Bata Živojinović

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Velimir "Bata" Živojinović Велимир "Бата" Живојиновић
Born	June 5, 1933 (1933-06-05) (age 75) Koraćica, Serbia
Years active	1955 - present
Spouse(s)	Lula Živojinović

Velimir "Bata" Živojinović (Serbian Cyrillic: Велимир "Бата" Живојиновић) (born June 5, 1933), is a Serbian actor and politician.

Živojinović was born in the town of Koraćica, Serbia (then Kingdom of Yugoslavia), under the Kosmaj mountain. His acting talent was manifested at the age of 15, while working as a stage hand at the Academy Theatre in Belgrade. After graduating from acting schools in Užice and Novi Sad, he tried to enroll at the Drama Academy in Belgrade and succeeded in his third attempt.

Velimir Živojinović preferred acting in theatre to acting on screen, but his screen debut in 1955 film Pesma sa Kumbare was the beginning of an incredibly prolific silver screen career. Živojinović, who would soon become known by his nickname "Bata", arguably played more film roles than any other actor in the history of former Yugoslavia and the mere size of his filmography is not likely to be matched in the near future.

Bata Živojinović's filmography was not only huge, but very versatile. He played both heroes and villains and easily switched between leading and supporting roles. In the 1960s he already established himself as one of the biggest stars of former Yugoslav cinema, but the zenith of his popularity came with WW2-themed action films in the 1970s. One of his best known films from that period was Valter brani Sarajevo (Valter defends Sarajevo), which gained major success in China. Živojinović is still one of the favourite actors in China.

In the 1980s Živojinović self-parodied his image of macho action hero in a series of light-hearted comedies.

In 1990 he was elected for the Serbian Parliament.

Since 1991, he is active on the Serbian political scene as a member of Socialist Party of Serbia.

In August of 1993, he was awarded Life Achievement Award "Slavica".

He was also known for his close friendship with the Croatian actor Boris Dvornik. In 1991 Živojinović and Dvornik renounced each other in a series of open letters, which was a gesture often seen as symbolic of the breakup of Yugoslavia. In 2004 it was reported that the two men tried to reconcile. In 2006, the two men publicly reconciled on TV via a video link between Split and Belgrade. The actor said that "In the last few years there hasn't been hatred between us", and Dvornik completed the sentence "only a misunderstanding".[1]

[edit] Trivia

Ranked 9th best Serbian actor by the Večernje novosti daily in 2000.
Bata Živojinović has starred in more than 300 films and TV serials, in a 45 year long career.
He has starred in 35 Yugoslav Partisan movies.
There is a beer Valter in China with a picture of Bata Živojinović on a sticker.[2]