Olivera Marković

Olivera Marković was a Serbian actress and singer, born Olivera Đorđević on 3 May 1925 in Belgrade. Her mother Olga was of Czech origin, and her father Velizar was a civil servant whose postings took the family to Senjski Rudnik, Prizren, Peć and Niš.

The stage drew her early: in 1934, at nine, she founded a theatre group in Niška Banja, where she was lead actress, director and writer at once. After the family moved to Belgrade she finished the First Women's Gymnasium and studied art history at the University of Belgrade. In 1948 she enrolled at the Academy of Dramatic Arts, graduating in 1952 in the class of Mata Milošević. She joined the Belgrade Drama Theatre in 1951 and played more than 150 stage roles, among them Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Brecht's Mother Courage.

Her film debut came in 1946 with U planinama Jugoslavije, and she kept working in film and television until 2005, in about 170 titles. They include Vlak bez voznog reda (1959), Velika turneja (1961), where she played the singer Jasmina, Kozara (1962), Sibirska ledi Magbet (1962), Službeni položaj (1964), Nacionalna klasa (1979), Balkan ekspres (1983) and Tito i ja (1992). Television viewers knew her from Bolji život, Srećni ljudi and above all as Angelina Savić in Otvorena vrata (1994–1995).

Olivera Marković was also a singer, known especially for Russian romances. From 1959 she recorded a series of singles, among them "Stari Ciganin", "Trojka" and "Dragi poljubi me", then "Zašto te toliko volim?" (1960), the songs from Velika turneja (1962), a record of romances (1964), "Život je lep" (1965), "Ja hoću da volim pa i da patim" (1968), "Nevečernjaja" (1969) and "Zdravica" (1970).

At the Pula festival she won the Golden Arena for best actress in 1964 for Službeni položaj and for best supporting actress in 1962 and in 1983, for Balkan ekspres. She received the Dobričin prsten for lifetime achievement in 1997, and in a Večernje novosti poll she was ranked third among the greatest Serbian actresses of the 20th century. Her first husband was the actor Rade Marković, and their son Goran Marković became a film and theatre director; she later married the actor Dušan Bulajić.

Olivera Marković died in Belgrade on 2 July 2011 and was buried in the Alley of Distinguished Citizens at the New Cemetery, beside Rade Marković. Serbia put her on a postage stamp in 2017.