Toma Caragiu

Romanian actor

Toma Caragiu

Born	(1925-08-21)21 August 1925 Chroupista, Kastoria Prefecture, Greece
Died	4 March 1977(1977-03-04) (aged 51) Bucharest, Romania
Nationality	Romanian
Occupation	Actor
Relatives	Matilda Caragiu Marioțeanu (sister) Geta Caragiu [ro] (sister)

Toma Caragiu (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈtoma karaˈdʒi.u]; 21 August 1925 – 4 March 1977) was a Romanian theatre, television and film actor.^[1]

He was born in an Aromanian family from the village of Chroupista (since 1926 renamed Argos Orestiko) in the region of Macedonia in Greece on 21 August 1925. Toma Caragiu was one of the best-known Romanian actors, with a rich activity in both film and theatre. He liked to play comic characters, but he excelled also in drama, one of his reference films being "Actorul și Sălbaticii". He played alongside great actors such as Ștefan Bănică, Octavian Cotescu, Anda Călugăreanu etc.

Toma Caragiu is most famous for his monologues. In these short stories, he managed to put together stories that combined sarcasm, satire and black humor. His monologues were subtle and dealt with a variety of topics, starting with politics and ending up with mythical concepts. In each and every monologue he added a personal touch to the script, thus creating a warm and humorous atmosphere.

He died in Bucharest, during the earthquake of 4 March 1977. He is buried at Bellu Cemetery. His first wife was the actress Maria Bondar and the second one was Elena Bichman.

Caragiu had two sisters, linguist Matilda Caragiu Marioțeanu and sculptor Geta Caragiu [ro].^[2]

Partial filmography

Nufărul roșu (1956, directed by Gheorghe Tobias)
Nu vreau să mă însor (1961)
Vară romantică (1961, directed by Sinisa Ivetici)
Străzile au amintiri (1962, directed by Manole Marcus) - Comiserul
Poveste sentimentală (1962, directed by Iulian Mihu) - Ioachim
Politică și delicatese (1963, directed by Haralambie Boroș)
Cartierul veseliei (1965, directed by Manole Marcus) - Gheorghe Gheorghe
Forest of the Hanged (1965) - Habsburg officer
Procesul alb (1966, directed by Iulian Mihu)
Haiducii (1966) - Haiducul Răspopitul
Vremea zăpezilor (1966, directed by Gheorghe Naghi)
Subteranul (1967, directed by Virgil Calotescu) - Florescu
Șeful sectorului suflete (1967) - Horațiu
Răpirea fecioarelor (1968, directed by Dinu Cocea) - haiducul Răspopitul
Răzbunarea haiducilor (1968) - Răspopitul
KO (1968, directed by Mircea Mureșan) - Olympian
Brigada Diverse intră în acțiune (1970) - Căpitanul Panait
B.D. în alertă - Profesorul de mimică (1970) - Căpitanul Panait
Haiducii lui Șaptecai (1971) - Răspopitul
Zestrea domniței Ralu (1971) - Răspopitul
Brigada Diverse în alertă! (1971) - Căpitanul Panait
B.D. la munte și la mare (1971) - Captain Panait
Săptămîna nebunilor (1971) - Răspopitu
Facerea lumii (1971, directed by Gheorghe Vitanidis) - afaceristul Marinescu
B.D. în alertă - Văduve cu termen redus (1971) - Căpitanul Panait
Bariera (1972, directed by Mircea Mureșan) - șeful de post de jandarmi Iftimie
Ciprian Porumbescu (1973) - The Colonel
Explozia (1973, directed by Mircea Drăgan) - Corbea
Trei scrisori secrete (1974, directed by Virgil Calotescu)
Dragostea începe vineri (1974)
Tatăl risipitor (1974, directed by Adrian Petringenaru) - Oaie
Proprietarii (1974, directed by Șerban Creangă)
Nu filmăm să ne-amuzăm (1974)
Un august în flăcări (1974) - Șeful Siguranței, Grigore Mizdrache
Actorul și sălbaticii (1975) - Costica Caratase
Mastodontul (1975, directed by Virgil Calotescu) - Gogan
Singurătatea florilor (1976) - taximetristul Grigore Pascu
Dincolo de pod (1976)
Operațiunea Monstrul (1976) - directorul Dumitru
Serenada pentru etajul XII (1976, directed by Carol Corfanta) - Retired Worker Firu
Premiera (1976) - Titi Precup
Gloria nu cântă (1976, directed by Alexandru Bocăneț)
Casa de la miezul nopții (1976)
Condiția Penelopei (1976, directed by Luminița Cazacu)
Buzduganul cu trei peceți (1977, directed by Constantin Vaeni) - Pamfilie / Popa Traista
Marele singuratic (1977)
Tufă de Veneția (1977, directed by Petre Bokor) - (final film role)

References

^ Iana, Ciprian (4 March 2019). "Averea lui Toma Caragiu, găsită în cărțile din biblioteca lui! Marele actor a murit la cutremurul din 4 martie 1977" [Toma Caragiu's fortune, found in the books in his library! The great actor died in the earthquake of March 4, 1977]. Libertatea (in Romanian). Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^ Lecea, Doina (11 March 2019). Badea, Anda (ed.). "O PERSONALITATE PE ZI: Lingvistul Matilda Caragiu Marioțeanu, Academia Româna" (in Romanian). Agerpres.