Milena Dravić (Serbian Cyrillic: Милена Дравић, pronounced[mîlenadrǎːvitɕ]; 5 October 1940 – 14 October 2018) was a Yugoslav and Serbian film, television and theatre actress.[2] She played the mother of Brad Pitt in the film The Dark Side of the Sun from 1988.
Biography
Born in Belgrade, Serbia, Dravić became involved with performing arts at the age of four via her parents enrolling her in a dance program. She would later switch to classical ballet.[3]
In 1959, still a high school student, Dravić got spotted by director František Čáp[4] who approached the eighteen-year-old about being in his film Vrata ostaju otvorena after seeing her on the cover of a youth magazine in a ballet dancers' group photo. After appearing in a few more films, she decided to pursue acting full-time and to that end successfully enrolled at the Academy of Theatre Arts (APU) within the Arts Academy in Belgrade.
Her big break came in 1962 in Branko Bauer's Prekobrojna for which she won the Golden Arena for Best Actress (Yugoslav equivalent of an Academy Award). The memorable role, as well as the much-publicized accolade, propelled her to becoming Yugoslavia's first and arguably biggest female movie star. She was a recipient of five Silver arenas (for supporting actress roles) and 2 Golden arenas (for leading actress roles).[5]
Milena Dravić's career was long, prolific, and versatile. She was memorable and believable, whether as the tragic heroine in state-sponsored World War II epics, the eccentric protagonist of experimental arthouse films like WR: Mysteries of the Organism or in romantic comedies. She especially excelled in the latter during the 1970s and 1980s. She won the Cannes Best Supporting Actress Award in 1980 for Special Treatment.[6]
For her roles and contributions to domestic cinematography, she received the prestigious Pavle Vujisić Award in August 1994.[7]
On 15 December 2017 she was honored with the prestigious Dobričin prsten lifetime achievement award in Belgrade.[8]
Personal life
Dravić on a 2021 stamp of Serbia
Milena Dravić was married three times. Her third husband was the prominent Serbian actor Dragan Nikolić, with whom she had co-hosted the popular 1970s television program Obraz uz obraz.
Death
She died on 14 October 2018, after a long battle with illness.[9]
Selected filmography
Vrata ostaju otvorena (1959) – Marija ... Petrova sestra
^Richard Taylor, Nancy Wood, Julian Graffy, Dina Iordanova (2019). The BFI Companion to Eastern European and Russian Cinema. Bloomsbury. pp. 1935–1936. ISBN978-1838718497.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
