Petru Popescu
Encyclopedia
Petru Popescu is a Romanian-American
writer, director and movie producer, author of best-selling novels "Almost Adam" and "Amazon Beaming".
high-school, he studied literature at the Bucharest University, graduating in 1967. His debut was a collection of poems, "Zeu printre blocuri" (A God Between Apartment Buildings). In 1969 he published "Prins" (Caught), a novel of grand succes, which launched him as a reference writer in Romanian literature. He went on a scholarship to Vienna (1971–1972), and in 1974 accepted an invitation from the University of Iowa
to participate in the International Writing Program. Once there, he decided to defect and settle in the United States
. From then on, he steadily followed a successful path as a novelist and author of several Hollywood movie scripts.
He is known for his romance with Zoia Ceausescu
, daughter of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu
, but claims are said to be exaggerated by the media and the Securitate
, or even false.
above his desk.
inviting him to submit a script for consideration for the Sundance Film Festival
. In 1983, Popescu took Death of an Angel to Sundance, where the script came to near finalization. The festival enabled him to find backers for the film, which was released in 1986.
Romanian-American
A Romanian American is a citizen of the United States who has significant Romanian heritage. For the 2000 US Census, 367,310 Americans indicated Romanian as their first ancestry, while 462,526 persons declared to have Romanian ancestry...
writer, director and movie producer, author of best-selling novels "Almost Adam" and "Amazon Beaming".
Romanian beginnings
A graduate of Spiru HaretSpiru Haret
Spiru C. Haret was a Romanian mathematician, astronomer and politician. He made a fundamental contribution to the n-body problem in celestial mechanics by proving that using a third degree approximation for the disturbing forces implies instability of the major axes of the orbits, and by...
high-school, he studied literature at the Bucharest University, graduating in 1967. His debut was a collection of poems, "Zeu printre blocuri" (A God Between Apartment Buildings). In 1969 he published "Prins" (Caught), a novel of grand succes, which launched him as a reference writer in Romanian literature. He went on a scholarship to Vienna (1971–1972), and in 1974 accepted an invitation from the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
to participate in the International Writing Program. Once there, he decided to defect and settle in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. From then on, he steadily followed a successful path as a novelist and author of several Hollywood movie scripts.
He is known for his romance with Zoia Ceausescu
Zoia Ceausescu
Elena Zoia Ceaușescu was a Romanian mathematician, the daughter of Communist leader Nicolae and his wife, Elena Ceaușescu.She did her studies at the University of Bucharest. After completing her Ph.D. in mathematics, she worked as a researcher at the Institute of Mathematics of the Romanian...
, daughter of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu
Nicolae Ceausescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...
, but claims are said to be exaggerated by the media and the Securitate
Securitate
The Securitate was the secret police agency of Communist Romania. Previously, the Romanian secret police was called Siguranţa Statului. Founded on August 30, 1948, with help from the Soviet NKVD, the Securitate was abolished in December 1989, shortly after President Nicolae Ceaușescu was...
, or even false.
Emigration
When Popescu defected to England in 1975, the Romanian government tried him for treason. All his works in Romania were destroyed, and he was forbidden to return to Romania, an edict that reversed when Nicolae Ceausescu lost power in 1989. A year later, Popescu moved to the United States. He keeps a photograph of his role model Joseph ConradJoseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...
above his desk.
Sundance
Popescu received a letter from Robert RedfordRobert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
inviting him to submit a script for consideration for the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
. In 1983, Popescu took Death of an Angel to Sundance, where the script came to near finalization. The festival enabled him to find backers for the film, which was released in 1986.
Personal life
In 1978, he moved to Beverly Hills and married Iris Friedman, a Jewish woman of Czech origin. They have two children: Adam (born 1985) and Chloe (born 1989). He often returned to Romania after 1992, where most of his works have been translated from English, and published.Novels written in Romanian
- 1969 - Prins
- 1970 - Dulce ca mierea e glonţul patriei
- 1973 - Să creşti într-un an cât alţii într-o zi
- 1974 - Sfârşitul bahic
- 1974 - Copiii Domnului
- 1993 - Înainte şi după Edith
- 2002 - Întoarcerea
- 2003 - În coasta lui Adam
- 2008 - Urme în Timp
- 2009 - Supleantul
Movies
- 1972 - Drum în penumbră - as producer
- 1977 - The Last WaveThe Last WaveThe Last Wave is a 1977 Australian film directed by Peter Weir. It is about a white Australian lawyer whose seemingly normal life is disrupted after he takes on a murder case for Aborigine defendants...
(aka Black Rain in USA) - Ultimul val - as producer - 1982 - Friday the 13th Part III (1982) (uncredited) ... aka Friday the 13th Part 3 (USA: video title)
- 1984 - Obsessive Love - (TV, story) - as writer
- 1986 - Death of An Angel - Moartea unui înger - as director
- 1988 - Emma: Queen of the South Seas TV mini-series - as writer
- 1994 - Nobody's Children (TV)- as writer