Donatas Banionis

Donatas Banionis (28 April 1924 – 4 September 2014) was a Soviet and Lithuanian stage and film actor and theatre director. He has more than 80 credited roles in cinema and is best known for his performance in the lead role of Tarkovsky's Solaris as Kris Kelvin. He was born in Kaunas, Lithuania.

Banionis began his career with some films in Lithuanian, but he would later play mainly in Russian language films (although his voice was dubbed by Russian actors). He has also worked outside the USSR like in the title role Francisco Goya of the USSR-GDR coproduction Goya or the Hard Way to Enlightenment (1971), directed by Konrad Wolf and in the title role as Ludwig van Beethoven in the 1976 DEFA-production Beethoven - Tage aus einem Leben. Aside from films, he was a popular stage actor in Panevėžys, where he acted 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 acted in Vilnius, in the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre. One of the best-known works of the actor was the role of Kris Kelvin in the film Solaris (1972) of Andrei Tarkovsky.

Vladimir Putin once stated that Banionis' part in the 1968 Soviet spy film Dead Season was the reason why he joined the KGB.

Early life and education Donatas Banionis was born on 28 April 1924 in Kaunas, Lithuania, to a family of labourers. His father was Juozas Banionis and his mother Ona Blažaitytė Banionienė.

Honors and awards Banionis is a People's Artist of the USSR (1974), winner of the All-Union Film Festival in the category "Best Actor Award" (1966), laureate of the State Prizes of the USSR (1967, 1977, for participation in the films Nobody Wanted to Die and The Flight of Mr. McKinley).

His awards include the Order of Gediminas III degree (1994), the medal. Khanzhonkov in the nomination "For outstanding contribution to the cinema" (1999), the Russian Friendship Orders (1999) and Honor (2009), the Grand Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit for Lithuania (2004), the National Award of Lithuania in the field of culture and art (2013).

He won several prizes at international film festivals. At the film festival of the CIS and Baltic countries Kinoshok in 1999 he was awarded with a special prize "Lady luck" named after Pavel Luspekaev, "for courage and outstanding merits in creativity."

In 1999 he became an Honorary Citizen of the city of Panevėžys.

Personal life His wife was actress Ona Banionis (1924–2008). They had two sons - Egidijus (1948–1993), a historian, posthumously awarded the State Prize in the field of science, and Raimundas (born in 1957), director.

Selected filmography

Marytė (1947) as Peter Adam Wants To Be a Man (1959) as Mr. Dausa A Day's Chronicle (1963) as Donatas Mars, mars! Tra-ta-ta! (1964) as major Varnalesa Nobody Wanted to Die (1966) as Pirmininkas Beware of the Car (1966) as pastor The Little Prince (1966) as Adult Dead Season (1968) as Ladeinikov The Red Tent (1969) as Adalberto Mariano King Lear (1971) as Duke of Albany Goya or the Hard Way to Enlightenment (1971) as Goya Solaris (1972) as Kris Kelvin Kapteinis Dzeks (1972) as Mitya Commander of the Lucky "Pike" (1973) as Viktor Sherknis The Flight of Mr. McKinley (1975) as Mr. McKinley Beethoven, Tage aus einem Leben (1976) as Ludwig van Beethoven Mama, I'm Alive (1977) as Major Mauris Armed and Dangerous (1977) as Gabriel Conroy Where were you, Odysseus? (1978, TV Mini-Series) as Soviet intelligence officer Odyssey Centaurs (1978) as Salvador Allende, chilský prezident Bag of the Collector (1979) as Alexei Tulyakov Nesėtų rugių žydėjimas (1979) as Antanas Petrusonis Territory (1979) as Ilya Chinkov The Suicide Club, or the Adventures of a Titled Person (1981, TV Movie) as Nick Nichols, The Chairman Andrius (1980) as Rauplenas Faktas (1981) as Colonel Titel Medaus menuo Amerikoje (1981) as Alan Atsiprasau (1982) as Guest from Vilnius Snake Catcher (1985) as Boris The Dolphin's Cry (1986) as Submarine Chaplain The 13th Apostle (1988) as Otets Entrance to the Labyrinth (1990, TV Mini-Series) as Mazardi Kiemas (1999) as the old man Anastasia (2006, TV Movie) as father Attack on Leningrad (2009) as Toyvo (uncredited) Tadas Blinda. Start (2011) as Mikhail Muravyov (final film role)