Friday, November 21, 2014

Who Are Those Guys? - Drogomir Bojanić (aka Anthony Ghidra)

 
Dragomir Bojanić was born in Kragujevic, Serbia, Yugoslavia June 13, 1933. After the Second World War, he lost both of his parents and was orphaned. Gidra’s mother Novka, died of tuberculosis, when the actor was nine years old, while his father Jeannot who was an officer in the Serbian army was shot and killed. The loss of his family failed to break his spirit, and he graduated from high school and while working in a meat processing plant, and a produce packing plant, later jokingly calling this his educational institution and conservatory. After graduation, he worked a year in the Red Star cannery, but a love of art and a change of scenery was stronger than anything else in his life.
 
He joined an amateur theater group, Sveta Mladenovic and appeared in the Kragujevačko National Theatre. He continued to save what money he could and enrolled in acting class taught by the famous Raše Plaovića at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television in Belgrade. During the first year of his studies he appeared at the National Theatre. At this point, the he was one of the most promising young artists in the history of the Yugoslav theater. In 1955 he started his film career in a supporting role in the film directed by Žike Mitrovića “Ešalon doktora M”, followed by a rich cinematic opus. He continued in supporting roles, and played a significant role in more than thirty domestic films. Along with a respectable career in Yugoslavia, his name became well known beyond. Specifically, under the pseudonym Anthony Gidra he appeared in more than ten Westerns and action films in Italy during the 1960s. His greatest fame came in the role of Zika Pavlovic in the ten part movie “Crazy” which was filmed from 1978-1992. Ghidra became one of the unsung heroes of the Euro-western. He appeared in six Euro-westerns, starring in five and was the perfect silent older gunfighter in these films.
 
During his film studies he met actress Ljiljana Kontić [1931-2005] whom he married in 1966. The couple had a daughter Jelene in 1970. About his family Dragomir once said, “I never thought I could be so hooked. When I was young, I could not even imagine that one day I would be so attached to my family.” - said the artist. The couple had their difficulties and separated twice but always came back together. As a true Montenegrin, Ljalja was the pillar of the home, and at the expense of her career she decided to focus more on the preservation of domestic peace and stayed home to raise Jelene.
 
Dragomir died on November 11, 1993 of liver cancer. Ljiljana died twelve years later in 2005 and the two are buried side by side in the New Cemetery in Belgrade, Serbia.
 
BOJANIC, Dragomir (aka Dragan Bojanic, Gidra, Gidra Bojanic, Drgomir Bojanic-Gidra, Anthony Ghidra, Antonio Ghidra, Anthony Ghidra, Anthony Gidra, Dragomir Bojanic Gidra, Antony Guidra) (Dragomir Bojanic) [6/13/1933, Kragujevic, Serbia, Yugoslavia - 11/11/1993, Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia (liver cancer)] – stage, TV actor, married to actress Ljiljana Kontić [1931-2005] (1966-1993), father of Jelene Bojanić [1970-    ].
Frontier Hellcat - 1964 (Joe)
Ballad of a Gunman - 1967 (Rocco/Blackie) [as Anthony Ghidra]
Django, the Last Killer - 1967 (Raza/Rezza/Rocco/Django) [as Anthony Ghidra]
A Hole in the Forehead - 1968 (Billy/John Blood) [as Anthony Ghidra]
God May Forgive You, Not Me - 1968 (Dick Smart) [as Anthony Ghidra]
Tequila Joe - 1968 (Sheriff ‘Tequila Joe’ Donnell) [as Anthony Ghidra]

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