Grigore Vasiliu Birlic (; January 24, 1905 – February 14, 1970) was a
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
n actor who appeared on stage, television and in films. He was best known for comedic roles.
Early life
Grigore Vasiliu was born on 24 January 1905 into the family of a small businessman on the ''"Pârâul Târgului"'' street in
Fălticeni
Fălticeni (; ''german: Foltischeni; hu, Falticsén;'' he, פלטיצ'ן yi, פאלטישאן) is a town in Suceava County, northeastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Western Moldavia. Fălticeni is the second largest urba ...
, in the
Bukovina region of Romania. As a child he wanted to become a circus clown; however, his parents did not consider acting a serious job, and when he finished the ''"Nicu Gane"'' high school in Fălticeni in 1924, he was sent to study law at the
University of Cernăuți.
Early career
He started in the local theater where he was noticed by
Dragoș Protopopescu
Dragoș Protopopescu (17 October 1892 – 11 April 1948) was a Romanian writer, poet, critic and philosopher.
He was born in Călărași, the son of Constantin Popescu and Octavia Blebea.
After going to school in his native city, he pursued his ...
, the theater director. He received his first role as a mute character in the comedic play ''"Musca spaniolă"'' ("The Spanish Fly") by
Franz Arnold
Franz Arnold (1878–1960) was a German actor and playwright. He frequently collaborated with Ernst Bach after their debut play '' The Spanish Fly'' was a hit.Grange p.61 He emigrated to Britain in 1933.
Plays by Arnold and Bach
*'' The Spanish ...
and
Ernst Bach
Ernst Bach (10 May 1876 – 1 November 1929) was an Austrian actor and playwright. He made his debut as an actor at the Wiener Raimond Theater in 1899. In 1903 he moved to Berlin to the Residenztheater, then to Lustspielhaus in 1905, where he beca ...
. He was hired at the National Theater in
Cernăuți
Chernivtsi ( uk, Чернівці́}, ; ro, Cernăuți, ; see also other names) is a city in the historical region of Bukovina, which is now divided along the borders of Romania and Ukraine, including this city, which is situated on the up ...
, and his next appearance was in
Victor Ion Popa
Victor Ion Popa (; July 29, 1895 in Bârlad – March 30, 1946 in Bucharest) was a Romanian dramatist.
He went to primary school in the village of Călmăţui, a village in the Grivița commune, in the former Tutova County, where his father was a ...
's ''"Amanetul"'' (The Pawn Shop) by
Ludvig Holberg
Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg (3 December 1684 – 28 January 1754) was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Dano-Norwegian dual monarchy. He was influenced by Humanism, ...
.
Birlic, who struggled with a lisp, failed to get into the Dramatic Art Conservatory of Cernăuţi seven times before succeeding the eighth. There, he was a student of
Petre Sturdza and met
Jules Cazaban as a colleague.
Top of the Career
![Birlic3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Birlic3.jpg)
In 1933, director
Aurel Maican brought him to Bucharest where he performed in plays such as ''"Vârcolacul"''("The Werewolf), ''"Micul Weber"'' ("Little Weber") and ''"Prostul din baie"''("The Idiot In The Bathroom"). Grigore Vasiliu was nicknamed ''Breloc'' ("Pendant") after playing in
Ion Iancovescu's ''Corabia lui Noe'' ("Noah's Ark").
His big breakthrough was with Iancovescu's play ''Împăratul'' ("The Emperor") by
Luigi Bonelli
Luigi Bonelli (1892–1954) was an Italian playwright and screenwriter.Goble p.999
Selected filmography
* ''Paradise'' (1932)
* '' Palio'' (1932)
*''Nini Falpala'' (1933)
* '' Ginevra degli Almieri'' (1935)
* '' Territorial Militia'' (1935)
* ...
. Alongside him were
Mania Antonova and N.N. Matei. Following this success, he played the main character in
Tudor Mușatescu's adaptation of the play ''Birlic'' by
Franz Arnold
Franz Arnold (1878–1960) was a German actor and playwright. He frequently collaborated with Ernst Bach after their debut play '' The Spanish Fly'' was a hit.Grange p.61 He emigrated to Britain in 1933.
Plays by Arnold and Bach
*'' The Spanish ...
and
Ernst Bach
Ernst Bach (10 May 1876 – 1 November 1929) was an Austrian actor and playwright. He made his debut as an actor at the Wiener Raimond Theater in 1899. In 1903 he moved to Berlin to the Residenztheater, then to Lustspielhaus in 1905, where he beca ...
. The play was another success for the actor who became known as Grigore Vasiliu-Birlic due to the character he interpreted for a long time with great success.
Although he was appointed director of the theater group ''Colorado'', communist laws banned private theater groups and he was fired. He returned to the
National Theatre of Bucharest where the repertory was set by the Propaganda Department of the
Romanian Communist Party.
His comeback was in 1953's 's adaptation of
Ion Luca Caragiale
Ion Luca Caragiale (; commonly referred to as I. L. Caragiale; According to his birth certificate, published and discussed by Constantin Popescu-Cadem in ''Manuscriptum'', Vol. VIII, Nr. 2, 1977, pp. 179-184 – 9 June 1912) was a Romanian playw ...
's play, ''
O scrisoare pierdută'' ("A Lost Letter"), in which he initially portrayed Dandanache and then Brânzovenescu.
Radu Beligan
Radu Beligan (; 14 December 1918 – 20 July 2016) was a Romanian actor, director, and essayist, with an activity of over 70 years in theatre, film, television, and radio. On 15 December 2013, confirmed by Guinness World Records, the actor receiv ...
praised the play and described Birlic as "''
genius of comedy, of the Romanian humor''".
In 1956, Alexandrescu, Birlic,
Alexandru Giugaru
Alexandru Giugaru (; 23 June 1897 – 15 March 1986) was a Romanian stage and film actor.
Early life
Born in Huși, Fălciu (present day Vaslui County), Romania, Giugaru began his stage career in 1916 after graduating from school in Cuza Vodă ...
and
George Calboreanu performed the play ''Bădăranii'' ("The Boors") by
Carlo Goldoni Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to:
* Carlo (name)
* Monte Carlo
* Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
*A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince ...
at the Goldoni Festival in Venice. A storm erupted while the actors were on stage, yet the guests remained in the garden of
Palazzo Grassi
Palazzo Grassi (also known as the Palazzo Grassi-Stucky) is a building in the Venetian Classical style located on the Grand Canal of Venice (Italy), between the Palazzo Moro Lin and the campo San Samuele.
History First owners
During the 16th c ...
, entranced by Birlic's interpretation of Caciani.
End of Career
![Mormântul lui Gr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Morm%C3%A2ntul_lui_Gr._Vasiliu-Birlic_%281%29-.jpg)
After his return from
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, Birlic continued acting in ''D-ale carnavalului'', ''Conu Leonida față cu reacțiunea'', ''Avarul și Burghezul gentilom'' by
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and worl ...
, ''Egor Bulicov'' by
Maxim Gorki
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and sociali ...
, ''Revizorul'' by
Nikolai Gogol, ''Oameni care tac'' by , ''Nunta lui Krecinski'' by
Aleksandr Sukhovo-Kobylin, and ''Mielul turbat'' by
Aurel Baranga.
In his entire career, Birlic portrayed 13 of Caragiale's characters. For Romanians, the face of Grigore Vasiliu-Birlic merges with the notion of a Caragiale character. Birlic himself said ''"As one of the actors who have played the most characters – 13 – from the work of our great dramatist, I recall Caragiale with affectionate gratitude for the theatrical successes that he occasioned me with. These roles represented to me in over 35 years of theater, a great school of acting knowledge, characters of our drama masters. ''"
Sensing that his end was near, Birlic asked his manager, Gaby Michăilescu, to help him direct his last theatrical appearance. He chose to reenact the play that gave him his name, "''Birlic''". Actors who also played in Birlic's last appearance were ,
Alexandru Giugaru
Alexandru Giugaru (; 23 June 1897 – 15 March 1986) was a Romanian stage and film actor.
Early life
Born in Huși, Fălciu (present day Vaslui County), Romania, Giugaru began his stage career in 1916 after graduating from school in Cuza Vodă ...
, , , , and
Ion Antonescu-Cărăbuș.
On 14 February 1970, Grigore Vasiliu-Birlic died at the age of 65 in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
. He is buried at
Bellu Cemetery
Șerban Vodă Cemetery (commonly known as Bellu Cemetery) is the largest and most famous cemetery in Bucharest, Romania.
It is located on a plot of land donated to the local administration by Baron Barbu Bellu. It has been in use since 1858. Th ...
in Bucharest.
Film
In 1934, Birlic began in his film career with the movie '
alongside Stroe and Vasilache, followed by ''Doamna de la etajul II'' ("The second floor lady") starring Birlic, Maud Mary, Mihai Popescu, and
Mihai Fotino
Mihai Fotino (; 14 September 1930 – 13 January 2014) was a prolific Romanian actor who has appeared in theatre, film, television, and radio, in a career spanning 70 years.
Born in Bucharest, he spent his early years in Brașov, where his f ...
. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, artistic activities in Romania were limited, but Birlic returned in 1951 in Jean Georgescu's ''Vizita'' ("The Visit"), an adaptation of Caragiale's sketch. Following this success, he was featured in ''
O Scrisoare Pierdută'', in Gheorghe Naghi and Aurel Micheles's ''Două lozuri'' ("Two Lottery Tickets"), and in Iancovescu's ''D-ale carnavalului'' ("The Carnival"). The three adaptations of Caragiale's work formed the highlight of Birlic's career.
Filmography
External links
*
Birlic Cultural Association
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birlic
Romanian comedians
Romanian male film actors
Romanian male stage actors
People from Fălticeni
Burials at Bellu Cemetery
1905 births
1970 deaths
20th-century Romanian male actors
Romanian male television actors
20th-century comedians