Rade Serbedzija

Rade Šerbedžija (born 27 July 1946), occasionally credited as Rade Sherbedgia in some English-language productions, is a Croatian actor, director, and musician, of Serb ancestry. He was one of the most popular Yugoslav actors in the 1970s and 1980s. He is now internationally known mainly for his supporting roles in Hollywood films during the 1990s and 2000s. Recently, Šerbedžija received attention for his recurring role as former Soviet Army General Dmitri Gredenko in the sixth season of TV action series 24. --- Šerbedžija was born in the village of Bunić within Lika region, PR Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia. In 1969, he graduated from the Academy of Dramatic Arts of the University of Zagreb and then worked as a theatre actor in the City Drama Theatre Gavella and at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb. While still a student, Šerbedžija started to play leading roles in films and theater productions. He is remembered as an outstanding Peer Gynt, Don Juan, Melkior Tresić, Oedipus, Hamlet, Leone Glembay and Richard III. Šerbedžija was among the top actors in the former Yugoslavia, as well as an esteemed acting teacher at the Universities of Zagreb and Novi Sad. In 1964 he first visited the USA, where he enrolled in drama school. Small parts on stage followed for many years until his 1974 breakthrough performance as "Hamlet" at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival made him a star. Although he continued to appear in theatrical productions (notably, "Peer Gynt" and "Oedipus Rex"), Šerbedžija broke into films around the same time. Although many of the more than 40 features he has made in the 70s and 80s have been little-seen outside of Yugoslavia, a handful have received widespread distribution. His early work included the starring role in "The Republic of Užice" (1974). --- It was probably not until his turn as the captain interrogating a woman who rescued hundreds of children from the Holocaust in "Hanna's War" (1988) that he was noticed in the West. He is perhaps most often recognized by world audiences for his supporting roles in Hollywood films such as Mission: Impossible II, Mighty Joe Young, The Saint, Eyes Wide Shut, Snatch, EuroTrip, The Quiet American (2002), Shooter and a cameo in Batman Begins, often varying between sinister villains or trusting friends. He was offered to reprise his cameo role in The Dark Knight but opted not to. --- Šerbedžija was married to Ivanka Cerovac, but they divorced in 1987. They have a daughter, actress Lucija, born in 1973, and a son, movie director Danilo Šerbedžija. Lucija is married to Serbian actor/director Filip Gajić, and they together have a son, Sergej. Šerbedžija met his second wife, Lenka Udovički, the sister of Serbian politician Kori Udovički, in Subotica in 1990 and they married in 1991. Together with his current wife, Lenka Šerbedžija, he has three daughters: Nina the oldest, Vanja, the middle child, and Mimi the youngest. Nina is now attending college and the younger two are in high school. The children grew up in London for their early lives, then moved to California because of Rade's acting career.