Oleg Yankovsky
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Oleg Ivanovich Yankovsky (Russian: Олег Иванович Янковский; born February 23, 1944, Dzhezkazgan, Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR) is a Soviet/Russian actor who has excelled in psychologically sophisticated roles of modern intellectuals. In 1991, he became, together with Alla Pugacheva, the last person to be named a People's Artist of the USSR.
Born into a noble family of Belarusian stock, Oleg Yankovsky formed an ambition to emulate his brother Rostislav and joined the Saratov Drama Theatre in 1965. His film career was launched two years later, when he was cast in two movies about the World War II.
During his remarkably fruitful screen career, Yankovsky appeared in many film adaptations of Russian classics, notably My Sweet and Tender Beast (1977) and The Kreutzer Sonata (1987). A leading actor of Mark Zakharov's Lenkom Theatre since 1975, he starred in the TV versions of the theatre's productions, An Ordinary Miracle (1978) and The Very Same Munchausen (1979) being the most notable. For his role in Roman Balayan's Flights in Dreams and Reality (1984) Yankovsky was awarded the USSR State Prize. He has been better known abroad for his parts in Tarkovsky's movies The Mirror (as the father) and Nostalghia (in the main role).
Since 1993, Yankovsky has been running the Kinotavr Film Festival in Sochi. He continues to receive awards for his work with several Nika Awards from the Russian Film Academy for his directorial debut Come Look At Me (2001) and Valery Todorovsky's Lyubovnik (2002). Lately, he appeared as Count Pahlen in Poor, Poor Pavel (2004) and as Komarovsky in a TV adaptation of Doctor Zhivago (2006), directed by his son Filipp.
