The fascinating Romanian actress who suddenly disappeared from the spotlight: the ugliness of Fănuș Neagu’s soul pushed her into oblivion

Although she was absolutely fascinating on stage, Carmen Galin withdrew from the limelight at some point, preferring to stay out of the public eye.

Carmen Galin was, in turn, Laura in “Ilustrate du flori de champ” (directed by Andrei Blaier), Sita in “Tănase Scatiu” (directed by Dan Pița, to whom she was married at one time), Empress in “Zâmbet et soleil”, Electra in “The Ancient Trilogy”, but she also performed on the stage of the Theatre of Piatra Neamt between 1967 and 1970, at the National Theatre of Cluj Napoca (1970-1975), the Little Theatre of Bucharest (1975-1990) and the National Theatre of Bucharest (1990-1995).

However, in 1995, the actress retired completely from public life, but also from activity, preferring to devote herself to humanitarian actions.

Carmen Galin, an actress with a lot of common sense, but also civic spirit. Fănuș Neagu, indirectly responsible for her resignation

As I mentioned earlier, Carmen Galin had, throughout her life, countless roles which she played with grace, skill and great dedication.

It is said that, following a conflict with Fănuș Neagu, she chose to distance herself from the stage, but also from people, preferring to occupy her time by participating in various charitable actions. So theatre and film lost a great talent, but the planet gained a “man”.

Immediately after his death in 2020, Manuela Hărăbor wrote: “Carmen Galin… I can’t believe it. I last saw her three years ago at TIFF. She looked exceptional and felt extraordinary. A few days ago I re-read the interview in the Metropolis newspaper and thought of her. May God forgive her and may she rest in peace with her angels.”

“Too many actors are said to have been great when they die, but Carmen really was a great actress, with an instinct that penetrated directly to the source of the role, with an intuition coupled with intelligence and a mad courage to expose her emotion”, wrote, in turn, at the same time, Andrei Șerban, director with whom Carmen Galin collaborated on several occasions throughout her career.

She was buried discreetly, as she wished, without a procession of mourners and “rivers” of people watching the funeral procession.

Thus, before she retired, Carmen Galin was said to be a sort of Greta Garbo of Romanian cinema.

However, a heated discussion with Fănuș Neagu made her see more clearly how things sometimes are in Romanian theatres. Immediately after this discussion, the actress gave up for good the profession that had brought her so much joy for so many years.

“One fine morning, on May 2, 1995, I went up to the director’s office and put my resignation on the table. Fănuș Neagu was the director and we had won a very big prize at a festival with “The Star Without a Name”. That prize also consisted of a sum of money. And frankly… my colleagues were upset and asked why something wasn’t happening with that prize. And they made me realize that I’m the only one who can go and ask.

I was immediately brushed off with “Only money you don’t miss” and I said I must go to my colleagues and give them an answer what happened to the money. And I was answered very rudely: ‘And what do you want, dear, to put on my chest now that the money is gone? “. So, in this way, he took me with a companion. Poor guy’s dead now, but that’s how it was. I resigned on the spot. Initially, I went to the sea and since then nobody has seen me for about ten years”, actress Carmen Galin told Adevărul in 2016.

The great actress, from the beginning

Carmen Galin was born on March 14, 1946 in Iasi and graduated from the Institute of Theatre and Film in 1967, as class valedictorian.

She was born in Iași, on March 14, 1946, but grew up in Ardeal, in Cluj-Napoca. “Usually, because I spent my childhood and adolescence in this city, I say that I am from Transylvania, which, as you can see, is not quite true. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love Moldova. I don’t give up anything of what belongs to me, of what I have lived, whether good or bad, and even more so of this fantastic and romantic herb that is Iași”, Carmen Galin said about herself in an interview for Flacăra in 1984.

In 2020, on March 13, the great actress will pass away before her 74th birthday.