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Ion Caramitru

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Years active
  
1964–present

Name
  
Ion Caramitru


Role
  
Film actor

Spouse
  
Micaela Caracas (m. 1976)

Ion Caramitru wearing a black coat, black long sleeves, and eyeglasses

Full Name
  
Ion Horia Leonida Caramitru

Born
  
9 March 1942 (age 82) (
1942-03-09
)

Occupation
  
Actor, Theatre director, Political figure

Children
  
Matei Caramitru, Stefan Caramitru, Andrei Caramitru

Movies
  
Mission: Impossible, The Necessary Death of, Amen, Forest of the Hanged, Citizen X

Similar People
  
Horatiu Malaele, Victor Rebengiuc, Micaela Caracas, Liviu Ciulei, Radu Beligan

Actors ion caramitru and michael pennington performing shakespeare kings place


Ion Horia Leonida Caramitru ([iˈon karaˈmitru]; born 9 March 1942) is a Romanian stage and film actor, stage director, as well as a political figure. He was Minister of Culture between 1996 and 2000, in the Romanian Democratic Convention (CDR) cabinets of Victor Ciorbea, Gavril Dejeu, Radu Vasile, Alexandru Athanasiu, and Mugur Isărescu. Is married with actress Micaela Caracaș and have 3 boys: Ștefan, Andrei and Matei Caramitru.

Contents

Ion Caramitru wearing a black coat, striped long sleeve, black necktie, and eyeglasses

Ion caramitru despre cei 25 de ani de libertate la nocturne tvr1


Early life and acting career

Ion Caramitru with a tight-lipped smile while wearing a polo shirt

Born to an Aromanian family in Bucharest, he graduated from the I. L. Caragiale Institute for Theater and Film Arts in 1964, having debuted on the stage a year earlier — with the title role in an acclaimed production of William Shakespeare's Hamlet for the Bulandra Theater. He continued his engagement for Bulandra while starring in plays at the National Theatre Bucharest and various other theaters.

Ion Caramitru looking afar while wearing a black coat, white long sleeves, and black bow tie

Caramitru was a protagonist in a series of theatrical productions by directors such as Liviu Ciulei, Moni Ghelerter, Andrei Şerban, Liviu Purcărete, Sandra Manu, Cătălina Buzoianu, Alexandru Tocilescu, and Sică Alexandrescu (acting in plays such as Mihail Sebastian's Steaua fără nume, Georg Büchner's Danton's Death, Aeschylus' The Oresteia, Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire, Carlo Goldoni's Il bugiardo, and in many of Shakespeare's works). As a director of theater, opera, and operetta productions, Caramitru notably staged works by Frederick Loewe (My Fair Lady), Marin Sorescu (The Third Stake), Benjamin Britten (The Little Sweep), Aleksei Nikolaevich Arbuzov (The Lie), and Shakespeare (The Merchant of Venice); his adaptations of Peter Brook's La Tragédie de Carmen and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin were hosted by the Grand Opera House in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Ion Caramitru sitting on the chair while wearing a black polo shirt and eyeglasses

Caramitru starred in over 30 feature films, making his debut with a supporting role in Ciulei's Forest of the Hanged (1964). Among his best-known roles are Vive in Dimineţile unui băiat cuminte (1966), Gheorghidiu in Între oglinzi parallele (1978), Ştefan Luchian in Luchian (1981), and Socrate in the Liceenii series (1985–1987). Later in life, Caramitru has had minor roles in foreign films: he was an anarchist in the 1991 Kafka, Tatevsky in Citizen X (1995), Zozimov in Mission: Impossible (1996), Count Fontana in Amen. (2002), and a Bulgarian immigrant to Ireland in Adam & Paul (2004).

Ion Caramitru wearing a black coat, black vest, black striped long sleeve, and polka dot necktie

For his work in establishing British-Romanian cultural links, Caramitru was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. In 1997, the French Ministry of Culture awarded him the title of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.

In May 2005, he won the competition for the head office of the National Theatre Bucharest, replacing Dinu Săraru.

Revolution

Caramitru entered political life as an opponent of the communist regime in the Romanian Revolution of 1989. On 22 December 1989, after President Nicolae Ceauşescu had fled Bucharest, Caramitru and the known dissident writer Mircea Dinescu joined the crowd occupying the Romanian Television building, and were prominent among the numerous speakers who were proclaiming revolutionary victory.

A popular rumor circulating soon after the episode alleged that, unaware of being filmed, Caramitru had addressed Dinescu, saying, "Mircea, fă-te că lucrezi!" ("Mircea, pretend you are working!"); this version of events may have started as defamation by political adversaries, with the purpose of indicating that the Revolution was a carefully staged front for a coup d'état. According to Alex Mihai Stoenescu's research, despite its passing into contemporary folklore, such a phrase was never uttered; instead, the words used were "Mircea, arăţi că lucrezi" ("Mircea, show that you are working on something" — while holding Dinescu's booklet in front of camera), to which Dinescu replied "La un apel" ("[I'm working] on an appeal [to the people]") — pointing rather to their ill-preparedness and their preoccupation in quickly drafting a proper document.

FSN and CDR

He was an early member of the National Salvation Front (FSN) Council, the government formed around Ion Iliescu, where he was in charge of Culture. After the elections of 1990, as the FSN become a political party, he withdrew from the body in protest, arguing that the Iliescu grouping was attempting to use executive power and prestige in order to monopolize power (the gesture was preceded by the resignation of other intellectuals present in the FSN Council, including Doina Cornea and Ana Blandiana). Already a member of the Civic Alliance Foundation, he joined the National Peasants' Party, which engaged in opposition to the FSN, and became Minister of Culture after the CDR coalition won the elections of 1996.

Following the defeat in the 2000 elections and the party's breakup, he remained a member of the main PNŢ wing, the Christian-Democratic People's Party (PPCD). Caramitru opposed the PPCD leader Gheorghe Ciuhandu on several grounds, including the merger with the Union for Romanian Reconstruction; he advocated a reconciliation with former president Constantinescu, and was among the PPCD members to declare themselves alarmed by the possibility of Ioan Talpeş joining the party (Talpeş, who had left the PSD, had served as head of the Romanian Foreign Intelligence Service in 1992–1997). In February 2006, he handed in his resignation as vice-president of the PPCD.

Other causes

In the early 1990s, arguing that the granting of revolutionary diplomas and privileges had become an instrument of corruption, Caramitru, together with other revolutionaries and dissidents (Victor Rebengiuc, Dan Pavel, Radu Filipescu, and Costică Canacheu), formed the non-governmental organization Asociaţia Revoluţionarilor fără Privilegii (the Association of Non-Privileged Revolutionaries).

A noted figure within the Aromanian community, Caramitru has also founded Societatea de Cultură Macedo-Română, which is currently involved in a debate with Comunitatea Aromână din România (CAR): Caramitru and his supporters argue that Aromanians are a branch of the Romanians, whereas CAR campaigns for their recognition as an ethnic minority (with automatic representation in the Parliament of Romania).

In 2006, during a visit in Moldova, Caramitru claimed that Moldova is still a part of Romania, leading to a diplomatic row between Romania and Moldova and Caramitru being declared a "persona non grata" in Moldova.

Honours

  • Romanian Royal Family: Knight of the Royal Decoration of the Cross of the Romanian Royal House
  • Filmography

    Actor
    2022
    The Pitesti Experiment/Experimentul Pitesti as
    Unchiul Corneliu
    2019
    Cufarul (Short) as
    Mihai Eminescu
    2018
    Moromete Family: On the Edge of Time as
    Headmaster
    2014
    A Love Story, Lindenfeld as
    dr. Simon Hermann
    2013
    Charlie Countryman as
    Victor Ibanescu
    2008
    Two Point Five Billion (Short) as
    Bloch
    2004
    Adam & Paul as
    Eastern European Man
    2002
    Amen. as
    Count Fontana
    1996
    Deep Secrets (TV Movie) as
    Caine
    1996
    Mission: Impossible as
    Zozimov
    1995
    Two Deaths as
    Carl Dalakis
    1995
    Citizen X (TV Movie) as
    Tatevsky
    1993
    An Exchange of Fire (TV Series) as
    Oscar Karel
    - Episode #1.2 (1993) - Oscar Karel
    - Episode #1.1 (1993) - Oscar Karel
    1993
    A Question of Guilt (TV Movie) as
    Sandor Darvas
    1991
    Kafka as
    Solemn Anarchist
    1991
    Jute City (TV Series) as
    Grigory
    - Episode #1.3 (1991) - Grigory
    - Episode #1.2 (1991) - Grigory
    - Episode #1.1 (1991) - Grigory
    1987
    Extemporal la dirigentie as
    Socrate
    1987
    A Doua varianta
    1986
    The Graduates as
    Socrate
    1986
    Intunecare as
    Radu Comsa
    1985
    Fiul Stelelor (voice)
    1985
    Promisiuni as
    Radu Costache
    1985
    Confessions of Love as
    Socrate
    1984
    Galax Man-Doll as
    Luceafarul Poem (voice)
    1983
    Ca-n filme
    1981
    Iata femeia pe care o iubesc (TV Movie)
    1981
    Stefan Luchian as
    Stefan Luchian
    1981
    The Carpathian Castle as
    Alexandru Policretti
    1980
    Ancheta as
    Paul Blejan
    1980
    The Stake and the Flame as
    Bota
    1979
    Am fost 16 as
    Second lieutenant Marin Nastase
    1979
    Bietul Ioanide as
    Prince Max Hangerliu
    1978
    Ecaterina Teodoroiu as
    Dr. Muresan
    1978
    Intre oglinzi paralele as
    Gheorghidiu
    1978
    Ahead of the Silence as
    Iancu
    1977
    Tufa de Venetia
    1977
    Shootings Under the Moonlight as
    Securitate lieutenant Vasilache
    1977
    Iarba verde de acasa as
    Metes
    1977
    Marele singuratic
    1976
    Oaspeti de seara as
    Jianu
    1976
    Trei zile si trei nopti as
    Pavel Dunca
    1976
    Instanta amîna pronuntarea as
    Tiberiu Moga
    1976
    Casa de la miezul noptii as
    Dinu Valentin
    1976
    Dincolo de pod as
    Preotul Codreanu
    1974
    Stejar, extrema urgenta as
    Werner von Richter
    1974
    Robinson Crusoe as
    Robinson Crusoe (voice)
    1974
    Portile albastre ale orasului as
    tunarul Serbanescu
    1973
    Despre o anumita fericire as
    Liviu Filimon
    1971
    Printre colinele verzi
    1969
    Balada pentru Mariuca
    1967
    Diminetile unui baiat cuminte as
    Romache
    1965
    Forest of the Hanged as
    Petre Petre
    1964
    Comoara din Vadul Vechi as
    Ion Dohotaru
    Thanks
    2022
    The Pitesti Experiment/Experimentul Pitesti (grateful acknowledgment)
    Self
    2020
    89: Oglinzi si fum (Documentary) as
    Self
    2019
    Helden des Mauerfalls - Spurensuche im Osten Europas (TV Movie documentary) as
    Self - Direktor Nationaltheater Bukarest
    1999
    Sibiu-Hermannsstadt (Documentary) as
    Narrator
    1992
    Videograms of a Revolution (Documentary) as
    Self
    1991
    Piata Universitatii - Romania (Documentary) as
    Self
    1978
    Mai presus de orice (Documentary)
    Archive Footage
    2019
    30 de ani de democratie (Documentary) as
    Self

    References

    Ion Caramitru Wikipedia


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