Ilija "Ika" Panajotovic ( sr, Илија Панајотовић, Ilija Panajotović; 25 April 1932 – 18 July 2001) was a Serbian-

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

and

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player.

Tennis career

Panajotovic, who made the junior semi-finals at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

in 1948, won back to back Yugoslavian Junior Championship titles in 1948 and 1949. The Serbian competed in 12

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

tournaments during his career, all in the 1950s. He appeared at Wimbledon seven times and played in the

French Championships The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

on five occasions. From 1953 to 1959, Panajotovic participated in Wimbledon every year and made the third round in the 1958 Championships. He had a five set win over

Akhtar Ali Akhtar Ali (Urdu: اختر علی) (5 July 1939 – 7 February 2021), was an Indian tennis player. He was a member of the Indian Davis Cup team continuously from 1958 to 1964 and captain of Indian Davis Cup in 2008. Later he turned to coaching an ...

in the second round, before exiting to tournament with a loss to sixth seed

Kurt Nielsen Kurt Nielsen (19 November 1930 – 11 June 2011) was a Danish tennis player. He was born in Copenhagen, and was the first Danish tennis player ever to have played in a men's singles final in a Grand Slam tournament. Nielsen reached the single ...

. In the men's doubles he also had success, with Panajotovic and his partner

Ivko Plećević Ivko Plećević (1931 — 2021) was a Serbian tennis player. Plećević, who worked at the ticket office of Belgrade's Tašmajdan tennis club as a teenager, competed for the Yugoslavia Davis Cup team from 1952 to 1958. He was a men's doubles qu ...

reaching the quarter-finals. Panajotovic was the Yugoslavian national champion in 1958 and 1959. In

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

tennis, Panajotovic took part in 11 ties, from 1953 to 1960. One of his three singles wins was over

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's Kurt Nielsen, in 1960. He also won two doubles rubbers, one partnering Ivko Plećević, against

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, the other with

Boro Jovanović Boro Jovanović (born 21 October 1939) is a former Yugoslav tennis player. Jovanović was runner-up in the 1962 Wimbledon doubles tournament with Nikola Pilić, and quarter-finalist in the 1968 Wimbledon doubles tournament. In singles, Jovanovi ...

as his partner, against

. An injury, sustained in a car accident, ended his tennis career.

Education and early work

In 1957, Panajotovic graduated from the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-b ...

Law School A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

and has worked in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

as an attorney over the next five years. During this time he also found work as a newspaper journalist. He then moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and earned a BA in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Film career

Panajotovic was the producer of several films, including ''

Day of the Assassin Brian Medwin Trenchard-Smith (born 1946) is an English-Australian filmmaker and author, known for his idiosyncratic and satirical low-budget genre films. His filmography covers action, science fiction, martial arts, dystopian fiction, comedy, w ...

'', ''

Hell River ''Hell River'', also known as ''Partisans'' ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Partizani, separator=" / ", Партизани) and ''The Last Guerilla'', is a 1974 Yugoslav partisan film starring Rod Taylor as a Yugoslav raised in America who returns home to fight ...

'', and '' Missile X – Geheimauftrag Neutronenbombe''. He also served as the Yugoslavian coordinator for the

Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in ''The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. Do ...

film ''

Scalawag In United States history, the term scalawag (sometimes spelled scallawag or scallywag) referred to white Southerners who supported Reconstruction policies and efforts after the conclusion of the American Civil War. As with the term '' carpetb ...

'', which was shot in his native country. He was a member of the

Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

Hollywood Foreign Press Association The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) is a nonprofit organization of journalists and photographers who report on the Cinema of the United States, entertainment industry activity and interests in the United States for media (newspaper, ...

and

Motion Picture Academy The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

Death

On 18 July 2001, Panajotovic died of a

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

, during surgery.

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panajotovic, Ika 1932 births 2001 deaths Yugoslav male tennis players Serbian male tennis players Serbian film producers Yugoslav lawyers Yugoslav emigrants to the United States American people of Serbian descent University of California, Los Angeles alumni University of Belgrade Faculty of Law alumni