardh, Prizren
, Kosovo
; where his family from his native Sarajevo
was moved by turning a second home.
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
n theater and film actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
of Albanian
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
ethnicity. He was the first Eastern European actor to star in Hollywood during the Cold War.
Background
Fehmiu was born in SarajevoSarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
to Albanian
Albanians in Kosovo
Albanians are the largest ethnic group in Kosovo . According to the 1991 Serbian census, boycotted by Albanians, there were 1,596,072 ethnic Albanians in Kosovo or 81.6% of population...
parents. He spent his childhood in the city of Prizren
Prizren
Prizren is a historical city located in southern Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and district.The city has a population of around 131,247 , mostly Albanians...
, Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
. His family permanently moved to Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
, where, as a 20-year-old amateur boxer and manual worker, he was advised to apply to an acting academy because of his good looks. He graduated from the Faculty of Drama Arts (FDU) in Belgrade
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...
.
Acting
His big break was the 1967 film I Even Met Happy GypsiesI Even Met Happy Gypsies
I Even Met Happy Gypsies is a 1967 Yugoslav film by Serbian director Aleksandar Petrović. Its original Serbian title is Skupljači perja, which means The Feather Gatherers. The film is centered around Roma people's life in a village in northern Vojvodina, but it also deals with subtler themes such...
, a subtle portrayal of Roma life which won two awards in Cannes and was nominated for an Oscar. Known for his macho appearance and mild manner, Fehmiu was then wooed by Western filmmakers and signed a contract with the Academy Award winning producer Dino De Laurentiis
Dino De Laurentiis
Agostino "Dino" De Laurentiis was an Italian film producer.-Early life:He was born at Torre Annunziata in the province of Naples, and grew up selling spaghetti produced by his father...
For the 1970 Hollywood epic The Adventurers, co-starring Charles Aznavour
Charles Aznavour
Charles Aznavour, OC is an Armenian-French singer, songwriter, actor, public activist and diplomat. Besides being one of France's most popular and enduring singers, he is also one of the best-known singers in the world...
and Candice Bergen
Candice Bergen
Candice Patricia Bergen is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for starring in two TV series, as the title character on the situation comedy Murphy Brown , for which she won five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards; and as Shirley Schmidt on the comedy-drama Boston Legal...
, he learnt English in three months. He played the role of the busy father in Raimondo Del Balzo's heartbreaking film L'Ultima Neve Di Primavera in 1973. Noteworthy is the film's music score by Franco Micalizzi. By the end of his career he had acted in nine languages, including French, Spanish and Italian. In 1974 Fehmiu appeared in the tile role The Adventures of Ulysses
L'Odissea
L'Odissea was an Italian TV miniseries broadcast on RAI in 1968 and based on Homer's Odyssey. An Italian, Yugoslavian, German and French coproduction, it was directed by Franco Rossi, Piero Schivazappa and Mario Bava; the cast included Bekim Fehmiu as Ulysses and Irene Papas as Penelope.Each...
, with Irene Papas
Irene Papas
Irene Papas is a Greek actress and occasional singer, who has starred in over seventy films in a career spanning more than fifty years.-Life:...
as Penelope, and in John Frankenheimer's Black Sunday, where he played the role of a Palestinian terrorist alongside Robert Shaw
Robert Shaw
-Arts and humanities:* Bob Shaw , Irish science fiction writer* Bob Shaw , co-writer for Seinfeld, A Bugs Life and others* Robert J...
and Marthe Keller
Marthe Keller
Marthe Keller is a Swiss actress and opera director. She studied ballet as a child, but stopped after a skiing accident at age 16...
.
The New York Times dubbed him the "Yugoslav heart-throb" for his youthful conquests and acquaintances with the likes of Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot is a French former fashion model, actress, singer and animal rights activist. She was one of the best-known sex-symbols of the 1960s.In her early life, Bardot was an aspiring ballet dancer...
and Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
. Decades after his last appearance on the screen, readers of a leading Italian women's magazine voted him one of the ten most attractive men of the 20th century.
Bekim Fehmiu appeared in 41 films between 1953 and 1998. Fehmiu was the first Albanian theater and film actor who acted in theaters and movies all over Yugoslavia, and he acted in a whole series of roles that changed the history of the Cinema of Yugoslavia
Cinema of Yugoslavia
-SFR Yugoslavia:The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had an internationally acclaimed film industry.Prominent male actors included Danilo Bata Stojković, Ljuba Tadić, Bekim Fehmiu, Fabijan Šovagović, Mustafa Nadarević, Bata Živojinović, Boris Dvornik, Ljubiša Samardžić, Dragan Nikolić and...
and left a mark in the artistic developments abroad.
International career
Fehmiu had a noted international career, acting alongside movie legends such as John HustonJohn Huston
John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
, Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
, Charles Aznavour
Charles Aznavour
Charles Aznavour, OC is an Armenian-French singer, songwriter, actor, public activist and diplomat. Besides being one of France's most popular and enduring singers, he is also one of the best-known singers in the world...
, Irene Papas
Irene Papas
Irene Papas is a Greek actress and occasional singer, who has starred in over seventy films in a career spanning more than fifty years.-Life:...
, Claudia Cardinale
Claudia Cardinale
Claudia Cardinale is an Italian actress, and has appeared in some of the most prominent European films of the 1960s and 1970s. The majority of Cardinale's films have been either Italian or French...
, Olivia de Havilland
Olivia de Havilland
Olivia Mary de Havilland is a British American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1946 and 1949. She is the elder sister of actress Joan Fontaine. The sisters are among the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s.-Early life:Olivia de Havilland...
, Robert Shaw
Robert Shaw (actor)
Robert Archibald Shaw was an English actor and novelist, remembered for his performances in The Sting , From Russia with Love , A Man for All Seasons , the original The Taking of Pelham One Two Three , Black Sunday , The Deep and Jaws , where he played the shark hunter Quint.-Early life...
, Fernando Rey
Fernando Rey
Fernando Casado Arambillet , best known as Fernando Rey, was a Spanish film, theatre, and TV actor, who worked in both Europe and the United States...
, Dirk Bogarde
Dirk Bogarde
Sir Dirk Bogarde was an English actor and novelist. Initially a matinee idol in such films as Doctor in the House and other Rank Organisation pictures, Bogarde later acted in art-house films such as Death in Venice...
and Candice Bergen
Candice Bergen
Candice Patricia Bergen is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for starring in two TV series, as the title character on the situation comedy Murphy Brown , for which she won five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards; and as Shirley Schmidt on the comedy-drama Boston Legal...
. Early appearances in numerous European films saw Fehmiu do well, but in 1970, he did the internationally released film The Adventurers, and the film failed to get audiences interested in either Fehmiu himself or the film's original author, Harold Robbins
Harold Robbins
Harold Robbins was one of the best-selling American authors of all time. During his career, he wrote over 25 best-sellers, selling over 750 million copies in 32 languages....
. After The Adventurers, critics said that "his American debut in a starring role with a huge, star-studded, international cast backing him up was poorly acted and the epic film a complete misfire. The Adventurers ruined any chances for Fehmiu to achieve similar stardom in Hollywood".
Despite his Hollywood films achieving little critical success, he excelled mainly in European art house cinema as well as in the theatre, which was his natural medium.
He acted in Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...
, Albanian
Albanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
and Macedonian
Macedonian language
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
. In 1987 in protest at the Yugoslavian government's treatment of Kosovan Albanians, he walked off the stage at the Yugoslav Drama Theatre
Yugoslav drama theatre
Yugoslav drama theatre is a theatre in Belgrade, Serbia. The theatre was established in 1947 with an intention of consolidating actors and writers from all over the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...
in Belgrade
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...
, during the play Madame Kollontai by Agneta Pleijel. He left the stage, and soon after, films.
Personal Life
He was married to Serbian actress Branka Petrić. The couple had two sons and resided in the ZvezdaraZvezdara
Zvezdara is a hill, forest, urban neighborhood and one of 17 municipalities which constitute City of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.- Location :...
area of Belgrade.
Autobiography
In 2001, Samizdat B92 published a book of Bekim Fehmiu's memoirs, entitled Blistavo i strašno (Brilliant and Terrifying), which describes his life until 1955, the year he became an actor.Death
Fehmiu was found dead on 15 June 2010 in his apartment in BelgradeBelgrade
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...
. Initial reports stated he committed suicide. Interior Minister
Minister of Internal Affairs (Serbia)
Minister of Internal Affairs is the person in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia. The current Minister is Ivica Dačić, since 7 July 2008.-List of ministers:-External links:*...
Ivica Dačić
Ivica Dacic
Ivica Dačić is a Serbian politician. He is the leader of Socialist Party of Serbia and is First Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia and Minister of Internal Affairs....
said Fehmiu was found shot in his apartment and the gun was registered in Fehmiu's name. He was 74 years old.
His body was cremated and the ashes were scattered in the river of Lumbardh, Prizren
Prizren
Prizren is a historical city located in southern Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and district.The city has a population of around 131,247 , mostly Albanians...
, Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
; where his family from his native Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
was moved by turning a second home.
Filmography
- Opštinsko dete (1953)
- Saša (1962)
- Pod isto nebo (1964)
- Neprijatelj (1965)
- Ko puca otvoriće mu se (1965)
- Klakson (1965)
- Devojka (1965)
- Roj (1966)
- Morgan: A Suitable Case for TreatmentMorgan!Morgan! is a 1966 comedy film made by the British Lion Films Corporation...
(1966) - Vreme ljubavi (1966)
- Tople godine (1966)
- ProtestProtest (film)Protest is a Croatian film directed by Fadil Hadžić. It was released in 1967....
(1967) - Skupljači perja (1967)
- Uzrok smrti ne pominjati (1968)
- Prljave ruke (1968, TV movie)
- L'OdisseaL'OdisseaL'Odissea was an Italian TV miniseries broadcast on RAI in 1968 and based on Homer's Odyssey. An Italian, Yugoslavian, German and French coproduction, it was directed by Franco Rossi, Piero Schivazappa and Mario Bava; the cast included Bekim Fehmiu as Ulysses and Irene Papas as Penelope.Each...
(1968, international TV miniseries) - The Adventurers (1970)
- Klopka za generala (1971)
- The DeserterThe Deserter (1971 film)The Deserter is a 1971 Italian-American Western film by Dino De Laurentis. It was directed by Burt Kennedy, known for his penchant in directing westerns, including The War Wagon , Support Your Local Sheriff! and The Train Robbers .Scripted in the style of The Dirty Dozen , and designed as a...
(1971) - Paljenje Rajhstaga (1972, TV movie)
- Libera, amore mio... (1973)
- The Last Snows of Spring (1973)
- Il testimone deve tacere (1974)
- Cagliostro (1974)
- Il gioco della verità (1974)
- DepsDepsDeps is a Croatian film directed by Antun Vrdoljak and starring Bekim Fehmiu, Milena Dravić, Fabijan Šovagović and Relja Bašić. It was released in 1974....
(1974) - Košava (1974)
- Pavle Pavlović (1975)
- Permission to KillPermission to KillPermission to Kill, also known as The Executioner, is a 1975 spy film thriller made by Sascha-Verleih and distributed by AVCO Embassy Pictures. It was directed by Cyril Frankel and produced by Paul Mills from a screenplay by Robin Estridge...
(1975) - Salon KittySalon KittySalon Kitty was a Berlin brothel used by the SD for espionage purposes before and during World War II.In the 1930s Berlin, Salon Kitty was a high-class brothel in 11 Giesebrechtstrasse. Its usual clientele included German dignitaries and foreign diplomats...
(1976) - Disposta a tutto (1977)
- Black SundayBlack Sunday (1977 film)Black Sunday is a 1977 American thriller film directed by John Frankenheimer and based on the novel by Thomas Harris. The film starred Robert Shaw, Bruce Dern, and Marthe Keller and was nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture in 1978...
(1977) - Specijalno vaspitanje (1977)
- Stići pre svitanja (1978)
- Partizanska eskadrila (1979)
- I vecchi e i giovani (1979, mini-serial)
- Široko je lišće (1981)
- La Voce (1982)
- SarâbSarabSarab is a city in and the capital of Sarab County, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 42,057, in 11,045 families.Sarab is famous for its rugs. From 1747 to 1813, it was the capital of the Khanate of Sarab....
(1982) - Crveni i crniCrveni i crniCrveni i crni is a Croatian film directed by Miroslav Mikuljan. It was released in 1985....
(1985) - Poslednja priča (1987, TV movie)
- Un bambino di nome Gesù (1987, TV mini-serial)
- Disperatamente Giulia (1989, TV mini-serial)
- Genghis KhanGenghis Khan (1992 film)Genghis KhanGenghis Khan is a 1992 film, started in Kyrgyzstan by Russian director Tolomush Okeyev but after several weeks of shooting and a lot of money spent in project development, preparation and pre-production the film was stopped since it became clear that was not suitable for an...
(1992) - Il cuore e la spada (1998, TV movie)