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

They Were the First (1956) as Aleksey Kolyvanov
Ekaterina Voronina (1957) as Sutyrin
The House I Live In (1957) as Dmitry Fedorovich Kashirin
Volunteers (1958) as Nikolai Kaitanov[
Soldiers Walked... (1958) as Yegor
City at Dawn (1959) as Belous
Knock On Any Door' (1959) as Mikhail Prokhorov
A Simple Story (1960) as Andrey Egorovich Danilov
Baltic Skies (1961) as Rassokhin
Battle on the Way (1961) as Dmitriy Bakhiryev
Young and Green (1962) as Lizlov
This Happened in the Рolice Station (1963) (voice)
Silence (1964) as Pyotr Ivanovich Bykov
The Alive and the Dead (1964) as Sergei Filippovich, Army Commander
The Chairman (1964) as Yegor Trubnikov
Solange Leben in mir ist (1965) as Frolow
Frozen Flashes (1967) as general Alexander Gorbatov
The Brothers Karamazov (1969) as Dmitri Karamazov
Unterwegs zu Lenin (1969) as Lenin
Liberation (1969-1971, part 1-5) as Marshall Georgy Zhukov
The Flight (1970) as general Gregory Lukyanovich Charnota
Anflug Alpha I (1971) as General Arkatow
Trotz alledem! (1972) as Lenin
The Sea is on Fire (1972) as Zhukov
Yegor Bulychyov and Others (1972) as Yegor Bulychov
The Last Day (1973) as Semyon Kolvalyov
Siege of Leningrad (1974, 1977, part 1, 2) as Zhukov
Take Aim (1975) as Georgy Zhukov
The Legend of Til (1977) as Klaas
Soldiers of Freedom (1977, TV Mini-Series) as Zhukov
Call Me from Afar (1978) as Nikolay
Wrong Connection (1978) as Ignat Maksimovich Nurkov
The Theme (1979) as Kim Yesenin, writer
The Last Escape (1981) as Kustov
February Wind (1981) as Filimonov
Facts of the Рast Day (1981) as Mikheev
Private Life (1982) as Sergei Nikitich Abrikosov
Without Witness (1983) as He
If the Enemy Doesn't Give Up... (1983) as Zhukov
Day of Commander of Divisions (1983) as Zhukov
Victory (1985) as Zhukov
Marshal Zhukov, biography pages (1985) as Zhukov
Battle of Moscow (1985) as Zhukov
Choice (1988) as Vladimir Vasilyev
The Law (1989) as Zhukov
Our Armed Train (1989)
Stalingrad (1990) as Zhukov
House Under the Starry Sky (1991) as Andrey Nikolaevich Bashkirtsev, academician
I Myself am a Vyatka Native (1992) as Alexandr Kirpikov
Cooperative "Politburo", or It Will Be A Long Goodbye (1992) as Ivan Ivanovich
Everything Will Be Fine! (1995) as Grandpa
Great Commander Georgy Zhukov (1995) as Zhukov
Poor Liza (1998) as Liza's dad
Composition for Victory Day (1998) as Dyakov
The Rifleman of the Voroshilov Regiment (1999) as Ivan Fyodorovich Afonin
Northern Lights (2001) as Old man in the country house
Antikiller (2002) as Father, criminal boss
The Master and Margarita (2006) as Pontius Pilate (final film role)

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"