RIP Lucian Iancu

 

Actor Lucian Iancu died at the age of 84

DIGI24

11/20/2024

 

Actor Lucian Iancu, an unavoidable name in the history of the Constanta and national theatre, has died at the age of 84, the team of the Constanta State Theatre has announced, News.ro reports.

Lucian Iancu has played over sixty roles on the Constanta stage, from Ianke in "Take, Ianke and Cadîr" by Victor Ion Popa, Palaestrio in "Miles Gloriosus" by Plautus, directed by Silviu Purcărete, Agamemnon in "The Legends of the Actresses", directed by Silviu Purcărete, The Father in "The Game of Life and Death in the Ash Desert" directed by Gheorghe Jora - a show that was taken over and broadcast by the Romanian Television, Lunardo from "The Badarans" by Carlo Goldoni, directed by Dominic Dembinski, Mr. Papillon from "The Rhinoceroses" by Eugen Ionescu, directed by Laurian Oniga, Jupân Dumitrache from "A Stormy Night" directed by Gheorghe Jora, Willy Loman from "The Death of a Salesman", Ulysses from "Penthesileea" directed by Cătălina Buzoianu, Dron from "The Seagull" by A.P. Chekhov, Gaev from "The Cherry Orchard", Zorn from "The Car Breakdown" by Dürrenmatt, directed by Sorin Militaru and many others.

He directed the shows "Revenge" by Aleksander Fredro (1980), "George Dandin or the Fooled Husband" by Molière (1994), "I Arrive Tonight" by Tudor Muşatescu (1996), "A Winter Night's Dream" by Tudor Muşatescu (1998), "Scenes from the Life of Constantine the Great" by Cristina Tamaş (2002), "The Elixir of Love" written and directed by Lucian Iancu (2002), "Tache Ianke and Cadâr" by Victor Ion Popa (2003), "The Last Hour" by Mihail Sebastian (2003), his last show staged on the stage of the Constanta State Theater being "The Jays" by Alexandru Kiriţescu, which had a long life and always had full halls.

He translated and published many texts in the magazine "Tomis", some of them were also staged.

Before arriving in Constanta, he worked in the theaters of Botoşani (where he played the role of Cyrano in "Cyrano de Bergerac" by Edmond Rostand) and in Piatra Neamţ - where he played in the famous shows with which he launched himself into the world of theater Andrei Şerban, "The Night of Entanglements" and "The Good Man of Seciuan", then he played at the Small Theater in Bucharest.

He was director of the Constanta theater on two occasions, between 1984 – 1985 and between 1994 – 1998, he was a professor at Hyperion University and dean of the Faculty of Theater of the "Ovidius" University. In the '90s he was invited to play in Limoges, in the show "Three Sisters" by A.P. Chekhov, directed by Silviu Purcărete.

He was part of the golden pleiad of the Constanta theater, along with Vasile Cojocaru, Eugen Mazilu, Titus Gurgulescu, Liviu Manolache, Virgil Andriescu, Iulian Enache, Lică Gherghilescu. He has starred in over twenty cinema and television films and has been awarded numerous awards.

Before the 1989 Revolution, he tried to leave Romania illegally aboard the mineral vessel led by Florentin Scaleţchi, which was diverted to Istanbul, and was sentenced in 1985 to a 20-year prison sentence. The day immediately after his escape attempt, the theater was ordered to burn all the posters, show programs and photographs in which his name or face appeared, over 20,000 copies. He was a political prisoner for five years at the Poarta Albă Penitentiary and at the Aiud Penitentiary.

On February 2, 2020, at the State Theater of Constanta, a surprise event was organized for Lucian Iancu, on the occasion of his 80th birthday, just before the performance of the show "The Jays" by Alexandru Kiriţescu, directed by him, a show that premiered in 2012 and was played with full halls until the theater building went into renovation, in 2022.

IANCU, Lucian

Born: 2/3/1940, Constanța, Romania

Died: 11/20/2024, Bucharest. Romania

 

Lucian Iancu’s westerns – actor:

Apaches – 1973 (Chico)

The Prophet, the Gold and the Transylvanians – 1977 (Will Clanton) [as Iancu Lucian]

The Oil, the Baby and the Transylvanians – 1981 (McCallum henchman) [as Iancu

     Lucian]