Vasillaq Vangjeli, actor, was born in Peshkopi. After finishing his higher studies at the Higher Institute of Arts, in 1976 he started working as an actor in the Variety Theatre of Tirana. He worked as a director in this theater from 1976 to 1982. He played over 300 roles in short comedies, skits, monologues and especially in the couplet and parody genre. He stood out for a pleasant voice, musical skills on the accordion instrument, qualities that have helped him to have a more active acting presence in the interpretation of many parodies or couplets. He has also performed over 15 roles in feature films and telefilms. He made his name early with the role of the speculator sculptor, Koçi, in Ruzhdi Pulaha’s comedy “Zonja nga qyteti” (“Lady from the city”) (1976), as in the movie with the same title, where he embodied in a grotesque and openly mocking manner the character of an eccentric and foolish artist, the comical and unsuitable pretender to be engaged to Meli, Olga’s daughter. In the years 1992-1993, he created one of the most impressive figures, that of the commander, in the comedy and then the three-series telefilm “Gjuetia e fundit” (“The last hunt”), written and directed by Koço Devole. His mockery for the figure of the communist dictator, Enver Hoxha, was believable, albeit presented in a grotesque way, as well as thanks to a sarcastic attitude of a defiant and mocking nature. On a sarcastic level, he embodied several other hit roles, played on the variety theatre stage or in telefilms, such as the investigator in “Revolja e heroit” (“The hero’s revolver”) (1995), the doctor in “Çanta e zezë” (“The black bag”) (1996), etc. He was decorated with the order “Naim Frashëri”, class I. He passed away in Tirana, in 2011. (In the photo: Vasillaq Vangjeli)
Text: Josif Papagjoni
Photo: © https://gazetavatra.com/perkujtojme-aktorin-vasillaq-vangjeli/
Graphic processing: AHCF
