''Nadia'' is a 1984 made-for-television biopic directed by Alan Cooke about Olympic gymnast

Nadia Comăneci Nadia Elena Comăneci Conner (born November 12, 1961) is a Romanian retired gymnast and a five-time Olympic gold medalist, all in individual events. In 1976, at the age of 14, Comăneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10 ...

. Comăneci herself had nothing to do with the production of the film (the content of which was described to her by others). She stated at the time of its release that those involved with the film never made contact with her: "I sincerely don't even want to see it, I feel so badly about it. It distorts my life so totally."

Plot

As a young child, Romanian

was discovered by domineering gymnastics coach

Béla Károlyi Béla Károlyi (; born September 13, 1942) is an ethnic Hungarian Romanian-American gymnastics coach. Early in his coaching career he developed the Romanian centralised training system for gymnastics. One of his earliest protégés was Nadia C ...

. Károlyi and his wife Márta trained Comăneci in their gymnastics school for eight years. Comăneci eventually became a world champion gymnast. In 1976, at the age of 14, she became the first woman to ever score a perfect 10 at the Olympics; she ended the

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indiv ...

with seven 10s, three gold medals, one silver, and one bronze and became an instant celebrity in Romania and around the world. However, the pressure was too much for Comăneci to handle. She was separated from the Károlyis by the

Romanian government , image = , caption=Logo of the Government of Romania , date = 1862 , state = Romania , address = Victoria PalaceBucharest , appointed = President , leader_title = Prime Minister , mai ...

and became overweight and out-of-shape. She eventually rebounded, though, and led her

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

to the 1979 World Championship gold.

Cast

* Leslie Weiner as Young

* Johann Carlo as Older Nadia Comăneci * Joe Bennett as

Talia Balsam Talia Balsam (born March 5, 1959) is an American television and film actress. Early life Balsam was born in New York City on March 5, 1959, to actors Martin Balsam and Joyce Van Patten. Her ancestry is Russian Jewish (father) and Italian, Dutch, ...

as Márta Károlyi *

Conchata Ferrell Conchata Galen Ferrell (March 28, 1943October 12, 2020) was an American actress. Although she was a regular cast member of five TV sitcoms, she was best known for playing Berta the housekeeper for all 12 seasons of ''Two and a Half Men''. For her ...

as Mili Simonescu * Carl Strano as Nicholae Vieru *

Jonathan Banks Jonathan Ray Banks (born January 31, 1947) is an American actor. Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Chillum Heights, Maryland, while attending Indiana University Bloomington Banks did theatre. In 1974, he moved to Los Angeles where he be ...

as Gheorge Comăneci * Carrie Snodgress as Stefania Comăneci * Lyudmila Turischeva as Young

Teodora Ungureanu Teodora Ungureanu (born 13 November 1960) is a Romanian former gymnast who competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics. She is a three-time Olympic medalist (two silver and one bronze) and a world championships silver medalist. After retiring from gymn ...

* Sara Chana Silverstein as Older Teodora Ungureanu * Marcia Frederick as Nadia Comăneci (stunts)

Notes

External links

* 1984 films 1980s biographical films 1984 drama films Films about women's sports Gymnastics films Sports films based on actual events Films about Olympic gymnastics Films about the 1976 Summer Olympics Biographical films about sportspeople Cultural depictions of Romanian women Cultural depictions of gymnasts Films set in Romania Films set in the 1970s Films set in 1976 Films set in 1979 Films shot in Yugoslavia Films produced by Tribune Entertainment 1980s English-language films {{bio-film-stub