Mustafa Nadarević (2 May 1943 – 22 November 2020) was a Bosnian actor. Widely considered one of the greatest actors from the former Yugoslavia, he starred in over 70 films, including The Smell of Quinces (1982), When Father Was Away on Business (1985), Reflections (1987), The Glembays (1988), Kuduz (1989), Silent Gunpowder (1990), The Perfect Circle (1997), Days and Hours (2004), Mirage (2004) and Halima's Path (2012).

More recently, Nadarević was best known for playing Izet Fazlinović in the Bosnian sitcom Lud, zbunjen, normalan from the beginning of the series in 2007 until his death in 2020.

Nadarević was born on 2 May 1943 in Banja Luka to Bosniak parents Mehmed Nadarević and Asja Memić. They fled from Banja Luka to Zagreb due to bombing of the city. Mehmed also served in the Croatian Home Guard, before passing away in 1946. Nadarević attended elementary school in Zagreb and Bosanski Novi, and Gymnasium in Rijeka.^[1][2] He studied acting at the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo and got his diploma at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb.^[3]

During his long acting career, Nadarević built a reputation as one of the most recognizable character actors in the Balkans. In the former Yugoslavia, Nadarević was seen playing in roles mostly as a Partisan soldier. He was best known for his work in the films When Father Was Away on Business, Reflections, The Glembays, among many others.^[3][4] His performance as Leone Glembay in the Antun Vrdoljak film adaptation of Messrs. Glembay is widely considered to be one of the most significant acting milestones in Yugoslav film history.^[5][6][7] It won him the Golden Arena for Best Actor at the 1988 Pula Film Festival, among other accolades.

Nadarević played a variety of roles in various films produced throughout the areas of the Balkans. In 1991, he won the award for Best Actor at the 17th Moscow International Film Festival for his role in Silent Gunpowder.^[8]

Nadarević's last role as Croatian Army general Janko Bobetko, was in Antun Vrdoljak's 2019 film General.

During the last years of his life, Nadarević was best known for playing the hilarious television character, Izet Fazlinović, in the Bosnian sitcom Lud, zbunjen, normalan; the character can be described as sexually unsatisfied 70-year-old man who will do anything but work to own a dollar, and throw insults at anyone he can.

Nadarević's wife, Slavica Radović (25 April 1964 – 7 June 2012),^[9] a Slovenian costume designer, died at the age of 48 after a decade-long struggle with breast cancer. She and Nadarević had been in a relationship for twenty years.^[10]