Mikhail Zharov

Mikhail Ivanovich Zharov (; 27 October 1899 – 15 December 1981) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor and director. People's Artist of the USSR and Hero of Socialist Labour (1974). Career He studied under the prominent director Theodore Komisarjevsky and debuted in Yakov Protazanov's Aelita (1924). Later he became a Protazanov regular, appearing in The Man from the Restaurant (1927) together with Mikhail Chekhov.

In the 1930s he was a leading actor of Alexander Tairov's Chamber Theatre before moving to the Maly Theatre where, starting in 1938, he was engaged for the rest of his life and most fully unfolded his actor's gift, mainly playing classical repertoire parts (in Wolves and Sheep, The Inspector-General, Heart is not a Stone, The Thunderstorm, etc.)

Mikhail Zharov gained wide popularity thanks to the role of Zhigan in Nikolai Ekk’s internationally known drama Road to Life (1931). Playing the leader of a gang of thieves, the actor made use of the opportunities of the first sound film: he endowed his character with a specific accent, played the guitar, and sang songs with his peculiar charm. In 1933 he appeared in Boris Barnet's Outskirts.

The most acclaimed of his sound films were Vladimir Petrov's Peter the Great (1937), in which he played Prince Menshikov, and Sergei Eisenstein's Ivan the Terrible (1945/58), in which he played Malyuta Skuratov. His last and probably most popular role was that of Aniskin, an amusing and witty village militiaman in the television series The Village Detective (1968), Aniskin & Fantomas (1974) and Aniskin Again (1978).

Death Mikhail Zharov died in Moscow on December 15, 1981, in his 83rd year, of peritonitis. He was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery (plot No. 9).

Awards Two Stalin Prizes first degree (1941, 1942) Stalin Prize second degree (1947) Hero of Socialist Labour (1974) People's Artist of the USSR (1949) Partial filmography

Tsar Ivan Vasilevich Groznyy (1915) – Soldier Aelita (1924) – Actor in Play His Call (1925) Chess Fever (1925) Miss Mend (1926) Man from the Restaurant (1927) – The Waiter Belyy oryol (1928) Don Diego and Pelagia (1928) – Himself Dva-Buldi-dva (1929) Road to Life (1931) – Thomka Zhigan The House of the Dead (1932) – Officer (uncredited) Dvadtsat shest komissarov (1932) – Menshevik Okraina (1933) – Krayevitch – Menchevik student Marionettes (1934) – Head of Frontier Post The Storm (1934) – Koudryash Three Comrades (1935) – The Engineer Lyubov i nenavist (1935) – Ensign Kukva Po sledam geroya (1936) The Return of Maxim (1937) – Platon Vassilievich Dymba, billiards braggart Peter the Great (1937, part 1) – Alexander Danilovich Menshikov – Stalin Prize first degree (1941) The Bear (1938) – Grigori Mikhailovich Smirnov The Vyborg Side (1939) – Platon Vassilievich Dymba Man in a Shell (1939) – Mikhail Kovalenko Stepan Razin (1939) – Lazunka – boyar's son Engineer Kochin's Error (1939) – Lartsev Bogdan Khmelnitskiy (1941) – Deacon Gavrilo The Defense of Tsaritsyn (1942, part 1, 2) – Perchikhin – Stalin Prize first degree (1942) The District Secretary (1942) – Gavril Fedorovich Rusov Aktrisa (1943) – Reciter in hospital In the Name of the Fatherland (1943) – Ivan Ivanovich Globa The Aerial Cabman (1943) – Ivan Baranov The Young Fritz (1943, Short) – Fritz Ivan the Terrible (1945, 1958, part 1, 2) – Czar's Guard Malyuta Skuratov The Call of Love (1945) – Vadim Spiridonovich Yeropkin Bespokoynoe khozyaystvo (1946) – Semibab For Those Who Are at Sea (1948) – Kharitonov Michurin (1949) – Khrenov Happy Flight (1949) – Driver Zachyosov Vassa Zheleznova (1953) – Prokhor Khrapov The Anna Cross (1954) – Artynov A Girl with a Guitar (1958) – Sviristinsky Mlechnyy Put (1959) – Mikhail Silovich Kain XVIII (1963) – Minister of War Vnimanie! V gorode volshebnik! (1964) – Cook Older Sister (1967) – Ukhov Village Detective (1969) – Aniskin