Mira Furlan
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| Mira Furlan | |
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 Furlan in 2008 |
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| Born | September 7, 1955 Zagreb, FPR Yugoslavia |
| Spouse(s) | Goran Gajić |
| Official website | |
Mira Furlan (born 7 September 1955 in Zagreb, PR Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia) is a Croatian actress and singer currently residing in the United States. She is probably best known for her roles as the Minbari Ambassador Delenn on the science fiction television series Babylon 5 and Danielle Rousseau on Lost, and has been described as the Croatian equivalent of Meryl Streep[citation needed].
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[edit] Early life
Furlan was born to a family that included a large number of university professors in Zagreb, which was at that time part of Yugoslavia. It is now the capital city of the Republic of Croatia. Furlan's paternal grandfather was Slovene and her maternal grandfather Jewish.[1]
[edit] Career
Furlan was a member of the Croatian National Theatre and frequently appeared in Yugoslav television and films, including Cannes Film Festival winner When Father Was Away on Business (1985). In the 1980s, she briefly appeared as singer for Le Cinema, a spin-off from the rock band Film.
Furlan has also appeared on the Los Angeles stage. She has released an album, Songs From Movies That Have Never Been Made. Furlan played Minbari Ambassador Delenn for all five seasons of Babylon 5 and some of the associated TV movies. Until recently she could be seen playing the character Danielle Rousseau in the ABC television series Lost.
Furlan will also appear in the low-budget independent film Apology, which (as of November 2007) is in post-production.[2][3] This will be her first lead role on film since emigrating to the United States.
In 2002, she returned to Croatia after some 11 years to take the lead role in Rade Šerbedžija's Ulysses Theatre Company's production of Euripides' Medea. She occasionally writes a column for the Croatian magazine Feral Tribune.
[edit] Personal life
Furlan's husband is director Goran Gajić, who has directed her in an episode of Babylon 5 and several plays, including a production of Sophocles' Antigone.
In late 1991, she and her husband emigrated from Yugoslavia to escape the political turmoil and ethnic tensions which accompanied the breakup of the country - she was born in Zagreb of mixed ethnic origin, her husband is an ethnic Serb.
On 15 December 1998, Furlan gave birth to the couple's first child, Marko Lav Gajić.
