Fate wanted one of the greatest comedians of the former Yugoslavia to be born on April 1, on the Day of the Joke, and to die on October 20, on the Day of the Liberation of Belgrade in the Second World War.
Miodrag Petrović Čkalja was a Serbian actor and one of the most prominent comedians in the entire territory of the former Yugoslavia.
The last great man of the Yugoslav theater was a national hero, a man of the people whom people simply adored. How could he not when he drove away all their worries and problems, at least for a moment, with his roles, which gave the audience so much laughter and fun.
There was Jordan in “Service Station”, Jare in “Truckers”, Firga in “Hot Wind”, Jovanča Micić in “The Road Around the World”… and there were always thousands and thousands of spectators who laughed at his jokes and gags forever typing him on the list of the most beloved artists from this area.
However, in the sea of comic roles, it often happens that people forget that he was, above all, an incredibly talented actor who could play any role - comic as well as tragic.
You don't believe ?! Take a look at this clip from the cult series "Love in a rural way" and everything will be clear to you! Try to hold back the tears!
Another monologue of the great Čkalja hurts Serbia until today. Towards the end of his life, watching his friends die one by one, and his colleagues forgetting him, the comedian's smile became bitter.
When he received the award for his life's work "Tsar Constantine", in his speech he referred to his life, to the poverty in which he spends his days, and one sentence is especially painful.
- If I were in America, and if I had received such a great award, I would have thanked, first, my wife, then the children, then my mother-in-law, then the producer and director. But, since I am, fortunately, in my dear country, Serbia, I thank, first of all, my boss of the supermarket for sometimes separating my pensioner's bone, then the neighbors in the barracks who left my milk under the counter, and then my postman who always, on time with a delay, bring a pension. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be here. Thank you, Serbia, you let me gnaw to the bone - said the actor at the award ceremony in 2002.
He owed his humor to Yugoslavia, which did not give him back the way the artist deserved. The legendary Čkalja died in loneliness and misery, forgotten by everyone and more hungry than full, back in 2003.
Samo me Čkalja mogao pravo nasmejati!