Famous actor "Walter" dies at 83 in Belgrade

Velimir Bata Zivojinovic, one of the big stars of the Yugoslavian films, died on Sunday in Belgrade at the age of 83.

Zivojinovic is popular among the older generation in China for his role of Walter from the 1972 movie "Walter Defends Sarajevo".

The actor died in a hospital late Sunday night, after he struggled with his long illnesses.

He suffered a heart attack in 2006 and went through two heart surgeries. He also suffered from gangrene in his right foot, but received special therapies in Cuba where his daughter lives and recovered.

Zivojinovic recovered from a stroke four years ago, but several weeks before his death, the actor was sent to the hospital and had his leg amputated due to relapsing gangrene.

Despite stable condition after the amputation, he died in sleep on a hospital bed.

With messages of farewell, the media, colleagues and friends remember his roles in more than 300 movies and TV shows such as those from the sixties and seventies last century, such as "Walter Defends Sarajevo" (1972), "Battle on Neretva" (1969), "Kozara" (1962), as well as some of the anthological works such as "Three" (1965), "I Even Met Happy Gypsies"(1967), "the Bridge"(1969) and "The Master and Margaret" (1972).

Seven of the movies he played in were in the official selection of the International Film Festival in Cannes, from 1959 to 1980.

The famous actor was born in 1933 in Koracica, a village near Belgrade, and he started his career as a stage worker at the age of 15.

He finished high school for actors in Nis and Novi Sad and later graduated at the theater academy in Belgrade. He had his movie debut in 1957, and has since played in almost every major movie of the Yugoslavian as well as Serbian film industry.

Zivojinovic earned numerous awards and recognitions for his work, while he was one of the founders of the Association of Film Actors of Serbia as well as the film festival in the town of Sopot, Serbia.

Since 1990, he was an active member of the Socialist Party and had been elected as MP. In 2002, he was the party's candidate in the presidential election of Serbia, but after failing to win the majority of votes, he withdrew from politics in 2003.

He played his last movie role in 2012 in the Serbian movie "Ice".

In February, the tourist organization of Belgrade counted on his popularity as Walter to attract more tourists from China to the Serbian capital with a promotion video.

This brief video launched at this year's international tourism fair in Belgrade, in which Zivojinovic invited people from China to visit Belgrade was his last public engagement before his illness worsened.

Zivojinovic was awarded for lifetime achievement at this year's International film festival FEST in Belgrade. Endit