Igor Kirillov

Igor Leonidovich Kirillov (; 14 September 1932 – 29 October 2021) was a Soviet and Russian news presenter, announcer and actor.

He was a news anchor for Soviet Central Television (CT USSR) and announcer for the CT USSR news program Vremya for 30 years. He was awarded the People's Artist of the USSR in 1988.

Early life and education Kirillov was born in Moscow. His father, Leonid Mikhailovich Kirillov (1904–1979), was an engineer, and his mother, Revekka Veniaminovna Kirillova (1902–1995), was a librarian. He planned to become a director, but was admitted to the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography to study acting. He left after one year and graduated from the Mikhail Shchepkin Higher Theatre School.

Career After graduation, he worked at the Moscow Drama and Comedy Theatre. with Nonna Bodrova and Anna Shatilova as co-anchors during his tenure. During his tenure, Kirillov was the anchor for all of the Soviet Union's pivotal events, covering the annual celebrations of state occasions, the death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev and his successors Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko, and as well as Yuri Gagarin's orbit of the earth in 1961, the Soviet government's decision to invade Afghanistan in 1979, and the Moscow Olympics the following year. Kirillov also accompanied Soviet leaders on their official visits to foreign countries to report on location.

He also made cameo appearances in some Russian films, He retired as a newsreader in 1988, joining CT USSR (later Ostankino TV, then ORT). He retired in 1996, but he occasionally appeared as an emcee for some concerts and the annual Red Square Victory Day parade.

Personal life and death He married his first wife, Irina Vsevolodovna Kirillova, a sound engineer, while they were both students; she died in 2004. Their daughter, Anna, is a professional pianist; their son died in 2011. He later remarried to Tatyana Aleksandrovna Kirillova.

Awards and honours Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1968) USSR State Prize (1977) Order of Friendship of Peoples (1980) People's Artist of the RSFSR (1982) People's Artist of the USSR (1988) Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class (2011) Order of Honour (2018) Order of the Red Banner of Labour Medal "In Commemoration of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow"