Fabijan Šovagović
| Fabijan Šovagović | |
|---|---|
| Born |
January 4, 1932 Ladimirevci, near Valpovo, Kingdom of Yugoslavia |
| Died |
January 1, 2001 (aged 68) Zagreb, Croatia |
Fabijan Šovagović (January 4, 1932 – January 1, 2001) was a Croatian actor.
Fabijan Šovagović was born in the village of Ladimirevci, in the Slavonia region of Croatia. He began acting in his youth and from late 1950s he appeared in many films, becoming one of the most recognisable faces of Croatian (and former Yugoslav) cinema. He never became a star, but he built a reputation as one of the greatest character actors with memorable roles in many classic films and popular TV series. Matija Gubec, whom he played in 1975 film Seljačka buna is one of his rare starring roles.
In 1979 he played the role of a Dervish in Meetings with Remarkable Men, directed by Peter Brook.
Fabijan Šovagović was also active in theatre and those experiences led him to begin writing plays of his own. The best known of them all is Sokol ga nije volio (Sokol Did Not Love Him), later adapted in 1988 film. It was his movie about his birthplace Ladimirevci
Through the last years of his life Fabijan Šovagović struggled with the consequences of heart strokes. He died in Zagreb January 1, 2001.
His most unforgettable last role (if not the best in his career) was of a Slavonian refugee man in the 1994 movie Vukovar se vraca kuci (English: Vukovar shall return home). A man lost everything in war except his loving companion dog, and shares destiny of many of his fellow citizens who are exiled from Vukovar, a Slavonian city completely destroyed by Serbian militants. He together with entire families of those who survived one of the most unforgettable horrors of Croatian (and modern European) history, are temporarily housed inside old train wagons. Not only struggling with heavy conditions to survive, but every new day, the return to their home also starts looking less possible... a dream in which they all once lived is slowly turning into a bitter-sweet memories of happiness that may be stolen forever, yet hope always dies last...
Many believe his brilliant reflection of this tragic Slavonian character was due to a fact that Šovagović being a native Slavonian Croat, have known this feeling firsthand himself. Šovagović played brilliant role of policeman ( Žandar )in TV series " Kuda idu divlje svinje ? ".
Personal life
He had a wife and two children - his son Filip Šovagović was a leading character in No Man's Land, a 2001 Oscar-winning Bosnian movie and his daughter Anja Šovagović-Despot, both followed his footsteps and became well accredited movie and theater actors.