Grigore Vasiliu Birlic (; January 24, 1905 – February 14, 1970) was a Romanian actor who appeared on stage, television and in films. He was best known for comedic roles. Early life Grigore Vasiliu was born on 24 January 1905 into the family of a small businessman on the "Pârâul Târgului" street in Fălticeni, in the Bukovina region of Romania. As a child he wanted to become a circus clown; however, his parents did not consider acting a serious job, and when he finished the "Nicu Gane" high school in Fălticeni in 1924, he was sent to study law at the University of Cernăuți. Early career He started in the local theater where he was noticed by Dragoș Protopopescu, the theater director. He received his first role as a mute character in the comedic play "Musca spaniolă" ("The Spanish Fly") by Franz Arnold and Ernst Bach. He was hired at the National Theater in Cernăuți, and his next appearance was in Victor Ion Popa's "Amanetul" (The Pawn Shop) by Ludvig Holberg. Birlic, who struggled with a lisp, failed to get into the Dramatic Art Conservatory of Cernăuţi seven times before succeeding the eighth. There, he was a student of Petre Sturdza and met Jules Cazaban as a colleague. Top of the Career In 1933, director Aurel Maican brought him to Bucharest where he performed in plays such as "Vârcolacul"("The Werewolf), "Micul Weber" ("Little Weber") and "Prostul din baie"("The Idiot In The Bathroom"). Grigore Vasiliu was nicknamed Breloc ("Pendant") after playing in Ion Iancovescu's Corabia lui Noe ("Noah's Ark"). His big breakthrough was with Iancovescu's play Împăratul ("The Emperor") by Luigi Bonelli. Alongside him were Mania Antonova and N.N. Matei. Following this success, he played the main character in Tudor Mușatescu's adaptation of the play Birlic by Franz Arnold and Ernst Bach. The play was another success for the actor who became known as Grigore Vasiliu-Birlic due to the character he interpreted for a long time with great success. Although he was appointed director of the theater group Colorado, communist laws banned private theater groups and he was fired. He returned to the National Theatre of Bucharest where the repertory was set by the Propaganda Department of the Romanian Communist Party. His comeback was in 1953's 's adaptation of Ion Luca Caragiale's play, O scrisoare pierdută ("A Lost Letter"), in which he initially portrayed Dandanache and then Brânzovenescu. Radu Beligan praised