person

Bekim Fehmiu

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Gender

Male

Birthday

1936-06-02

Place of Birth

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bekim Fehmiu

Biography

Bekim Fehmiu (Albanian: [bɛˈkim fɛhˈmiu]; Cyrillic: Беким Фехмију; 1 June 1936 – 15 June 2010) was a Yugoslavian theater and film actor of Albanian ethnicity. He was the first Eastern European actor to star in Hollywood during the Cold War. In 1960, Fehmiu became a member of the Yugoslav Drama Theatre in Belgrade, which he left in 1967, citing bad treatment, to become a free artist. Fehmiu's big break was the 1967 film I Even Met Happy Gypsies, 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. It was De Laurentiis who, in 1968, cast him as Odysseus in the acclaimed mini-series of The Odyssey. It was the first blockbuster of Italian television and made Fehmiu an icon in parts of Europe. Fehmiu seemed poised for stardom in Hollywood as well, but his first American film, The Adventurers, was a critical and financial disaster which "ruined any chances for Fehmiu to achieve similar stardom in Hollywood". In 1971, Fehmiu starred in the western action drama The Deserter, directed by Burt Kennedy. In 1973 he played the role of the busy father in Raimondo Del Balzo's heartbreaking film The Last Snows of Spring, and then in 1975 played the role of ex-politician Alexander Diakim in the movie Permission to Kill, with Ava Gardner and Dirk Bogarde. In 1976, Fehmiu starred as fictional murdered Luftwaffe pilot, Hans Reiter in Tinto Brass's film, Salon Kitty alongside Helmut Berger, Ingrid Thulin and Teresa Ann Savoy. He portrayed a Palestinian terrorist in John Frankenheimer's 1977 political thriller, Black Sunday. Despite his Hollywood films achieving little success, he did well in European art house cinema as well as in the theatre, the latter being his preferred medium. He portrayed the father of Mother Teresa, Nikola Boyaxhiu, in the 1982 film La Voce (The Voice). He acted as Joseph in the Italian production A Child Called Jesus (1987). He was to have acted in the movie Genghis Khan (1992), but it was ultimately never made. In 1987, in protest at the Yugoslavian government's treatment of Kosovar 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, film. Fehmiu was found dead on 15 June 2010 in his apartment in 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 Prizren Bistrica in Prizren, his childhood home. Description above from the Wikipedia article Bekim Fehmiu, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Also Known For

poster

77

Odissea

Mar 24, 1968

poster

67

Black Sunday

Apr 01, 1977

poster

70

I Even Met Happy Gypsies

Mar 27, 1967

poster

45

The Adventurers

Mar 25, 1970

poster

56

Permission to Kill

Nov 20, 1975

poster

60

The Deserter

Dec 04, 1970

poster

63

The Battle of the Eagles

Jul 01, 1979

poster

NA

Bekim Fehmiu

Sep 21, 2023

poster

NA

Bekim Fehmiu Visits Albania

Jan 01, 1972

poster

60

Klaxon

Jul 15, 1965

poster

63

The Feverish Years

Jul 14, 1966

poster

69

Special Education

Apr 28, 1977

poster

62

The Girl

May 07, 1965

poster

NA

Il gioco della verità

Mar 17, 1974

poster

71

The Last Snows of Spring

Dec 20, 1973

poster

50

Silence the Witness

May 15, 1974

poster

66

A Child Called Jesus

Jan 08, 1987

poster

65

Sasha

Jan 01, 1962

poster

63

The Swarm

May 16, 1966

poster

40

The Balad of Mamelouk

Nov 26, 1982

poster

52

Do Not Mention the Cause of Death

Apr 16, 1968

poster

66

Under the Same Sky

Jan 01, 1964

poster

65

Broad Are the Leaves

Apr 02, 1981

poster

63

Deps

Mar 26, 1974

poster

60

The Enemy

Jun 11, 1965

poster

NA

The Last Story

Jan 01, 1987

poster

57

Libera, My Love

Mar 21, 1975

poster

42

Ready for Anything

Feb 24, 1977

poster

57

A Trap for the General

Nov 26, 1971

poster

50

The Wind

Jul 12, 1974

poster

57

The Time of Love

Jul 10, 1966

poster

50

Protest

Jul 08, 1967

poster

60

Arrive Before Daybreak

Jan 01, 1978

poster

80

Heart and Sword

Nov 22, 1998

poster

50

Pavle Pavlovic

Jul 14, 1975

poster

NA

The Voice

Feb 13, 1982

poster

50

The Red and the Black

May 25, 1985

poster

55

Salon Kitty

Mar 02, 1976

poster

54

Shoot and It Shall Open

Apr 16, 1965

poster

NA

Cagliostro

Feb 21, 1975

poster

NA

Pavilón šeliem

Apr 01, 1983

poster

NA

The Reichstag Fire

Mar 02, 1972

poster

NA

Julia Forever

Sep 23, 1989

poster

89

The Odyssey

Mar 24, 1968