Mija Aleksić

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Mija Aleksić
Mija Aleksić in TV show Diplomci
Born	Milosav Aleksić September 26, 1923 (1923-09-26) Gornja Crnuća, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Died	March 12, 1995 (aged 71) Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia
Years active	1950 – 1993

Milosav "Mija" Aleksić (Serbian Cyrillic: Милосав "Мија" Алексић; born September 26, 1923 in Gornja Crnuća village near Kragujevac, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes — died March 12, 1995 in Belgrade, Serbia, FR Yugoslavia) was a beloved Serbian actor.

During World War II, when Axis powers occupied the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, 17-year-old Mija Aleksić attended high school in Kragujevac. On October 21, 1941, as a retaliation to sporadic Partisan guerilla attacks in the area, German occupational authorities committed one of the worst massacres in regional history - shooting several thousand randomly chosen citizens of Kragujevac, including entire high school classes. Mija Aleksić managed to escape and was one of the few surviving men of his generation in his native town.

Mija Aleksić initially enrolled in law school. But he gradually discovered a talent for acting. From the end of war till 1948 he worked in Kragujevac theatre. In 1951 he joined the Yugoslav Drama Theatre in Belgrade, where he would stay until 1965. He then joined the National Theatre in Belgrade, where he stayed until retirement.

Although notable for his drama talent, Mija Aleksić is best known as a comedian. Additionally, he was one of the first actors in the Balkans whose career benefited from the new medium of television. In 1950s and 1960s, following the series of extremely popular sitcoms, he became one of the most popular entertainers of former Yugoslavia. Studio, the very first TV guide in history of the region, had his face on the cover its first issue in 1964. The popular TV sitcoms include Servisna Stanica (Car repair station), Ogledalo gradjanina Pokornog (The mirror of the citizen Pokorny) and others. Unfortunately, out of the impressive opus, only fragments (a few episodes) are preserved.

Mija Aleksić had also his TV Show, Mija Show and several episodes of this program have been preserved. He appeared in "Vaga za tačno merenje", an educative TV series for children. Also, he ad an interesting role of commenting political events in "Monitor", a TV news-magazine from eighties.

Aleksić's popularity gradually declined, but he continued to work in 1970s and 1980s. One of his last great roles was in 1982 cult comedy The Marathon Family. His last film was Tango Argentino.