Top 100 Russian/Soviet Actors
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- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Grigori Aleksandrov was a Soviet-Russian filmmaker best known as director of Volga - Volga (1938), The Circus (1936), and October (Ten Days that Shook the World) (1927), as well as co-star in Battleship Potemkin (1925) by director Sergei Eisenstein.
He was born Grigori Vasilyevich Mormonenko on January 23, 1903 in Ekaterinburg, Russia. His father, Vasili Mormonenko, was a worker. Young Aleksandrov was obsessed with acting and movies. At the age of 9 he was hired as a delivery boy at the Ekaterinburg Opera; there he eventually worked as an assistant dresser, electrician, decorator, and assistant director. He studied violin and piano at the Ekaterinburg School of Music, graduating in 1917. During the Russian Civil War of 1917-1920, he was road manager with the Theatre of Eastern Front of the Red Army. After the Civil War he graduated from the Directors Courses for Proletariat Theatre in Ekaterinburg, and was appointed Inspector of Arts at the Ekaterinburg Regional Administration. His job was to supervise theaters and to select films in compliance with the new ideology.
Aleksandrov met Eisenstein in 1921. They worked together on several stage productions in 1921-24. In 1923 Aleksandrov appeared as Glumov in a stage production of A. Ostrovsky's play at the Moscow Proletkult Theatre, directed by Eisenstein. They worked together on the scenario of their first films: 'Stachka' (1924) and 'Bronenosets Potemkin' (1925). They wrote and directed 'Oktyabr' (1927), a historical film made to look like a documentary about the Russian revolution. In 1929-1933 both Aleksandrov and Eisenstein were sent to study and work in Hollywood. Back in the Soviet Union Aleksandrov made a short documentary film titled 'International' (1932).
In 1933 Aleksandrov had a meeting with Joseph Stalin and Maxim Gorky at the Gorky's State Dacha near Moscow. Stalin offered the oportunity to Aleksandrov to make a musical comedy for the Soviet people. 'Veselye Rebyata' (aka.. Jolly fellows) was completed in 1934, starring Leonid Utyosov and Lyubov Orlova. 'Veselye Rebyata' became the #1 box office hit in Russia and was awarded at the Venice Film Festival. Leonid Utyosov and Lyubov Orlova became instant celebrities, and songs by composer Isaak Dunaevskiy became popular hits in the Soviet Union.
Aleksandrov directed and edited the documentary of Stalin's speech about the Soviet constitution, titled 'Doklad tov. Stalina o proekte Konstitutsii SSSR na VIII Chresvychaynom S'ezde Sovetov' (1937). After that Aleksandrov returned to making comedies. Aleksandrov's wife, Lyubov Orlova, starred in almost all of his feature films, such as 'Tsirk' (1936), 'Volga-Volga' (1938), 'Svetly Put' (1940), 'Vesna' (1947) among his other films. His 1930s comedies remained rather popular among several generations of viewers in the Soviet Union, as well as internationally. In 1942 Joseph Stalin sent a copy of Volga - Volga (1938) to American president Franklin D. Roosevelt.
However, Aleksandrov's success came at a painful price, as he suffered from many attacks by some less fortunate and envious filmmakers, as well as from blackmailing by invisible and anonymous enemy. In 1938 Aleksandrov's colleagues, cinematographer Vladimir Nilsen, and producer Boris Shumyatskiy, were executed by the firing squad for anti-government activities. At the same time both Aleksandrov and Orlova were falsely accused of spying for the Nazi Germany, but were cleared of all charges.
During the 1950s he taught directing at State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK). His last films had little success, and some, like 'Skvorets i lira' (1973) were not even released in theaters. Aleksandrov also made a few documentaries, including one about Lenin, and one about his wife, star actress Lyubov Orlova.
Grigori Aleksandrov received the Stalin's Prize twice (1941, 1950), the Order of Lenin twice (1939, 1950), the Order of Red Star (1938), and the Order of the Red Banner twice (1963, 1967). He was designated People's Actor of the USSR. Grigori Aleksandrov died of kidney infection on December 16, 1983, at the Kremlin Hospital in Moscow, and was laid to rest next to his wife, Lyubov Orlova in Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow, Russia.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Aleksandr Antonov was born on 13 February 1898 in Moscow, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was an actor, known for Battleship Potemkin (1925), Dvenadtsataya noch (1955) and The Country Bride (1938). He died on 23 November 1962 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Ivan Bobrov was born on 7 February 1904 in Moscow, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was an actor, known for Battleship Potemkin (1925), Kashchei the Immortal (1945) and Dzhulbars (1936). He died on 12 April 1952 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].
- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Vladimir Barskiy was born on 15 March 1866. He was a director and actor, known for Battleship Potemkin (1925), Shuquras saidumloeba (1925) and Tavadis asuli Meri (1926). He died on 24 January 1936.- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Additional Crew
Maksim Shtraukh was born on 23 February 1900 in Moscow, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was an actor and assistant director, known for Rasskazy o Lenine (1958), Battleship Potemkin (1925) and Zagovor obrechyonnykh (1950). He died on 3 January 1974 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Actor
- Director
Mikhail Gomorov was born in 1898. He was an assistant director and actor, known for Battleship Potemkin (1925), Krylya (1932) and Kapitanskaya dochka (1958). He died in 1981.- I. Ivanov is known for Strike (1925).
- Nikolai Petrovich Batalov was born on December 6, 1899, in Moscow, Russia, into the family of a clerk. From 1910-1915 he studied at the Moscow Mercantile School named after the Czar Aleksander III. His interest in theatre and literature was supported by his grandmother, who encouraged his voracious reading. In 1916, he started his acting career at the Moscow Art Theatre under Konstantin Stanislavski and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. At the same time he worked at the MKhAT-2, where his partner and artistic director was Michael Chekhov. Nikolai Batalov's first stage work was the role of 'Petia-the bookbinder' in the play 'Zelenoe Koltso' (The Green Ring 1916) by Zinaida Gippius. His best remembered stage work was the title role in the Moscow Art Theatre's classic production 'Zhenitba Figaro', where Susanna was brilliantly played by his wife Olga Androvskaya.
He made his film debut in silent film as Gusev in Aelita, the Queen of Mars (1924) directed by Yakov Protazanov, then as Pavel Vlasov in Mother (1926) directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin, an adaptation of the eponymous book by Maxim Gorky. His leading role in the notable silent film-comedy 'Tretya meshchanskaya' (1927) by writer-director Abram Room had a significant critical and public success. At that time Batalov suffered from the onset of progressive form of tuberculosis, which interrupted his stage career, but he still worked in film. His best known film role was Nikolai Sergeiev in Road to Life (1931) directed by the Latvian writer/director Nikolai Ekk, who won the Most Convincing Director Award at the Venice Film Festival (1932). The film was produced under the leadership of Osip Brik, who introduced Nikolay Batalov to the prototype of his film character, the head of the real Russian juvenile correction colony Pogrebinsky. After this role Nikolay Batalov was awarded and received the title of the Honorable Actor of Russia in 1933.
Nikolai Batlov was suffering from the progressive form of tuberculosis. The disease limited his mobility and affected his acting career in the mid 1930s. He was undergoing the best treatment available then; he was sent to convalesce at the Russian Black Sea resort for patients with tuberculosis, but doctors still recommended that he should be treated in Europe, where tuberculosis was treated with better results. The rigid Soviet system did not allow Batalov to go abroad for the foreign medical help. He died on November 19, 1937, in Moscow.
Batalov was married to actress Olga Androvskaya (nee Schulz). She was the leading actress of the Moscow Art Theatre and also a stage partner of Batalov, and a distinguished film actress. They had a daughter, Svetlana Nikolaevna Batalova, who also became an actress of the Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT). - Ivan Koval-Samborsky was born on 16 September 1893 in Kharkov, Russian Empire [now Kharkiv, Ukraine]. He was an actor, known for The Adventures of the Three Reporters (1926), Men on Wings (1935) and The Girl with the Hat Box (1927). He died on 10 January 1962 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].
- Ivan Chuvelyov was born on 4 January 1897 in Spas-Gradskaya village, Yaroslavl province, Russian Empire, [now Russia]. He was an actor, known for Schastlivyye koltsa (1929), Khuti tsuti (1928) and Volga - Volga (1938). He died on 31 December 1942 in Dushanbe, Tajik SSR, USSR [now Tajikistan].
- Aleksandr Chistyakov was born in 1880. He was an actor, known for Konets Sankt-Peterburga (1927), Salamander (1928) and Veseley nas net (1940). He died on 31 December 1942.
- Actor
- Director
- Additional Crew
Valéry Inkijinoff was born on 25 March 1895 in Irkutsk, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was an actor and director, known for A Man's Head (1933), The Tiger of Eschnapur (1959) and The Aeronauts (1967). He died on 26 September 1973 in Brunoy, Essonne, France.- I. Inkizhinov is known for Storm Over Asia (1928).
- I. Dedintsev is known for Storm Over Asia (1928).
- Semyon Svashenko was born on 1 September 1904 in Dergachi, Kharkov Governorate, Russian Empire [now Derhachi, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine]. He was an actor, known for Shturmovye nochi (1931), Quiet Flows the Don (1957) and Tikhiy Don II (1958). He died on 23 November 1969 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].
- Stepan Shkurat was born on 8 January 1886 in Kobelyaki, Poltava Governorate, Russian Empire [now Poltava Oblast, Ukraine]. He was an actor, known for Earth (1930), Viy (1967) and Natalka Poltavka (1936). He died on 26 February 1973 in Romny, Sumy Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Ukraine].
- Nikolay Kryuchkov was born on 6 January 1911 in Moscow, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was an actor, known for Tractor Drivers (1939), Salavat Yulayev (1941) and Sadko (1953). He died on 13 April 1994 in Moscow, Russia.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Feodor Chaliapin Sr. was born on February 13, 1873, in Omet Tawi, near Kazan, Russia. His childhood was full of suffering, hunger, and humiliation. From the age of 10-16, he was working jobs at river ports, restaurants, and tried acting on stage with various Russian provincial troupes. In 1890, Chaliapin was hired to sing in a choir at the Semenov-Samarsky private theatre in Ufa. There he began singing solo parts. In 1891, he toured Russia with the Dergach Opera. In 1892, he settled in Tiflis (Tbilisi), because he found a good teacher, Usatov, who gave Chaliapin free professional opera training for one year. He also sang at the St. Aleksandr Nevsky Cathedral in Tbilisi during the years 1892-1893.
In 1893, Chaliapin began his career at the Tbilisi Opera. On February 4, 1894, he had his final 'Benefith' night. It was a triumphal performance attended by the elite of the city of Tbilisi, where Chaliapin gave a total of 72 Opera performances. In 1894, he moved to Moscow upon recommendation of his teacher Usatov. While working at the Mamontov Opera and the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Chaliapin also had regular repertoire performances at the Imperial Mariinsky Opera in St. Petersburg. In 1901 he made his debut at La Scala in the role of Mefistofele in Faust by Jules Massenet under the baton of Arturo Toscanini. His most famous roles were Boris Godunov in the eponymous opera by Modest Mussorgsky, and Ivan the Terrible in the Maid of Pskov by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
In 1896, Mamontov introduced Chaliapin to a young Italian ballerina Iola Tornagi, who came to Moscow for a stage career. She quit dancing and devoted herself to family life with Chaliapin. He was very happy in this marriage. They settled in Moscow and had six children. Their first boy died at the age of 4, causing Chaliapin a nervous breakdown. His son Boris Chaliapin became a famous painter. His son Feodor Chaliapin Jr. became a famous film actor. Their mother Iola Tornagi was living in Soviet Russia until 1959, when Nikita Khrushchev brought the "Thaw". Iola Tornagi was allowed to leave and reunited with her son 'Feodor Chaliapin Jr,' in Rome, Italy.
In 1906, Chaliapin started a civil union with Maria Valentinovna Petzhold in St. Petersburg, Russia. She had three daughters with Chaliapin in addition to 2 other children from her previous family. He could not legalize his second family, because his first wife would not give him a divorce. Chaliapin even applied to the Emperor Tsar Nicholas II with a request of registering his 3 daughters under his last name. His request was not satisfied. Chaliapin was torn between his two families for many years, living with one in Moscow, and with another in St. Petersburg. Finally with Maria Petzhold and their 3 daughters he left Russia for good.
Emigration from Russia in 1922, was painful. Soviet government stripped Chaliapin of all his titles and honors. He settled in Paris, France. There he performed at the Paris Opera, as well as at numerous private concerts for Sergei Diaghilev. His acting and singing was sensational. He made many sound recordings between the 1900 and 1938, of which the 1913 recordings of the Russian folk songs 'Vdol po Piterskoi' and 'The Song of the Volga Boatmen' are best known. The only sound film which shows his acting style is 'Don Quixote' (1933). Chaliapin worked for impresario Sol Hurok and sang for 8 seasons at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where he had an immense success.
Chaliapin collaborated with Maxim Gorky, who wrote and edited his memoirs, which he published in 1933. Chaliapin revolutionized opera by bringing serious acting in combination with great singing. Chaliapin Sr. was the undisputed best basso in the first half of the 20th century. In the late 1930's he suffered from leukemia and kidney ailment. Feodor Chaliapin Sr. died on April 12, 1938, in Paris, France. He was laid to rest is the Novodevichy Monastery Cemetery in Moscow.- Was born in Moscow. Mother - Lyarskaya Akulina Lukjianovna. The wife - Vanda Frantsevna Gavrilova.
In 1938 he had been selected on a leading role in first two films under Maxim Gorky's trilogy. This role became his unique work on cinema. Upon termination of shootings the first set he had presented the camera, and after completion of the second set had awarded with a medal.
In 1939 Alexey had a rest in Artek.
With the beginning of war he had left on front. After the short period of study he had been directed on Northwest front to area Lychkovo - Lyubnitsa. In structure of 365-th a separate artillery battalion was at war on Demjanski Battle and was lost on February, 8th, 1943.
Alexei was buried in village Kipino of area Demjansk of the Novgorod area. Pupils of the Kipino school had created in it a corner of memory of A.Lyarsky.
Nowadays the Kipino school are not present, it has merged with other, larger school as the village in Russia, in fact, dies out. The monument to 800 fighters who had lost at Kipino, still stands. Also Alesha Lyarsky was buried there. - Actor
- Director
- Music Department
Boris Chirkov was arguably the most popular film celebrity in the 1930s and 1940s Soviet Union, since he starred in the leading role as Maxim in the acclaimed film-trilogy by director Grigoriy Kozintsev.
He was born Boris Petrovich Chirkov, on August 13, 1901, in Losovaya-Pavlovka, Ekaterinoslav province, Russian Empire (now Losovaya, Ukraine). He was the older of two children in the family, his younger sister was named Galina. His mother, named Olga Ignatevna (nee Nebogatikova), was the niece of the Soviet Leader Vyacheslav Molotov. Young Boris Chirkov was brought up in the home of his mother in the town of Nolinsk, Vyatka province, in Nothern Russia. There he started acting at Nolinsk Town Theatre. He was also brought up as a religious Christian, and with his good voice and vocal talent, he was a regular singer with the Boys Choir at Nolinsk Church.
In 1919 he graduated from junior college in the town of Nolinsk, then worked as a teacher at Nolinsk secondary school. 1921 he moved to St. Petersburg (then Leningrad). From 1921-1922, he studied engineering at Leningrad Polytechnical Institute for a year, then switched to acting at Institute for Theatrical Arts, graduating as an actor in 1926. His classmates were Nikolay Cherkasov, Glikeriya Bogdanova-Chesnokova, Aleksandr Borisov, Nikolai Simonov, and other notable Russian actors. Chirkov began his professional acting career at the Leningrad Theatre for Young Audience. There his first role was as Sancho Panza opposite Nikolay Cherkasov who played the tallest Don Quixote ever in Russia. Chirkov was very short, and Cherkasov was extremely tall, and both were very talented, so the pair looked hilarious. During the 1920s Chirkov performed in a popular stand-up comic trio with Nikolay Cherkasov and Vladimir Berezov. Comedy and humorous view of life was Chirkov's nature; humor was also his best and the only shield from the grim reality of the controlled life in the Soviet Union under communists.
In 1927 Chirkov made his film debut as an actor in a silent film 'Moi syn', then played supporting role as Orsky in a silent film Luna sleva (1929). He had a scene opposite Boris Babochkin in the legendary film Chapaev (1934). Chirkov shot to fame with the leading role as revolutionary leader, Maxim, in the popular film-trilogy by director Grigoriy Kozintsev, made at Lenfilm Studios in Leningrad, during the 1930s. Everything came together in the film; acting by Boris Chirkov, directing by Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg and the music by Dmitri Shostakovich. Chirkov's fame as "Maxim" was so big that people from all over Russia would write letters addressed to "Maxim, Leningrad", and he would answer all, because he came from a peasant family and was aware how hard was the life for all simple people in Russia. At that time he was awarded the Stalin's Prize, hardly a match to his tremendous fame and status as a national celebrity. In 1940, during the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin, Chirkov was ordered to leave Leningrad and to move to Moscow, as one of the most popular Russian actors who was turned into a propaganda figure and a "role model" for the Soviet people. He was awarded the second Stalin's Prize for his brilliant performance as composer Mikhail Glinka in the eponymous film. From 1950 - 1965 he was a permanent member of the troupe at Pushkin Drama Theatre in Moscow. There his stage partners were such actors as Faina Ranevskaya, Olga Viklandt, Boris Smirnov, Nikolai Petrov, Mikhail Nazvanov, Marina Kuznetsova and other notable Russian actors. From 1966 - 1982 he was a permanent member of the troupe at Gogol Drama Theatre in Moscow. There he shared stage with Viktor Khokhryakov, Emiliya Milton, Aleksei Krasnopolsky, Vladimir Samoylov, and other notable Russian actors. Chirkov was awarded the Order of Lenin three times, more than any political leader in the Soviet Union with the exception of Leonid Brezhnev. His autobiographical book titled "Azorskie ostrova" was dedicated to his mother.
Chirkov confessed to his family that he still believed in God, while being obligated to join the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He refused to be a recipient of a state pension from the Soviet state, quietly mentioning that there were too many people who really needed more help than him. Chirkov survived four heart attacks over the course of his life, but the fifth heart attack that hit him during his high-level visit to Kremlin, in 1982, left him with only a few hours to live. Boris Chirkov had his fifth heart attack during his visit to Kremlin, Moscow, where he was invited for a high-level meeting as the member of the Committee for Lenin's Prize Awards. He was taken by an ambulance to an ER in Moscow, and died of a heart failure just a few hours later on the same day, May 28, 1982. His family had to wait for four days to get a personal permission from Leonid Brezhnev to have a State Funeral for the most decorated film star in the history of Russia; the permission was granted and Chirkov was laid to rest in Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, Russia.- The preeminent Russian actor, at least in Western eyes, of the first half of the twentieth century. He became interested in the theatre as a teenager and joined the Teatr Mariinskij as a stagehand in 1918. He apprenticed with various traveling companies and therein learned ballet, pantomime, and acrobatics. He studied at the St. Petersburg (Leningrad) Theater Institute and made his stage debut in 1926. The following year, he entered films and his commanding presence soon brought him leading roles and enormous acclaim, as well as the approbation of the Soviet leadership, which elected him a deputy of the Supreme Soviet. His greatest fame world-wide came with his work in the films of Sergei Eisenstein. Following the masterpieces _Aleksandr Nevsky (1938)_ and _Ivan Groznyj I (1945)_ he was named to the Order of Lenin and made People's Artist of the USSR, respectively. He died in 1966. He should not be confused with the actor Nikolay P. Cherkasov who starred in many Russian films.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Mikhail Nazvanov was born on 12 February 1914 in Moscow, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was an actor and director, known for Khozyayka gostinitsy (1956), Ivan the Terrible, Part I (1944) and Russkiy vopros (1948). He died on 13 June 1964 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Boris Andreyev was born on 9 February 1915 in Saratov, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was an actor, known for The Fall of Berlin (1950), A Big Family (1954) and Symphony of Life (1948). He was married to Galina Vasilievna. He died on 24 April 1982 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].
- Actor
- Director
Mikheil Gelovani was born on 6 January 1893 in Lasuria, Kutaisi Governorate, Russian Empire [now Tsageri Municipality, Republic of Georgia]. He was an actor and director, known for The Fall of Berlin (1950), The Vow (1946) and Fortress on the Volga (1942). He died on 21 December 1956 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].