First anniversary since the death of Žarko Laušević: The tragic fate of the most popular Yugoslav actor

He was one of the most prominent domestic actors who left an indelible mark on Yugoslav and Serbian cinematography.

Even as a boy, Žarko Laušević showed interest in acting, and he took his first acting steps as part of the amateur troupe "Dodest".

He graduated in acting at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade in the class of Minja Dedić and the assistant, later famous professor, Vladimir Jevtović, and he was in the class with Sonja Savić, Branimir Brstina, Zoran Cvijanović, Svetislav Goncić, Olivera Ježina and others.

During his career, Laušević played more than 60 roles, and the audience remembers him best for those from the films "Smeker", "Brothers by Mother", "Officer with a Rose" and "Battle in Kosovo".

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A tragic situation that changed his life

Laušević's whole life changed in July 1993, when he killed two people with a pistol and seriously wounded the third.

After that, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison. The incident happened after he and his five years older brother Branimir were attacked near a coffee shop in Podgorica.

After the Federal Court overturned the verdict, after a retrial in February 1998, he was sentenced to four years in prison for double murder in excess of self-defense. Having already served four and a half at that point, he was released, and soon after that he decided to leave the country and move to New York.

After moving to America, his troubles did not end. Thus, in July 2009, it was announced that Laušević was arrested in USA for staying without a visa and that his extradition to Serbia was being considered, however, in September of the same year, a court in New York made a decision to terminate Laušević's detention.

After a fifteen-year stay in America, Laušević returned to Serbia and started acting again.

In that period, he achieved numerous notable roles, and the audience enthusiastically welcomed his return.

In addition to numerous roles, Laušević also left behind four books in which he wrote honestly about his personal troubles: "A year passes, a day never", "The second book", "Everything passes, even life sentence" and "Padre, you idiot".