Mikhail Kononov

Mikhail Ivanovich Kononov (; 25 April 1940 – 16 July 2007) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. People's Artist of Russia.

Biography He first appeared on stage at school. In 1963, Mikhail Kononov graduated from the Shchepkin Drama School and was admitted to the Maly Theatre. However, after five years of acting in theatre, in 1968 he quit the stage forever. He married Natalya Pavlovna Kononova in 1969.

The typical image of his hero, a simple-hearted, kind and unaffected fellow, started taking its shape in his debut film Our Common Friend (1961) and further on in the revolutionary tragic comedy Chief of Chukotka (1966), the war drama No Path Through Fire (1967), and the heroic comedy At War as at War (1969), among others.

As the actor stated himself, his best role was that of Foma in Andrei Tarkovsky's well-known historic drama Andrei Rublev. One of the most popular films starring Kononov was the series Big School-Break (1972), where he played the young teacher Nestor Petrovich. He was also popular for his roles in children's films. Many Russian viewers remember Kononov as the sly and crafty space pirate Krys in the legendary children's sci-fi miniseries Guest from the Future (1985). Kononov considered himself a tragicomic actor.

In the last years of his life Mikhail Kononov rejected most of the roles offered to him due to his dislike of modern Russian cinema.

Two weeks before his death, he went to hospital with pneumonia. However, in the hospital, his condition only worsened as he did not have enough money to afford medicine. Mikhail Kononov died from tromboembolism on 16 July 2007 in Moscow.

Selected filmography Come Tomorrow, Please... , 1963 as passenger of bus Goodbye, Boys , 1964 as Vitya Anikin Andrei Rublev , 1966 as Foma Chief of Chukotka , 1966 as Bychkov No Path Through Fire , 1968 as Semyonov At War as at War , 1969 as Alexander Maleshkin The Beginning , 1970 as Pavlik Big School-Break , 1972 as Nestor Petrovich Severov Finist, the brave Falcon , 1975 as Yashka Captain Nemo , 1975 as Conseil Twenty Days Without War , 1976 as Pasha Rubtsov Story of an Unknown Actor , 1977 as Petya Strizhov Siberiade , 1979 as Rodion Klimentov Vasili and Vasilisa , 1981 as Vasili Station for Two , 1982 as Nikolasha, a policeman Crazy Day of Engineer Barkasov , 1983 Alone and Unarmed , 1984 as Pyotr, porter Guest from the Future , 1985 as Krys, space pirate / spaceport employee Mikhail Ivanovich She with a Broom, He in a Black Hat , 1987 as wizard The Inner Circle , 1991 as Kliment Voroshilov Assia and the Hen with the Golden Eggs , 1994 as Father Nicodemus The First Circle , 2006 as Spiridon