Rikard Ljarja

Rikard Ljarja (1 April 1943 – 20 April 2020) was an Albanian actor, screenwriter, director and writer. He starred in over 25 feature films and directed 11, and is most known for his role as Deda in Rrugë të bardha ("White Roads") (1974).

Life and career
He was born in Shkodër on 1 April 1943, in Italian-occupied Albania. In 1960, he completed secondary education in Jordan Misja High School in his hometown. After completing his tertiary education at the "Aleksandër Moisiu" High School for Actors (now part of University of Arts, Tirana) in 1965, he became part of the "Migjeni" Theatre in Shkodër for the following 8 years. From 1973 to 1996 he worked full-time as an actor, screenwriter and director for the nationalized Kinostudio Shqipëria e Re (now National Center of Cinematography) and its successor Albafilm-Tirana (1992-1996). After retiring in 1996 he worked as artistic director in RTSH until 2002.

He also wrote books, publishing works such as A Godforsaken Place Around Here (2014), Josifopedia (2018), 9 të shkurtra (2019) (English: 9 Short Ones), Prill (2020) (English: April).

Ljarja died on 20 April 2020 after a long battle with cancer.