Donatas Banionis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Donatas Banionis (born April 28, 1924 in Kaunas, Lithuania) is a Lithuanian actor, popular in the Soviet Union. He is best known in the West for his performance in the lead role of Tarkovsky's Solaris as Kris Kelvin.

Banionis began his career with some films in Lithuanian, but he would later play mainly in Russian language films. He has also featured in German language films, playing Beethoven in Beethoven - Tage aus einem Leben in 1976 and Goya in Goya - oder Der arge Weg der Erkenntnis (1971).

In addition to films, he is a popular actor in the theatre of Panevėžys, where he has been acting since the age of 17, and which was frequented by Donatas' fans from all over the former Soviet Union. His first teacher was Juozas Miltinis. He also acts in Vilnius, in the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre.

[edit] Filmography

• Dead Season, 1968
• Solaris
• The Red Tent

[edit] External links

• Donatas Banionis at the Internet Movie Database