Mira Stupica

Miroslava Todorović was born in Gnjilane, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes as the first child of Serb parents—Danica Stanišić from Livno and Radomir Todorović from Orašac, both gymnasium teachers. After Miroslava, the couple had three more children, all boys: Predrag (died at the age of two), Zoran (died at the age of three), and Borivoje, who would go on to become a famous and accomplished actor himself. Following the couple's teaching postings, the family later moved to Gornji Milanovac, in central Serbia, where Miroslava's father, a talented violinist, died young in 1932, and then to Aranđelovac, before eventually settling in Belgrade where Mira graduated secondary school at the city's Trade Academy (Trgovačka akademija). == Career ==

Theatre Todorović began acting during high school by enrolling in and completing the Artistic Theatre's acting studio in Belgrade, where she soon began acting professionally in 1940 after being noticed by Viktor Starčić. Many of her performances are considered to be anthology roles in Serbian theatre. Apart from Petrunjela, others include: Živka (The Cabinet minister’s wife by Branislav Nušić), Joan of Arc (Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw), Colombe (by Jean Anouilh), Grusha Vashnadze (The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertold Brecht), Lucietta (Le baruffe chiozzotte by Carlo Goldoni, Commissar (An Optimistic Tragedy by Vsevolod Vishnevsky), Glorija (by Ranko Marinković), Mirandolina (The Mistress of the Inn by Carlo Goldoni), Melita (Leda by Miroslav Krleža), Signora Ignazia (Tonight We Improvise by Luigi Pirandello), Mary (Mary fights with the angels by Pavel Kohout), Chérubin (The Marriage of Figaro by Beaumarchais), Ljubica (Đido by Janko Veselinović), Grushenka (The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky), Alexandra Negina (Talents and Admirers by Aleksandr Ostrovsky), Danica (Ljubav by Milan Đoković), Madame Sans-Gêne (by Victorien Sardou), Actress (''L'Otage by Paul Claudel), Baroness Castelli-Glembay (Messrs. Glembay by Miroslav Krleža), Nastasya Filipovna (The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Jenny Diver (The Threepenny Opera by Bertrold Brecht), Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, and Lady Milford (Intrigue and Love'' by Friedrich Schiller). Her final role was Princess Ksenija of Montenegro in the drama of the same name by in 1994. Film Although predominantly a theatrical actress, she landed several prominent film roles, especially in the 1950s and 1960s. She made her feature film debut in 1951 film Bakonja fra Brne by Fedor Hanžeković, Španac (1982) and Otvorena vrata (1995). == Personal life ==

In 1943, at the age of 19, she married popular Serbian actor and famous playboy Milivoj "Mavid" Popović (1909–94), who was 14 years her senior. Widowed, in 1973 she married communist politician Cvijetin Mijatović, remaining with him until his death on 15 November 1993. From 15 May 1980 to 15 May 1981, Mijatović presided over the Yugoslav Presidency, the country's collective presidency, making Stupica Yugoslavia's first lady in that period. Apart from her popular actor brother Bora Todorović, her nephew, Bora’s son Srđan, is a musician, a former member of Ekaterina Velika and Disciplin A Kitschme, as well as a popular actor in Serbian cinema since the mid-1980s. In 2015, she settled at a retirement home in the Belgrade borough of Zemun. On 10 March 2016 Stupica suffered a stroke, and after months without leaving the hospital, died on 19 August 2016. == Honours/Accolades ==

Stupica was awarded the Award of the Federal Government of FNRJ in 1949 and Sedmojulska nagrada (at the time the highest government award in Serbia) in 1960. She also won two awards at Sterijino pozorje in Novi Sad, the most important theatrical festival in Serbia, three Golden Lauren Wreath awards at MES in Sarajevo, and Ljubiša Jovanović award in Šabac in 1986. Stupica was awarded the highest theatrical awards for lifetime achievement in Serbian theatre, including Dobričin prsten in 1981, Statuette of Joakim Vujić in 1985 and lifetime achievement awards at Sterijino pozorje in 1984, and at the Dani Zorana Radmilovića festival in Zaječar in 2013. At Pula Film Festival, top film festival in former Yugoslavia, she won two best actress awards, in 1954 (Stojan Mutikaša) and Golden Arena in 1966 (Roj). In 1969 she and Miodrag Petrović Čkalja won an award as the best acting couple of the year (Stupica for TV Bukvar). In 2006 she won an award for the best supporting female role in Seven and a half and in 2007 Pavle Vuisić award, the highest film acting award in Serbia, for her lifetime achievement in the movies. In 2001, on the celebration of her 60-years of acting. Stupica on the stage publicly called for establishing the Velika Žanka award (Great Žanka), in honor of Žanka Stokić (1887–1947), today generally considered the best theatrical Serbian actress ever, pointing out that there are no appropriate awards for actresses in their prime, when they are too old for the debutant awards and still too young for the life-time awards. In 2002 it was announced that new award will be established next year, under the name of Žanka Stokić award. Mira Stupica was the president for life of the jury and the award has been awarded yearly ever since. On 23 September 2013, an exhibition titled Mira Stupica – actress of the century was held in the Museum of the National Theatre in Belgrade. In 2000 she published her autobiography Šaka soli (A handful of salt). Book, which was written in specific, almost scenic style, == Roles ==

Theatre (selected) Filmography Television == References ==