In the World of Theatre and Cinema: March 2013

Friday 29 March 2013

Vyacheslav Tikhonov (1928 - 2009)

Vyacheslav Vasilyevich Tikhonov (8 February 1928 – 4 December 2009) was a Soviet and Russian actor and a recipient of numerous state awards, who appeared in dozens of films, most famously as a Soviet war hero or spy.

He was born in Pavlovsky Posad near Moscow in the family of an engineer in the local textile factory. After employment as a metal worker, he began training for an acting career in 1945 by entering, not without difficulty, the Actors’ Faculty of VGIK. After graduating VGIK with honours in 1950, he began his acting career on stage of Theatre Studio of Film Actor, where he worked for six years; however, his theatre appearances were not quite sucessful, and he became most remembered for his roles in movies. Tikhonov had made his film debut in 1948, but for the next few years, he appeared in relatively low-profile films. In 1948 he married Nonna Mordyukova, a popular actress at the time (the couple had one son, Vladimir, also an actor who died in 1990). The marriage was dissolved in 1963. Later Tikhonov married again, this time Tamara Ivanovna Tikhonova and had one child with her, Anna Tikhonova (also an actor) in 1969.

Tikhonov became better known with the release of the rural family drama It Happened in Penkovo (1958); later he also starred in Stanislav Rostotsky's We'll Live Till Monday (1968) and White Bim the Black Ear (1977), War and Peace (1966) by Sergei Bondarchuk, Seventeen Moments of Spring (1973) by Tatiana Lioznova, etc.

Vyacheslav Tikhonov died on 4 December 2009 in Moscow, Russia, and was buried in Novodevichy Cemetery.

Wikipedia

IMDb

Filmography:

1948 – The Young Guard – Volodya Osmukhin
1950 – In Peaceful Time – sailor Volodya Grinevsky, torpedoman

1951 – Taras Shevchenko – Representative of the St Petersburg youth

1952 – Maximka - Lieutenant Goreilov

1954 – This should never be forgotten – Lieutenant Danchenko

1956 – The Heart is Beating Again – Leonid V.Golubev

1957 – It Happened in Penkovo – Matvey Morozov

1958 – Extraordinary Incident – a sailor

1959 – Thirst – Oleg Bezborodko

1959 – May Stars – Andrei Ruckavichkin

1960 – Midshipman Panin – Midshipman Panin

1961 – Two Lives – Sergei Nashchokin

1962 – Seven Winds – Captain Suzdalev

1963 – Optimistic Tragedy - Aleksey

1966 – War and Peace – prince Andrey Bolkonsky

1968 – We'll Live Till Monday – Ilya Semyonovich Melnikov

1969 – Family Happiness - Kapitonov

1970 – The Roundabout – Head of the house

1971 – Yegor Bulychyov and Others – Pavlin, reverend

1971 – Man on the other hand – Krymov

1973 – Seventeen Moments of Spring (TV mini-series) – Shtierlitz

1974 – Front Without Flanks – Mlynsky

1975 – They Fought for Their Country – Nikolay Strel'tsov

1975 – Story of a Human Heart (voice)

1976 – ... And Other Officials - Konstantin Ivanov

1977 – WhiteBim Black Ear – Ivan Ivanovich

1977 – Front behind the front Line – Colonel Ivan Petrovich Mlinsky

1979 – Revival - anchorman

1981 – Unpaid Vacation (voice)

1981 – The Rear Front

1984 – European Story - Peter Losser

1984 – TASS Is Authorized to Declare... (TV mini-series) – Konstantinov

1987 – The Appeal - Dmitry Plotnikov

1988 – To Kill a Dragon - Charlemagne

1989 – Love and Privileges – Koshchemyakin

1991 – The Ghosts of the Green Room - Martin Chiverel

1992 – The Possessed – Tikhon

1993 – The Codex of Disgrace - Chugunov

1993 – Incomparable - Kholev

1993 – Provincial Benefit - Velikatov

1994 – A Boulevard Romance - Stanislav Kandinsky

1994 – Burntby the Sun – Vsevolod Konstantinovich

1995 – An Adventure - cameo

1996 – SweetFriend of Years Forgotten Long Ago... - Pheodor Pheodorovich

1998 – Composition for Victory Day – Margulis

1998 – Waiting Room (TV series) - Mikhail Zaitsev

2006 – Eyes of the Wolf - scientist

2006 – Andersen. A life without love - God

Notable Theatre Appearances (The Film Actors' Studio Theatre):

An Ordinary Miracle (1973, E.P. Garin) – The Bear

Grasshopper (A.P. Chekhov, E.P. Garin) – Ryabovsky

Awards:

Meritorious Artist (1962)

The USSR State Prize (1970)

People's Artist of the USSR (1974)

The Vasilyev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR (1976)

The KGB USSR Prize (1978)

Lenin Komsomol Prize (1979)

The Lenin Prize (1980)

Shevchenko National Prize (1980)

Hero of Socialist Labour (1982)

The State Prize of Russian Federation (1998)

The Nika Award, "Honor and Dignity" nomination (2001)

Trivia:

Vyacheslav Tikhonov: a 60-year career as an actor (EN)

Obituary (EN)

Interview (RU)

External links:

Unofficial site

Presentation

Thursday 28 March 2013

Andrey Myagkov (1938-)

Brief bio

Andrey Myagkov, one of Russia's most familiar faces and a leading actor of the Moscow Art Theatre (MXAT) who starred in the 1970's comedyIroniya sudby, ili S lyogkim parom! (1975) (TV).

He was born Andrey Vasilevich Myagkov on July 8, 1938, in Leningrad, Russia, USSR (now St. Petersburg, Russia). His father, Vasiliy Myagkov, was a professor at the Polytechnical Academy. Young Andrey was fond of theatre and was involved in the drama club at his high school. However, he focused on the study of chemistry and attended the Leningrad Institute of Technology, graduating in 1960 as a chemical engineer. His first job was as a research engineer at the Leningrad State Institute of Plastics, although at the same time he continued playing on stage as an amateur actor.

In 1961 he was admitted to the acting school of the Moscow Art Theatre (MXAT) in Leningrad. Then he moved to Moscow and studied at the Theatrical School of the Moscow Art Theatre (MXAT), graduating in 1965 as an actor. At that time he married actress Anastasia Voznesenskaya. From 1965 to 1977 he was a member of the troupe at the Sovremennik Theatre in Moscow.

In 1977 he became a member of the troupe at the Moscow Art Theatre (MXAT). There he made his stage debut in the leading role as Zilov in "Utinaya okhota" ("Duck Hunting") by Aleksandr Vampilov, and eventually established himself as a leading actor in other stage productions at the MXAT. His stage partners there were such actors as Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy, Yekaterina Vasilyeva, Tatyana Doronina, Oleg Efremov,Evgeni Evstigneev, Oleg Tabakov, Aleksandr Kalyagin, Andrei Popov, and other notable Russian actors. Since the split of the troupe in 1987, he has been a member of the Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre (Chekhov MXAT), named after Russian playwright Anton Chekhov.

He made his film debut in the leading role as a dentist in Pokhozhdeniya zubnogo vracha (1965), by director Elem Klimov. He established himself with such roles as the monk Alyosha in Bratya Karamazovy (1969), then as Khlebnikov, an obsessed chess master, in Grossmeyster(1972). He shot to fame in the Soviet Union with the leading role as Zhenya in Ironiya sudby, ili S lyogkim parom! (1975) (TV), by director Eldar Ryazanov. His fruitful collaboration with Ryazanov continued in Sluzhebnyy Roman (1977), Garazh (1979), and Zhestokiy Romans (1984). Andrey has played over 50 roles in film and on television. He declined offers to play in such modern Russian films as Night Watch (2004) and The Turkish Gambit (2005). However, he made a comeback reprising his most famous role as Zhenya opposite Barbara Brylska in Ironiya sudby, ili S novim schastiem! (1975) (2007), a sequel to the Soviet comedy Ironiya sudby, ili S lyogkim parom! (1975) (TV).

He was designated a People's Artist of Russia in 1986. He was awarded the State Prize of the USSR in 1977, the Brothers Vasiliev State Prize in 1979, and has received several other significant awards and nominations. Outside of his acting profession, Andrey paints portraits, and his paintings are owned by such figures as Mikhail Gorbachev and Galina Volchek, among others. He is fond of sport fishing and hiking. He shares his time between his two residences, one in Moscow, and one in a remote village in central Russia.