Ştefan Tapalăgă

Ştefan Tapalăgă was born in Dorohoi, Botoșani, Romania but his family moved to București when World War II ended, after which he took up fencing. In 1954 he was named a Master of Sports and began competing internationally for Romania. He won the Romanian foil title in 1956, eventually winning the national championship seven times.

Tapalăgă stopped competing after he became one of Romania’s biggest film stars. He attended the courses of the Il Caragiale Theater and Cinematographic Art Institute in București, graduating in 1961. He debuted on the big screen in the movie “Alo? You have the wrong number (1958)” and “Steps to the Moon” (1963) later brought him cinematic fame.

Tapalăgă became a well-known presence on radio and television, especially in comedy and entertainment shows. He was a presenter, alongside Sanda Toma, on the “Sunday Album” TV show. He married his former acting teacher, Sanda Manu, and they made one play together, “Beautiful Sunday of September”.