The Romanian actor whose alcoholism and illness brought his end. “Alain Delon of Romania” died in poverty, and the pub where he used to drink still keeps his chair empty

In the old days, he was known as “Alain Delon of Romania”, and girls used to queue after shows to get into his dressing room. Later, the actor fell into a shadow, ravaged by the demon of alcohol, but also by a fatal illness.

Geo Costiniu was the idol of a generation, especially if we’re talking about women. He acted in films, but also on the theatre stage and, as he himself recounted in an interview, years later, girls would queue outside his dressing room after every play to… see him.

Geo Costiniu, the actor who claimed that Alain Delon was lucky that he was born in Romania and not in France

He was born on April 23, 1950 and died before his story ended in 2013. In fact, Geo Costiniu’s story seems to have been left up in the air for many years before he died, in the last part of his life becoming just another “illustrious unknown”.

Some say it would have been his fault, since each individual man owes it to himself to take care of his own fate. Others, benevolent, lament his existence and remember him with nostalgia.

He played in several Romanian films, including Mirii Anului II, Parachutists, Immortals, September, Zero Hour, Chocolate with Peanuts, A Guest for Dinner, Some Great Guys, Why Does the Fox Have a Tail, Alexandria Happenings, The Duck’s Head, The Married Bed, Love’s Undefeated and I’m Waiting for the Province, as well as in countless plays. In the header of this article you can see him in his latest play.

Geo Costiniu quickly made a name for himself in the world of cinema, but also in the world of theatre, and was largely appreciated for his beauty. Called the “Alain Delon of Romania”, the actor has never lacked the attention of the fairer sex, on the contrary, one might say. Alain Delon would have been very lucky that Geo Costiniu was not born in France, by the way – so said the actor, when reminded of his resemblance to the famous French star.

In an interview he would record years later, he confessed that there was a queue of girls outside his dressing room after every play he acted in. His wardrobe mistress, who was also his friend, used to sort the girls who came to see him according to their beauty. It is easy to understand that not just anyone could get into Costiniu’s dressing room, and the actor was proud of this memory even in his later years.

He was married five times, each time trying, “like a lottery in an envelope,” to find his winning ticket. Eventually, it turned out that lucky lotteries aren’t for everyone, which is why the actor found it difficult in his later years to remember the names of all his wives.

From alpha to omega: chronicle of a death foretold

Despite the fame of his youth, the second half of Geo Costiniu’s life did not unfold as you might have expected. He had fallen prey to drink, and illness and poverty were already familiar. He gambled from time to time, but most of his time was spent in the neighbourhood pub, sitting alone at the table and sipping the Bahian liqueurs that were so dear to him.

As a matter of fact, it is said that in that pub, the chair he used to sit on is still empty, and pictures of him from his heyday are on the walls of the pub.

Clearly, when we talk about Geo Costiniu, we are talking about impotence, and the actor’s life could be transposed, of its own accord, into a film or even a play.

We will not judge him for the choices he made in life because, after all, as I said before, everyone is responsible for his own fate. In other words, every man should have the right to be great, to climb to the highest heights, and then to plunge from there, straight into the void.

In 2013, Geo Costiniu passed away, stricken with cancer.