Actor, musician Ioan Gyuri Pascu has passed away on Monday morning, 55 years old, due to cardiopulmonary arrest, according to a statement by the Bucharest SMURD (Emergency Mobile Resuscitation and Extrication Service) co-ordinator, physician Bogdan Oprita.
“Two SMURD crews went to the spot. It’s about a irresuscitable cardiopulmonary arrest,” Oprita said.
Ioan Gyuri Pascu died at home, at around 5 am. Resuscitation lasted about an hour.
Actor and musician Ioan Gyuri Pascu was born on 31 August 1961, at Agnita, the Sibiu County. In 1987 he became a member of the ‘Divertis’ group, with whom he entertained audiences for 20 years, with live shows, radio and TV broadcasts.
Pascu was a Romanian pop music singer, producer, actor and comedian, also known for his participation in the comedy troupe Divertis and for his activity in Romanian cinema and television. Moving between rock music, rhythm and blues, reggae and jazz, the multi-instrumentalist Pascu founded a number of bands and registered success particularly during the early 1990s, when he was the lead singer of a group known as The Blue Workers. Pascu was the manager of several alternative music acts with his label Tempo Music, and remains an outspoken critic of Romanian commercial radio, according to Wikipedia.org.
Noted for his impressions and musical acts within Divertis’ political satire shows, Pascu was also a successful actor, appearing in film productions such as Lucian Pintilie’s An Unforgettable Summer and Cristian Mungiu’s Occident, and portraying known characters in Romanian theatre in various stage adaptations. He has had collaboration with several main television stations, including TVR 1, Antena 1 and Pro TV. He has contributions as a printed media journalist, with sports columns, and was also a writer of Christian literature. He received an offer from Walt Disney Pictures, and he provides the voice of King Louie in 2006 for the Romanian version of the film, The Jungle Book.
In late 2010, it was reported that Pascu had suffered a stroke and was recovering at the University Hospital of Bucharest. Romania’s media speculated that the stroke was caused by the stress of his divorce, although Pascu had stated that the separation was amiable. His career was jeopardized by the stroke, so Pascu decided to quit drinking alcohol. Pascu resumed artistic life, studying for the part of Cadâr in Victor Ion Popa’s comedy ‘Take, Ianke and Cadâr’. The production went on a tour of Romanian theatres in the early months of 2011
In October 2011, Pascu returned to Cluj-Napoca as a celebrity host for the inauguration of Cluj Arena, home ground of the soccer club Universitatea. He traveled to Seattle and performed at a fund-raiser for a new Romanian Orthodox cultural center in America. In early 2012, he centered his musical activity on Suceava County, working with local singer-songwriter Lian Cubleşan.