Ruut Tarmo

Ruut Tarmo (26 April 1896 – 28 January 1967) was an Estonian stage and film actor and stage director whose career spanned more than five decades.

Biography Ruut Tarmo was born Harald Rudolf Klein in Tartu in 1896 to Julius Klein and Sohvi Klein (née Anja) Ruut Tarmo was the stage manager of the Apollo miniature theater in Tallinn from 1917 to 1922. Tarmo worked at the Estonian Drama Theatre in 1922–25, 1928–41, 1949–51, at the Vanemuine in 1925–26, at the theater Rändteater in 1926–28, and in the Estonia Theatre in 1941–49 as a drama actor. In 1927 he would make his film debut in the Aksella Luts and Theodor Luts-penned and directed silent film drama Noored kotkad (English: Young Eagles), which chronicled Estonian soldiers fighting in the Estonian War of Independence from 1918 to 1920.

From 1955 to 1967, Ruut Tarmo worked again at the Estonian Drama Theater. He played also in several television productions and many Estonian films. His last film role was in the feature film Keskpäevane praam (English: Midday Ferry). Tarmo would remain a popular stage and film actor until his death in Tallinn in 1967.

In 1971, his wife would write a posthumous biography of the actor; Ruut Tarmo, published by Eesti Raamat. In 2010, a play titled Mari ja Ruut was performed at the Estonian Drama Theatre which chronicled the lives of Tarmo and wife Mari Möldre during Tarmo's imprisonment. People's Artist of the Estonian SSR (1966)