Bekim Fehmiu

Bekim Fehmiu (; ; 1 June 1936 – 15 June 2010) was a Yugoslavian theater and film actor. He was the first Eastern European actor to star in Hollywood during the Cold War, and one of the internationally best-known ethnic Albanian actors. Biography Early life Fehmiu was born in Sarajevo, into an ethnic Albanian family originating from Gjakova, Kosovo. His father Ibrahim adopted his high-school nickname Fehmiu as a surname replacing the original Imer Halili. The family moved to Shkodër, Albania, where they spent three years, and in 1941 returned to Prizren where Bekim spent his childhood. He was part of the acting club at his high school in Prizren, and after graduation he became a member of County Popular Theatre in Pristina, the only professional Albanian language theatre in Yugoslavia. He graduated from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts (FDU) in Belgrade in 1960. Acting career 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.