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.Fehmius 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 Balzos 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 Brasss film, Salon Kitty alongside Helmut Berger, Ingrid Thulin and Teresa Ann Savoy. He portrayed a Palestinian terrorist in John Frankenheimers 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 governments 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 Fehmius 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.
Bora
Film 1967
Alexander Diakim
Film 1975
Major Dragan
Film 1979
Himself (archive footage)
Film 2023
Himself
Film 1972
Marko
Film 1965
Mirko
Film 1966
Žarko Munižaba
Film 1977
Film 1965
Alberto Santoro
Film 1974
Roberto
Film 1973
Il dottor Giorgio Sironi
Film 1974
Joseph
Film 1987
Marić, poručnik Kraljevske vojske
Film 1962
Halil Beg
Film 1966
Ruler
Film 1982
Mihajlo
Film 1968
Kerim
Film 1964
Baja
Film 1981
Deps
Film 1974
Film 1965
Film 1987
Sandro Poggi
Film 1975
Marco
Film 1977
Doktor, obaveštajac OZNE
Film 1971
Adam Milovanović
Film 1974
Milija, trubač (segment "Put")
Film 1966
Ivo Bajšić
Film 1967
Esad Ljumi
Film 1978
Gormond
Film 1998
Pavle Pavlović
Film 1975
Nicolay
Film 1982
Ivan Pipan
Film 1985
Hans Reiter
Film 1976
Film 1965
Count Alexander Cagliostro / Giuseppe Balsamo
Film 1975
Kálmán Furtek
Film 1983
Georgi Dimitrov
Film 1972
Armando Zani #2
Tv 1989