Božidarka Frajt (Serbian: Божидарка Грубљешић) also spelled Frait; born 11 November 1940) is a Croatian actress. In her six decade long career, she has composed a prolific repertoire in Croatian television, film and theatre, but is best known for her role in

cinéma vérité Cinéma vérité (, , ) is a style of documentary filmmaking developed by Edgar Morin and Jean Rouch, inspired by Dziga Vertov's theory about '' Kino-Pravda''. It combines improvisation with use of the camera to unveil truth or highlight subje ...

-style 1972 film '' The Living Truth'', which earned her critical praise and a Golden Arena Award for Best Actress. In 2010, Frajt was awarded the

Vladimir Nazor Award The Vladimir Nazor Award () is a Croatian prize for arts and culture established in 1959, and awarded every year by the country's Ministry of Culture. Named after the writer Vladimir Nazor (1876–1949), the prize is awarded to Croatian artists ...

for lifetime achievement.

Early life

Božidarka Frajt was born Božidarka Grublješić on 11 November 1940. Born to an ethnic

Bosnian Serb The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sr-Cyrl, Срби Босне и Херцеговине, Srbi Bosne i Hercegovine), often referred to as Bosnian Serbs ( sr-cyrl, босански Срби, bosanski Srbi) or Herzegovinian Serbs ( sr-cyrl, � ...

family, her exact birthplace is unknown due to the scarce information of her childhood. It is believed she was born in

Velika Žuljevica Velika Žuljevica () is a village in the Municipalities of Republika Srpska, municipality of Novi Grad, Bosanska Krajina, Novi Grad, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina.Official results from the book: Ethnic composition of Bosnia-Herzegovina p ...

under

Kozara Kozara ( sr-cyrl, Козара) is a mountain in western Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the town of Kozarac and in the Bosanska Krajina region, bounded by the Sava River to the north, the Vrbas to the east, the Sana to the south, and the Una to t ...

, and that she was taken by Croatian

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionar ...

to a concentration camp for Serbian kids in

Sisak Sisak (; also known by other alternative names) is a city in central Croatia, spanning the confluence of the Kupa, Sava and Odra rivers, southeast of the Croatian capital Zagreb, and is usually considered to be where the Posavina (Sava basin ...

during the

Kozara Offensive The Kozara Offensive (), also known as Operation West Bosnia () was a large-scale German-led counter-insurgency operation against the Yugoslav Partisans in the Bosnian mountain region of Kozara in the Independent State of Croatia during World Wa ...

in 1942 along with thousands of other orphans. She was later adopted by

Croatian Jews The history of the Jews in Croatia dates back to at least the 3rd century, although little is known of the community until the 10th and 15th centuries. According to the 1931 census, the community numbered 21,505 members, and it is estimated th ...

Katarina and Stjepan Frajt. At the age of 36, she found out about her Kozara heritage when a woman named Dara Grublješić identified her as her niece.

Career

Frajt made her acting debut in the 1959 Croatian-language film ''Lakat kao takav'', directed by

Ante Babaja Ante Babaja (6 October 1927 – 14 January 2010) was a notable Croatian film director and screenwriter. Babaja finished high school in Zagreb before going on to enrol at the University of Zagreb where he studied law and economy. He started workin ...

. In 1963, Frajt interpreted the complex character Vera in the Yugoslav political film ''

Licem u lice ''Face to Face'' (''Licem u lice'') is a 1963 Yugoslavian political film. It is directed by Branko Bauer, written by Bogdan Jovanović, and stars Ilija Džuvalekovski, Husein Čokić, and Vladimir Popović. Plot A worker named Milun is fals ...

''. The film directed by

Branko Bauer Branko Bauer (18 February 1921 – 11 April 2002) was a Croatian film director. He is considered to be the leading figure of classical narrative cinema in Croatian and Yugoslav cinema of the 1950s. Early life Bauer became interested in cine ...

gained critical acclaim, winning a Big Golden Arena Award for Best Film at the

Pula Film Festival Pula Film Festival () is an annual Croatian film festival, established in 1954. It is held in a Roman amphitheater known as the Pula Arena. Pula Film Festival is the oldest Croatian film festival and is usually held in the summer, in July or Aug ...

and critical praise. Her debut as a television actress came with the 1969 ''Sumorna Jesen'', as "The Good Fairy". The plot lines of most of the episodes Frajt starred in were inspired by the experiences of screenwriter

Ivan Šibl Ivan Šibl (28 October 1917 – 30 March 1989) was a Yugoslav Partisans officer and Yugoslav People's Army Lieutenant Colonel General, as well as a writer and politician. Šibl was born in Virovitica. During the World War II, he joined the anti- ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1972, Frajt starred in the directorial debut film of

Tomislav Radić Tomislav Radić (8 December 1940 – 7 March 2015) was a Croatian film director and screenwriter. Born in Zagreb, Radić graduated from both University of Zagreb's Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and Academy of Dramatic Art. Lived in ...

'' The Living Truth''. Her dynamic and dominant interpretation in the drama provided a direct

dichotomy A dichotomy () is a partition of a set, partition of a whole (or a set) into two parts (subsets). In other words, this couple of parts must be * jointly exhaustive: everything must belong to one part or the other, and * mutually exclusive: nothi ...

to the depressing nature of the film. Her performance instantly made her one of the most prominent film actresses of Yugoslavia, winning her a

Golden Arena for Best Actress The following is a list of winners of the Golden Arena for Best Actress at the Pula Film Festival. List of winners Yugoslav Film Awards (1955–90) Croatian Film Awards (1990–present) Footnotes :A. Although the festival was opened ...

and commercial success. In a 1999 poll among 44 Croatian film consumers, ''The Living Truth'' was placed 20th on the list of all-time best Croatian films. Frajt had a major role in the 1977

Krešo Golik Krešimir "Krešo" Golik (20 May 1922 – 20 September 1996) was a Croatian film and television Film director, director and screenwriter. In a creative career spanning five decades between the late 1940s and late 1980s, Golik directed a numb ...

film ''

Pucanj ''A Shot'' (''Pucanj'') is a 1977 Croatian film directed by Krešo Golik, starring Božidar Orešković Božidar Orešković (21 August 1942 – 09 July 2010) was a Croatian actor. He appeared in more than fifty films from 1963 to 2010. Selec ...

'', sharing the protagonist role with Serbian actor Marko Nikolić. In 1978, she appeared as the middle-aged audio pedagogue protagonist Ljubica in another Golik production ''

Ljubica Ljubica ( sr-cyr, Љубица and ) is a Slavic feminine given name meaning "love" or "kiss", where -ica is a diminutive suffix. Also, ''ljubica'' means violet, while the actual flower is ''ljubičica'', a superdiminutive. It is Serbo-Croatian in ...

''. In 1981,

Veljko Bulajić Veljko Bulajić (22 March 1928 – 2 April 2024) was a Montenegrin film director and UNESCO Kalinga Prize recipient. Bulajić spent the majority of his life working in Croatia and is primarily known for directing World War II-themed movies from ...

invited her to play the principal character in the film ''

High Voltage High voltage electricity refers to electrical potential large enough to cause injury or damage. In certain industries, ''high voltage'' refers to voltage above a certain threshold. Equipment and conductors that carry high voltage warrant sp ...

'', after her performance as Ljubica. In 1997, she voiced Grga (Melvin)'s mother in the Croatian-language animated feature

Lapitch the Little Shoemaker ''Lapitch the Little Shoemaker'' (, ) is a 1997 animated feature that was originally released by Croatia Film. Produced on vintage cel equipment during the early 1990s, this was the third feature from Croatia Film's animation unit and director M ...

. Frajt also dubbed Kala in the official 2005 Croatian version of the 1999 animated film Tarzan, and in 2013,

Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (; born Ilyena Lydia Vasilievna Mironov; 26 July 1945) is an English actor. With a career spanning over six decades of Helen Mirren on screen and stage, screen and stage, List of awards and nominations received by Helen Mirre ...

's character Dean Abigail Hardscrabble in the Croatian dub of

Monsters University ''Monsters University'' is a 2013 American animated Coming-of-age film, coming-of-age comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. A prequel to ''Monsters, Inc.'' (2001), it was directed by Dan Scanlon (in his fea ...

. For her services to Yugoslav film, she was awarded the

in 2010.

Personal life

Frajt was married to Croatian producer Boris Gregorić, with whom she had one child, Bojana, who is a prominent Croatian actress. Frajt currently lives in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

.(T.K.
Pravac Montevideo

Glas Slavonije ''Glas Slavonije'' () is a Croatian daily newspaper published in Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian ...

, 18 August 2012

Selected filmography

Television

Film

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frajt, Bozidarka 1940 births Living people People from Novi Grad, Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatian actresses Croatian film actresses Croatian television actresses Croatian voice actresses Croatian stage actresses Croatian Theatre Award winners Croatian theatre directors Croatian women theatre directors Vladimir Nazor Award winners Golden Arena winners Croatian people of Serbian descent