Radu Beligan


Radu Beligan was a Romanian actor, director, and essayist, with an activity of over 70 years in theatre, film, television, and radio. On 15 December 2013, confirmed by Guinness World Records, the actor received the title of "The oldest active theatre actor" on the planet. He was elected honorary member of the Romanian Academy in 2004.
One of the disciples of actress Lucia Sturdza-Bulandra and writer Eugène Ionesco, Radu Beligan is generally regarded as one of the major names of the Romanian theatre with a complex repertoire, classic and modern. He played alongside important actors, with performances both in the country and abroad.
WWW Official Site

Biography

Beligan was born in Galbeni, a village in the commune of Filipești, Bacău County, to a Romanian father and a mother of Greek origins.
In an interview for toateartele.com in 2011, Radu Beligan declared that his paternal grandmother, Ecaterina Beligan, is the cousin of writer Ion Creangă. His mother, Eufrosina Moscopol, comes from the Greek family Moscopol, relating with famous interwar singer Jean Moscopol.
After graduating from the Costache Negruzzi High School in Iași in 1937, he made his artistic studies at the Royal Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in Bucharest, where he was the student of Lucia Sturdza-Bulandra, one of the great figures of Romanian scene. Between 1937 and 1938 he also studied law and philosophy at the University of Bucharest, using college scholarship offered to pay his taxes at the Conservatory.

Family

His first wife was Nineta Gusti, an actress, with whom he was married for fifteen years. His second wife was Dana Crivăț, with whom he has a daughter, Ana Maria, a writer; both mother and daughter defected to Germany in 1982 and emigrated to Australia the same year. His third wife was Marica Beligan, a writer, with whom he has three children: Lamia, an actress, Raluca and Alexandru, employee of the National Bank of Romania.

Political activity

Radu Beligan was a member of the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party between 1969 and 1989 and deputy of the Great National Assembly between 1961 and 1975.

Career

He debuted in theatre at the age of 20 years, in the play Crime and Punishment after Fyodor Dostoyevsky, directed by Mihai Zirra, on the stage of Muncă și Lumină Theatre in Bucharest. His first role in a film was that of A Stormy Night after I. L. Caragiale, directed by Jean Georgescu, and the last one The Afternoon of a Torturer, directed by Lucian Pintilie.
He was professor at the Institute of Theatre and Film in Bucharest, director of the Comedy Theatre between 1961–1969 and director of the National Theatre between 1969 and 1990.
In 2008, Beligan was awarded the Order of the Star of Romania, Grand Cross class.

Activity as theatre actor

Filmography

O noapte furtunoasă Visul unei nopți de iarnă Rasuna valea Bulevardul “Fluieră Vântu” - short Lanțul slăbiciunilor O scrisoare pierdută as Agamemnon DandanacheAfacerea Protar as Professor AndronicDirectorul nostru Bădăranii as FelippettoCelebrul 702 - CherylLanterne cu amintiri Pași spre lună Castelanii Șeful sectorului suflete as GoreExplozia as Professor LucaÎntoarcerea lui Magellan as Professor Agentul straniu Tată de duminică as Grigore MantaSingurătatea florilor as Ovidiu PavelCuibul salamandrelor as Professor LucaInstanța amână pronunțarea Premiera as Mihai Dan Povestea dragostei as NarratorBrațele Afroditei Aurel Vlaicu Iancu Jianu, zapciul Rețeaua „S” Iancu Jianu, haiducul Întoarcere la dragostea dintâi Galax, omul păpușă Horea Cui i-e frică de Virginia Woolf? - TV movie - GeorgeTrahir - VladDupă-amiaza unui torționar as Professor Inimă de țigan as Belmondo Medalia de onoare as Ion I. Ion