Introduction
Gojko Mitić (Гojкo Митић) (born June 13, 1940 in Strojkovce (near Leskovac), Morava Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia) is a Serbian director, actor, stuntman, and author. He lives in Berlin.
He is known for a numerous series of Red Westerns from the GDR DEFA Studios, featuring Native Americans as the heroes, rather than white settlers as in John Ford's Westerns. Beginning with The Sons of Great Bear (1966), Mitić starred in 12 films of this type between 1966 and 1984. He contributed to the popular image of Native Americans in German-speaking countries.
In an attempt to move away from his fame based on these Westerns, Mitić in his later career increasingly sought to appear in other genres, on film, on television and on stage. Among other roles he played Spartacus on stage and presented several TV shows.
He also played Karl May's Winnetou in seasons at the "Karl-May-Festspiele" until 2006 in Bad Segeberg near Hamburg, Germany. In one episode he played a role at the German television program Schloss Einstein.
Bulgarian punk rock & ska group Hipodil composed a song, Bate Goiko, dedicated to Gojko Mitić. In 2010, he received the Brothers Karić Award in Serbia.
Selected filmography
- 1964: Last of the Renegades (Winnetou 2. Teil)
- 1964: Among Vultures (Unter Geiern)
- 1966: The Sons of Great Bear (Die Söhne der großen Bärin)
- 1967: Chingachgook, die große Schlange
- 1968: Spur des Falken
- 1969: Weiße Wölfe
- 1972: Tecumseh
- 1980: Archiv des Todes