Zinaid "Miki" Memišević (zi'naid 'miki me'miʃevit͡ʃ; 26 April 1950 – 7 January 2023) was a Bosnian and Serbian theatre and film actor. Born in 1950 in Sarajevo, he lived and worked in Vancouver, Canada.

Zinaid Memišević
Memišević in 2011
Born(1950-04-26)26 April 1950
Died7 January 2023(2023-01-07) (aged 72)
Vancouver, BC, Canada
OccupationActor

Career

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Memišević's first appearance on film in 1966 (Konjuh planinom) in a small role of a young boy, sparked his dream to become an actor and started a successful acting career. After graduating from the Academy of Dramatic Arts of the University of Belgrade in 1973, he became a permanent member of the company at the National Theatre in Belgrade and appeared on stage in numerous plays. He also played roles in many films and TV series that were produced in Yugoslavia during the 1980s and 1990s.

Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, he moved to Canada in 1994 with his family and continued his career there,[1] appearing in several films and TV series. He "gave Hollywood's best-known portrayal" of Viktor Tikhonov, a Soviet ice hockey player and coach, in Miracle (2004)[2] and appeared in cameos as the President Sergey Makarenko in 2012 (2009).[3]

Memišević had roles in television films The Building (2009, dir. Terry Ingram), Ronnie and Julie (1997, dir. Philip Spink), and in a short film Henry's Café (1998, dir. Ted Bortolin, Geoff Denham). He also appeared in several episodes of various TV series, such as The X-Files (1996), Da Vinci's Inquest (2000 and 2002), and Jake 2.0 (2003).

In 2009 he was nominated for a Leo Award for the Best Performance by a Male in a Short Drama category for his role in the film Pappy and Speedster (2009, dir. Brae Norwiss).[4]

Memišević played a significant role in Neworld Theatre and Touchstone Theatre's production of Wajdi Mouawad's play Tideline (2007), in which he appeared together with his daughter, Una Memišević, who is also an actress.[5][6][7][8]

Memišević died on 7 January 2023, at the age of 72.[9]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1966 Konjuh planinom Franica
1978 Bosko Buha Viktor
1983 Body Scent Postar
1989 Svedski aranzman Mafián
1999 Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying Jan
2001 Dark Water Koyla
2002 I Spy Tent Chef
2004 Miracle Viktor Tikhonov
2009 2012 President Sergey Makarenko
2010 Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball Russian Man
2016 Countdown Slava

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1973 Pozoriste u kući Plavi Episode: "Papan"
1975 Zašto je pucao Alija Alijagić Nikola Petrović Television film
1975 Kraj nedelje Siniša
1977 Kucna terapija Siniša
1980 Bosko Buha Viktor 5 episodes
1982 Pastrovski vitez Pisarcic Television film
1985 Brisani prostor Lisko 3 episodes
1986 Smesne i druge price Kole Episode: "Razgovori stari"
1987 Bolji život Piletov rodjak 3 episodes
1988 Wolf Karadzich Osman pasa Episode: "Putovanje"
1996 The X-Files The Cruel-Faced Man Episode: "Wetwired"
1997 Breaking the Surface Judge Television film
1997 Ronnie & Julie Peshlov
1997 The Outer Limits Young Man Episode: "Bodies of Evidence"
1999 The Net Dmitri Episode: "Pay the Line"
2000 Runaway Virus Russian General Television film
2000 The Adventures of Shirley Holmes Pavlo Episode: "The Case of the Desperate Dancer"
2000 Secret Agent Man Vladimov Episode: "Fail-Safe"
2000 Dark Angel Captain Episode: "Heat"
2000, 2002 Da Vinci's Inquest Jim Schulte / Alfred 2 episodes
2003 Just Cause Embassy Official Episode: "Trial by Memory"
2003 Jake 2.0 Nicolai Iskanov Episode: "Double Agent"
2009 The Building Thaddius Television film
2017 Arrow Yurievich Episode: "Second Chances"
2024 The Edge of Sleep Vadim Posthumous release; Episode: "The Dream Warrior"

References

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  1. ^ "Kanadu poredim s bivšom pokojnom državom - Nedelja - Dnevni list Danas" (in Serbian). 31 May 2008. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  2. ^ Aykroyd, Lucas (2 December 2014). "Viktor Tikhonov: The man who made the 'Miracle on Ice' a miracle". Russia Beyond. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  3. ^ Cermak, Iri (30 January 2017). The Cinema of Hockey: Four Decades of the Game on Screen. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-6625-9.
  4. ^ Leo Awards 2009 Nominees for Best Performance by a Male in a Short Drama at the Wayback Machine (archived 13 February 2015)
  5. ^ Derdeyn, S. (7 November 2007). Waging war on the stage. Province. Retrieved 29 December 2014, from canada.com "Waging war on the stage". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  6. ^ Birnie, P. (14 November 2007). "Fable about war gets buried in cliché". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 29 December 2014, from canada.com"Fable about war gets buried in cliche". Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  7. ^ Wasserman, J. (12 November 2007). "Well-acted Tide turns at the end". Province. Retrieved 29 December 2014, from canada.com "Well-acted Tide turns at the end". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  8. ^ Thomas, C. (14 November 2007). "Tideline" (Theatre review). Retrieved 4 January 2015, from straight.com [1]
  9. ^ PREMINUO GLUMAC IZ BOLJEG ŽIVOTA! Proslavio se u brojnim serijama i filmovima, a sada nas je napustio ZAUVEK!
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