Relja Bašić (14 February 1930 – 7 April 2017) was a
Croatian
Croatian may refer to:
* Croatia
*Croatian language
*Croatian people
*Croatians (demonym)
See also
*
*
* Croatan (disambiguation)
* Croatia (disambiguation)
* Croatoan (disambiguation)
* Hrvatski (disambiguation)
* Hrvatsko (disambiguation)
* S ...
actor. With a career that lasted more than half a century, he is considered one of the most prolific performers of that country.
Biography
Bašić was born on 14 February 1930 in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Sl ...
, at the time of
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...
. He was born to a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
mother Elly (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth ...
Lerch) Bašić.
Bašić was raised by his mother and stepfather Mladen Bašić. He first appeared on screen in 1954 classic film ''Koncert''. Through the decades, he played many different roles in many different films, often in international co-productions. He never became a star, but remained one of the most recognisable and dependable character actors. His specialty were the roles of suave aristocratic villains, especially in historic films dealing with
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, but his best remembered role is Mr. Fulir in 1970 cult musical comedy ''
Tko pjeva zlo ne misli''.
In the 1990s, Bašić was an enthusiastic supporter of the
Croatian Social Liberal Party
The Croatian Social Liberal Party ( hr, Hrvatska socijalno-liberalna stranka or HSLS) is a conservative-liberal political party in Croatia. The HSLS was formed in 1989 as the first Croatian political party formed after the reintroduction of mult ...
. During
1992 parliamentary elections he appeared as that party's candidate in one of Zagreb constituencies. He lost that race to
Nedjeljko Mihanović of
HDZ in controversial circumstances. A few months later, on
elections for upper house of the Croatian Parliament, he won the seat representing City of Zagreb.
In 1995, President
Tuđman awarded him with the
Order of Danica Hrvatska.
Bašić also acted as a
UNESCO Artist for Peace UNESCO Artists for Peace are international celebrity advocates for the United Nations agency UNESCO. This category of advocate is intended to heighten public awareness in addition to the categories UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and UNESCO Champion f ...
.
Bašić, several years earlier from his death, suffered from a
femur fracture and as a result it restrained his movement. He died on 7 April 2017 in Zagreb.
Filmography
References
Bibliography
*
External links
*
*
Bašić's best remembered role is Mr. Fulir in 1970 cult musical comedy ''Tko pjeva zlo ne misli'' ''(One Song a Day Takes Mischief Away)''Bašić died at the age of 88
{{DEFAULTSORT:Basic, Relja
1930 births
2017 deaths
Male actors from Zagreb
Croatian male actors
Jewish Croatian male actors
Croatian Theatre Award winners
Croatian actor-politicians
Croatian Social Liberal Party politicians
Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament
Golden Arena winners
Croatian Jews
Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery