Mikhail Ulyanov (actor)

Mikhail Alexandrovich Ulyanov (Russian: Михаил Александрович Ульянов; 20 November 1927 – 26 March 2007) was a Soviet and Russian actor who was one of the most recognized persons of the post-World War II Soviet theatre and cinema. He was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1969 and a Hero of Socialist Labour in 1986 and received a special prize from the Venice Film Festival in 1982.^[1]

Biography

Mikhail Alexandrovich Ulyanov spent his childhood and youth in the town of Tara, Omsk Oblast. Although he had failed his exams in Schepkinskoe School and for the Moscow Art Theatre School,^[2] he moved to Omsk in 1944 to become an actor. After two years of studies in the studio at Omsk Drama he went to Moscow and entered the Schukin Theatre School in 1946.

Ulyanov worked in the Vakhtangov Theatre from 1950 and directed it from 1987. He played a wide range of characters on stage, with Rogozhin in Dostoevsky's Idiot being the most remarkable of them. In 1979 he staged Vasily Shukshin's epic novel I have come to give you freedom, where he starred as Stepan Razin. In 1985 Mikhail Ulyanov staged the satirical pamphlet The Child Buyer by the American playwright John Hersey.

As regards movies, he was frequently cast in the parts of staunch Communist leaders like Vladimir Lenin and Marshal Zhukov. His well-known character Yegor Trubnikov in Predsedatel (Chairman) (1964) became a Soviet classic and his most emblematic role.

The Brothers Karamazov, a 1969 film he co-directed, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film^[3] and was entered into the 6th Moscow International Film Festival.^[4] He also starred in Tema (1979) and Private Life (1982), the films that won top awards at the Berlin Film Festival and Venice Film Festival, respectively.

More recently, he was acclaimed for the roles of Julius Caesar in the screening of Shakespeare's play (1990), Pontius Pilate in the film adaptation of The Master and Margarita (1994), and an avenging veteran marksman in The Rifleman of the Voroshilov Regiment (1999), directed by Stanislav Govorukhin. He died on March 26, 2007, of intestinal disease.^[5]

Selected filmography

Honours and awards

Ulyanov has won the following awards:^[6]

• Hero of Socialist Labour (1986)
• Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 3rd class (17 October 1996) - For services to the state and an outstanding contribution to theatrical art
• Two Orders of Lenin (1986)
• Order of the October Revolution (1977)
• Lenin Prize (1966) for his performance as Yegor Ivanovich Trubnikov in the feature film "The Chairman"
• Stanislavsky RSFSR State Prize (1975) for his role in the play Day in And Day Out
• USSR State Prize (1983) for playing Sergei Nikitich Abrikosov in the movie Private Lives (1982)
• People's Artist of the RSFSR (1965)
• People's Artist of the USSR (1969)
• Honoured Worker of Culture of the Polish People's Republic (1974)
• "Golden Lion" (Venice Film Festival, 1982) for starring in the movie Private Lives
• Order "For honour and valour for service to the Russian people and the badge "Golden Olympus" (2005)
• Sole honorary title of "Superstar" (2005)
• Kinotavr Award nomination for "Prize for creative careers" (1997)
• Award "Golden Aries" in 1999 for "Best Actor"
• Russian Federation President Prize in Literature and Art in 1998
• Crystal Turandot Award (1997)
• Golden Mask (1999)
• Award "Idol" (1999)
• In 2008, Russia's new arctic oil tanker has been named "Mikhail Ulyanov"

References

External links

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