Rade à  erbedà ¾ija (, ; born 27 July 1946) is a Croatian and Yugoslav actor, director and musician of Serbian descent. He is known for his portrayals of imposing figures on both sides of the law, and is considered one of the best known Yugoslav actors in the 1970s and 1980s. He is internationally known mainly for his role as Boris the Blade in Snatch (2000), his supporting roles in such Hollywood films as The Saint (1997), Eyes Wide Shut (1999), ' (2000), ' (2011), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010), and Taken 2 (2012); and for his recurring role as former Soviet Army General Dmitri Gredenko in Season 6 of TV action series 24.
à  erbedà ¾ija is a four-time recipient of the Golden Arena for Best Actor, Croatia's highest filmmaking honors. He won the Critics Award for Best Actor at the 51st Venice International Film Festival for his performance in Before the Rain (1994). He also received the International Press AcademyâÂÂs Mary Pickford Award, an honorary recognition âÂÂfor Outstanding Artistic Contribution to the Entertainment Industryâ in 2019.
Rade à  erbedà ¾ija was born on 27 July 1946 in the village of Buniàin the Lika region of Croatia, then part of Yugoslavia. His parents were ethnic Serbs who fought in the Second World War as Partisans. à  erbedà ¾ija was raised as an atheist.
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, à  erbedà ¾ija started to play leading roles in films and theatre productions. His stage roles included Oedipus and Richard III. His performance as Hamlet in 1974 in Dubrovnik catapulted him into stardom.
à  erbedà ¾ija landed his first major film role in 1968 in the Branko Ivanda-directed Gravitation. He had various notable roles in Yugoslav films, among others in Bravo maestro (1978), Journalist (1979), BanoviàStrahinja (1981), Kiklop (1982) and San o ruà ¾i (1986). He was also among the leading actors in several TV series, such as in ' (1971), ' (1976), and ' (1986).
à  erbedà ¾ija taught as a professor at the University of Zagreb from 1979 to 1981 and at the University of Novi Sad from 1987 to 1991.
à  erbedà ¾ija was one of the most well-known actors in Yugoslavia, in addition to being one of the most beloved. Prior to leaving his home country, à  erbedà ¾ija had starred in over 40 films. He was also one of the main supporters of the KPGT Yugoslav theater, a project initiated to unite the different Yugoslav state theaters into a single troupe.
à  erbedà ¾ija is a four-time recipient of the Golden Arena for Best Actor at the Pula Film Festival; in 1978 for Bravo maestro, in 1986 for Evening Bells (VeÃÂernja zvona), in 2010 for 72 Days (Sedamdeset i dva dana), and Fishing and Fishermen's Conversations (2020).
In 2000, à  erbedà ¾ija founded the Ulysses Theater with on the Brijuni islands. In a co-production between the Ulysses Theatre and the National Theatre in Belgrade, for his role in the 2019 adaptation of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, à  erbedà ¾ija received the Zoran RadmiloviàAward, the Croatian Theatre Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and the Orlando Award. The same year, he won his second Vladimir Nazor Award for âÂÂLifetime Achievement - Film ArtâÂÂ.
In 1988, à  erbedà ¾ija appeared in two films that were released in the West; Hanna's War and Manifesto.
As war broke out in Yugoslavia, à  erbedà ¾ija initially moved to Serbia in 1992, then Slovenia before eventually spending some time in London, England at the invitation of actor and friend Anthony Andrews. While in London, à  erbedà ¾ija met with Macedonian-American director Milcho Manchevski who cast him in his 1994 film Before the Rain. The performance earned him a Critics Award for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival.
à  erbedà ¾ija has had supporting roles in Hollywood films such as ', Mighty Joe Young, The Saint, Eyes Wide Shut, Snatch, and Space Cowboys among others. He is usually known for playing villains.
He had a cameo in Batman Begins; he was asked to reprise his cameo role in The Dark Knight, but declined.
In 2001, he starred in a television production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical South Pacific as French plantation owner Emile de Becque. He also appeared in the BBC spy-thriller show Spooks for one episode as a villain. In 2005 he played Captain Blake in Rupert Wainwright's remake of The Fog, and had a supporting role in the NBC science fiction series Surface. In 2007 he played Athos Roussos in Jeremy Podeswa's feature film adaptation of Anne Michaels' novel Fugitive Pieces.
His performance in the Canadian film Fugitive Pieces (2007) was nominated for a Genie Award and Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor.
He portrayed Dmitri Gredenko on the sixth season of the hit Fox show 24.
In 2009 à  erbedà ¾ija was cast in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows â Part 1 as the famous foreign wandmaker Gregorovitch. In 2014, à  erbedà ¾ija appeared in six episodes of Downton Abbey as Prince Kuragin, a Russian exile and long-ago lover of the Dowager Countess Violet Crawley, portrayed by Dame Maggie Smith.
In 2019, à  erbedà ¾ija was awarded the International Press AcademyâÂÂs Mary Pickford Award, an honorary award âÂÂfor Outstanding Artistic Contribution to the Entertainment IndustryâÂÂ.
à  erbedà ¾ija is also known for his poetry readings and music. He has released four poetry books and four music albums. He recorded the award-winning ballad "Ni u tvome srcu" with Bosnian vocalist Kemal Monteno. While in London, à  erbedà ¾ija stayed at actress Vanessa Redgrave's residence and the two became friends. With Redgrave, à  erbedà ¾ija founded the Moving Theatre Company.
In 2017, à  erbedà ¾ija signed the Declaration on the Common Language of the Croats, Serbs, Bosniaks and Montenegrins.
à  erbedà ¾ija married Ivanka Cerovac in 1969. They have a son, film director Danilo (b. 1971), and a daughter, actress Lucija (b. 1973). The couple divorced in 1987.
à  erbedà ¾ija met his second wife, Lenka UdoviÃÂki, the sister of Serbian politician Kori UdoviÃÂki, in Subotica in 1990 and they married in 1991. With his second wife, he has three daughters: Nina, Vanja, and Mimi. The girls grew up in London during their early years, then moved to California due to their father's acting career.
à  erbedà ¾ija's parents left Vinkovci as Serb refugees for Belgrade in 1991, due to the Croatian War of Independence.
In 1992, while at a club in Belgrade, an intoxicated youth swore at à  erbedà ¾ija, calling him "Serb traitor", then shot his gun in the air. The youth himself was from Lika, as was à  erbedà ¾ija. à  erbedà ¾ija took his wife and at the time, only daughter Nina, and left Zagreb and Belgrade, and settled in Ljubljana, Slovenia. à  erbedà ¾ija has called himself "Yugo-nostalgic", and in 2011, said that times were better in Socialist Yugoslavia than now. à  erbedà ¾ija owns property in London, Hollywood, California, Rijeka, and Zagreb. As of January 2011, he reportedly spends most of his time in Rijeka together with his wife Lenka.
à  erbedà ¾ija is a citizen of Croatia, North Macedonia, and Slovenia.