A SERB IN PARIS: Drunken Brando slept at my place, I watched Brigitte Bardot dancing on the tables! (PHOTO)

Today Belgrade citizen Slava Marković jokes about himself that he is "a pensioner without perspective", and he used to be the most important person in "Rasputin," one of the most prestigious Parisian restaurants. He spent 35 years there as a head waiter, and according to his own words, he saw a lot of things that he could and would like to talk about, but at the same time couldn’t and doesn’t want to talk about.

He speaks with a melancholic voice about his encounter with charismatic Omar Sharif, who was an avid gambler, modest Maria Callas, dignified Grace Kelly, beautiful Brigitte Bardot and conservative Marlon Brando. Yes, such a conservative was the hero of the "Last Tango in Paris," says Slava. Who would have guessed?

While sitting in his house in Dedinje we are served the house specialty, coffee with little Amaretto whose taste is reminiscent of almond, we are trying to get out of Slava what he might not be allowed to speak.

His exciting life story started in the late '50s, when as a 23-year-old guy with his friends from Palilula and Fifth Belgrade Gymnasium – Stevica, Roki, Mile Rakija and Vuk, went on foot to Trieste. In 1958 these tough guys from Belgrade streets were carried away by the beauty of Esther Williams and believed that life in the West was like in the "Dancing in Water".

- We were those who fled Yugoslavia – Slava Marković begins his story for Telegraf.

- And there were a lot of such people. I remember the famous Mrs. Bosa Besaradić, who we used to visit sometimes in Hilandarska Street. She traded two floors of her house for three passports for her daughters Ljilja, Goca and Vesna. Later, Ljilja married a famous football player Vladica Popovic

So, as something that we wanted and at our own risk, we went on foot from Opatija and just before dawn we were a hundred meters from the Italian border, on a hill at the border watchtower in Kozine. There they lay under the trees watching when guards were changing at the border, he says.

- We should just figure out when the shift was and to run over unnoticed. So we reached Trieste, and then Venice. There we, I remember, sold an old wristwatch to a man called Jugovic  and with this not-so-little money, we set out for Verona, which was full of police. On the train we were caught by the train conductor, and since we did not have any money or tickets, we had no choice but to jump off the train. Here we were caught by the police and they returned us to Verona and then to Cremona to the camp for refugees.

Foto: Marko Todorović

Guys like you did not sit there idly?

- Of course! Immediately we asked to do something. The deal was to pick tomatoes in exchange for a thousand liras, lunch and a pint of wine. We didn’t need more than that. But we soon got bored with that. After a while there was no choice but to flee again. I remember asking a some prisoners in Cremona: "How long are you here?" And they answered: "Two years," and I was thinking, "Oh, what the hell people, what are we going to do here for two years?"

You met a famous tough guy, Stevica Marković who you fled with, in the Fifth Belgrade Gymnasium?

- I knew Stevica from the neighborhood. He was two years younger than me, and frankly, I just cannot remember how I met him. But I remember how, for example, I met Olivera Katarina. I was in a relationship with the oldest of the Pešić sisters, Mirjana. It was a big love. She went to France and Vesna and Staša remained in Belgrade. Vesna was in a relationship with Rade Mikelj and Staša with Klen Radmilović, whom we used to call Klen (fish species), because he was always drunk as a fish (laughter). Olivera Katarina was a part of this company. By the way, I remember her for the most pompous entering the restaurant "Raspućin". I will never forget how she walked with her then-husband Mane Šakić and a consul Nešić. She asked me to sing a famous song "Djelem, djelem". A singer Curd Jürgens was sitting two tables from them on the balcony with a lady and when Olivera sang the song he approached her table and told her: "Madam, you excite me!"

Foto: Marko Todorović

Why was Stevica Marković killed? It was said that he tinkered a lot with the Corsicans and that he lived in a love triangle with Alain Delon and his wife?

- Stevica lived for the moment. He wanted either to live comfortably abroad or to return to Yugoslavia and open a company. But, the people he used to spend time with were neither more stupid nor more naive than him, and he made a mistake somewhere. You know, you cannot hang out with a thief and think that you will rob him. It is a utopia. Considering who he hung out with in the last days of his life, he had to end up tragically.

After escaping the camp in Cremona over the Alps you reached Paris?

- I remember we met in the tavern "Šop", where all Jugovics met. Upon arrival we were immediately hired in "Citroen". We had good salaries, lunch and dinner, but the Arabs who worked with us bothered us. Very primitive people. It happened to me that they hid my shoe while I was changing for no reason. There were five of us and we could beat up fifteen of them in less than five minutes. However, we were afraid to hit them in order not to lose our jobs. One day we were all sick and tired and we decided to paint on the streets and to manage in different ways. The rule was that if one had money, we all had to eat. Just like when one was in trouble, then all of us were in trouble. Then we slowly began to scatter. Mile Rakija, for example, went to his father, an officer in Canada, and there he opened restaurants, Stevica went the other way, and I started to wash the dishes.

You found your job thanks to the fact that your mother was Russian, and you spoke perfect Russian?

- True, I went to a protodeacon Čertkov in a Russian church in Paris, and he found me a dish-washing job in a Russian restaurant "Small Hermitage". There I washed dishes for a salary, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. By the way I was slowly learning the French language from the cheap newspapers that the guests had been forgetting in the restaurant. Later, I was transferred to work behind the bar.

And then in the famous restaurant "Triole" where the ministers were coming?

- It was a time of turmoil and strife between the organization OAS, which advocated independent Algeria and those who were in favor of French Algeria. It was the time when Charles de Gaulle kicked the Americans out. Later, I worked in a restaurant "Kod Ljudmile". Ljudmila was the daughter of a magnate who was selling camel cigarettes in China. King Peter liked to go to her restaurant. He never wanted to sit in the middle of the restaurant, in order not to attract attention. It is interesting that I never saw him eating. He would order a whiskey and listen to Russian music.

Foto: Marko Todorović

Most of the time, even three and a half decades, you spent in "Raspuin", where you spent your last years at work as a head waiter?

- When "Raspućin" was opened in 1965 Mrs. Helen Martini, the owner of other thirty Parisian cabarets, invited me to join them. It was a prestigious place. For example, one beer cost 68 euros and a bottle of wine 400 euros there. This automatically means that the prices prevent 90 percent of Yugoslavs to come. Imagine five people who would have to set aside three hundred euros for five beers. What would they do that when for the same money they could get a lot more in a tavern in Šabac and even to have music played while they are sleeping. In "Raspuin" there were 130 seats and 52 musicians. There balalaikas and Gypsy orchestras played. My task was to welcome guests, recommend eating and drinking and supervise whether all is well. In high-profile restaurants each dish has its own plate color; a bottle of champagne is opened with a crystal glass lug.

Did you help some Jugovićs to enter or to get around?

- I picked Miroslav Šiljagović up from the street. He is now a billionaire and has the best two taverns in Paris. I took him to wash the dishes, because I felt sorry for him.

Which one of the guests was the most abundant?

- I remember that the famous millionaire Sarkis had the habit of asking for a pack of twelve bottles of champagne for the orchestra. We deliver to the orchestra four bottles, and he says: "Well, I asked you to take them 12 bottles"! And I answered him: "But if we deliver them so much, they will all get drunk and there will not be any music." A Russian Jew Alexander Salkin used to come. He was one of those guests who did not pay the bills but I went to his house, so he could pay the bills. He often came with Anna Magnani and other actors and actresses. One evening he came incognito with Marlon Brando, so I asked him to take a picture with Marlon Brando.

I imagine Brando as some kind of a rebel. What was he actually like?

- I remember that he was drinking vodka the whole night, and did it well, he got wasted. He drank three bottles. It was during the shooting of "The Godfather." He was already fat. He had 140 kg. Because of strong alcohol he got a heart attack, so we immediately called the doctor, who gave him a shot under the table in order for other guests not to see. I took him to the back door, in order to avoid photo-reporters. I put him in my car and drove to the hotel, where there were also dozens of cameramen. When we got out of the car Brando muttered, "Do not pay attention to this rabble, I know well that kind of people. Just smile ". The next day a photograph of me holding drunken Brando appeared in all newspapers. By the way, Brando was extremely conservative. He even left one beauty only because she revealed her breasts in a photo shoot. But, he was not the only one who liked to drink a lot. I took famous French actor Jacques Tati million times for gastric lavage, because he used to drink up to four bottles of vodka. As soon as he would enter "Raspućin", we immediately called an ambulance, because we knew what to expect.

Foto: Privatna arhiva

Maria Callas was a frequent guest. Have you had the honor of listening to her singing in "Raspućin"?

- She was modest and treated nice all of us. She did not stand out her size and charisma by anything, not even by the need to sing. But, we have seen repeatedly Brigitte Bardot dancing on the table.

Were you disappointed when you saw one of the film divas live?

- Well, I wasn’t. Of all the beauties of that time the most elegant of all was the actress and Princess Grace Kelly. Once I said that it was not possible for such a nice woman to be American. Natalie Wood spoke fluent Russian and often came, unlike Alain Delon, who never set foot.

The most demanding, however, was the famous Saudi billionaire and arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi?

- I remember that he did not allow Barbara Streisand to sit at his table, because she is Jewish, and he was an Arab. Even the US President Nixon, who was his lawyer, stood beside the table until Adnan Khashoggi told him to sit down. By the way, Khashoggi drank vodka and was never generous with tips.

A few years ago you went to the 35th anniversary of "Raspućin". How much has the restaurant changed?

Foto: Marko Todorović

- It's like with every other restaurant. In "Madera", for example, 15-20 years ago Aca Obradović, Ljuba Tadić, Cune Gojković were sitting ... I knew every other table. Whenever I came to Belgrade during summer I could not get out sober from "Madera", because I came around to each table to have a drink.

What did you talk about when you met? About politics?

- To hell with politics! Who was interested in talking about politics that you could not change. Adolf was in power then.

(Katarina Vuković)