Dragan Despot (born 14 July 1956) is a Croatian actor. He has appeared in more than twenty films since 1979. Despot graduated from the Academy of Dramatic Art at the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...

, where his teacher was

Tonko Lonza Tonko Lonza (29 September 1930 – 23 December 2018) was a Croatian actor. He appeared in more than thirty films since 1959. Filmography Awards * Vladimir Nazor Award The Vladimir Nazor Award ( hr, Nagrada Vladimir Nazor) is a Croatian prize ...

in 1981. In 1983 he joined

Croatian National Theatre in Mostar The Croatian National Theatre in Mostar ( hr, Hrvatsko narodno kazalište u Mostaru) is a theatre located in Mostar, home to the largest population of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina. HNK Mostar was established on September 22, 1994 and the f ...

and the same year performed at the

Dubrovnik Summer Festival The Dubrovnik Summer Festival ( hr, Dubrovačke ljetne igre; is an annually-held summer festival instituted in 1950 in Dubrovnik, Croatia. It is held every year between 10 July and 25 August. On more than 70 open-air venues of Renaissance-Baroq ...

. Prior to acting, Despot was a fan of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and loved watching players such as

Dušan Bajević Dušan "Duško" Bajević ( sr-Cyrl, Душан Бајевић, ; gr, Ντούσαν Μπάγεβιτς, ''Doúsan Báyevits''; born 10 December 1948) is a Bosnian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former player. H ...

Enver Marić Enver Marić (born 16 April 1948) is a Bosnian former professional football goalkeeper and retired football manager. Club career He started his career playing for FK Velež Mostar from 1967 to 1976, for who he played a record 600 games in his ni ...

Franjo Vladić Franjo Vladić (born 19 October 1950) is a Bosnian former international football player who played as a midfielder and a manager. Club career Vladić began his club career with the then-largest regional side in Herzegovina, Velež Mostar, wh ...

and especially

Slaven Zambata Slaven Zambata (24 September 1940 – 29 October 2020) was a Croatian professional football player best known for his time at Dinamo Zagreb in the 1960s, for whom he appeared in 171 Yugoslav First League matches. He was also a Yugoslav interna ...

. Despite his love for football, he pursued career in acting instead and joined such people as

Ivica Vidović Ivica Vidović (10 May 1939 – 18 April 2011) was a Croatian actor who appeared in many classic Yugoslav films from the 1960s until his death in 2011. Following his screen debut in 1962 film ''Rana jesen'', Vidović appeared in many films gra ...

Rade Šerbedžija Rade Šerbedžija ( sr-Cyrl, Раде Шербеџија, ; born 27 July 1946) is a Croatian actor, director and musician. He is known for his portrayals of imposing figures on both sides of the law. He was one of the best known Yugoslav actors i ...

Jakov Sedlar Jakov Sedlar (born 6 November 1952) is a Croatian film director and producer. A former cultural attaché during the 1990s in the Franjo Tuđman government, his documentaries promote Croatian nationalist views through propaganda. His 2016 docu ...

, Pero Kvrgić, Mladen Budišćak,

Žarko Potočnjak Žarko Potočnjak (3 February 1946 – 21 October 2021) was a Croatian theatre, television and film actor. Potočnjak graduated from the Zagreb Academy of Dramatic Art in 1972. Upon graduation he was hired as a regular member at the ''Komedija ...

, Duško Valentić,

Matko Elezović Matko is a Croatian given name and surname that may refer to: ;Given name * Matko Babić (born 1998), Croatian football player * Matko Djarmati (born 1982), Croatian football player * Matko Jelavić (born 1958), Croatian singer, songwriter, compos ...

Zijad Grčić Ziad (also transliterated as Ziyad, Zyad, Zeyad, or Zijad ar, زياد) is an Arabic given name and surname. Given name Actors * Zeyad Errafae'ie, Syrian television actor and voice actor Athletes * Zeyad Abdulrazak, Kuwaiti hurdler * Zeyad ...

Zlatko Vitez Zlatko Vitez (born 22 June 1950 in Varaždin) is a Croatian theatre and film actor. He also served as the Croatian Minister of Culture in the period between October 1994 and November 1995 in the Cabinet of Nikica Valentić. Vitez graduated from ...

and

Matko Raguž Matko is a Croatian given name and surname that may refer to: ;Given name * Matko Babić (born 1998), Croatian football player * Matko Djarmati (born 1982), Croatian football player * Matko Jelavić (born 1958), Croatian singer, songwriter, compos ...

. Despot is married to

Anja Šovagović-Despot Anja Šovagović-Despot (born 25 March 1963) is a Croatian film and stage actress. Early life and career Šovagović-Despot was born to the family of Fabijan Šovagović, one of the most respected Croatian actors, and Maja Blaškov. Same as her y ...

, an actress, and together they have a son Josip and daughter Ana. He voiced Rico in the Croatian dub of ''

Home on the Range "Home on the Range" is a classic cowboy song, sometimes called the "unofficial anthem" of the American West. Dr. Brewster M. Higley (also spelled Highley) of Smith County, Kansas, wrote the lyrics as the poem "My Western Home" in 1872 or 1873 ...

'' (2004).

Selected filmography

References

External links

* 1956 births Living people Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatian male film actors Actors from Mostar Academy of Dramatic Art, University of Zagreb alumni {{Croatia-actor-stub