 |
GHEORGHE DINICA |
Gheorghe Dinica, 75, actor called 'De Niro of Romania'
BUCHAREST, Romania - Gheorghe Dinica, a Romanian actor who delighted his country by portraying characters such as villainous politicians and defiant Gypsies in dozens of plays and movies, died Tuesday. He was 75.
Mr. Dinica, famous throughout Romania, died at Floreasca Hospital in Bucharest of pneumonia with complications, said hospital spokesman Dr. Bogdan Oprita.
Mr. Dinica began his long acting career with a role in a Romanian film version of “The Stranger,’’ by Albert Camus, in 1963. He went on to perform in many Romanian and foreign movies, soap operas, and plays, right up until his death.
In 2007, he acted in Francis Ford Coppola’s “Youth Without Youth’’ movie. He also joined French actor Anthony Delon in the film “L’Homme Press’’ in 2005.
He said he was never tempted to act in movies produced in the United States. “I am not Robert de Niro; I am from Romania,’’ he said.
Still, some called Mr. Dinica “the Robert de Niro of Romania,’’ given his resemblance to the American actor.
Romanians admired him for his wide repertoire and his singing, but also because of his modesty, humor, and his refusal to praise the late Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, as some artists had done.
“I was lucky because my face didn’t look that good on television,’’ he said.
Mr. Dinica frequently thrilled Romanians by spontaneously breaking into song at Bucharest restaurants.
Marcel Iures, another well-known Romanian actor, said of Mr. Dinica: “We worked together, we acted, and we laughed together.’’
“He was an angel all his life,’’ Iures said on Realitatea TV.
Romanian actor Florin Zamfirescu said: “He was loved by everyone: directors, actors and the public, men and women alike. On stage, he was like a fish in water.’’
Upon receiving news of Mr. Dinica’s death, the Romanian president, Traian Basescu, called the actor “a model of humanity, modesty, and generosity.’’
Mr. Dinica acted in comedy and drama with equal aplomb, and was best known on stage for his role in the seven-year production of the play “Take, Lanke, and Cadar,’’ a dry comedy by Victor Ion Popa from 1933 about three friends - a Jew, a Christian, and a Turk - who run modest shops in the same area.
In his last two years, Mr. Dinica starred in “Regina’’ and “Heart of a Gypsy,’’ two soap operas about Gypsies, a minority in Eastern Europe that faces widespread discrimination. They are also known as Roma.
Mr. Dinica also starred in “Aniela,’’ a Romanian period play that came out this fall.
He was born in Bucharest.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.