[1] Hossu was born into a Greek-Catholic family in Ocna Sibiului, Sibiu County and grew up in Cluj.
[2] Since his father was a diplomat during the time of Ion Antonescu, his whole family was deported on August 23, 1945 to a camp in Germany; after a year and three months, they escaped and returned to Romania.
In 1948, his father was sent by the Communist authorities to forced labor at the Danube–Black Sea Canal, from where he returned after 6 months, only to die from cancer.
[3] After completing Cantemir Vodă High School in Bucharest,[4] Hossu studied at the Institute of Theatre and Film Arts,[3] which he graduated in 1965.
[6] At the time of his death, on 25 January 2012, he was performing at the Nottara Theatre [ro] in Bucharest alongside his wife of 20 years, the actress Catrinel Dumitrescu.