Vyacheslav Tikhonov

Vyacheslav Tikhonov (front row, seated between Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova) appears on a Soviet New Year TV show in 1963.

Vyacheslav Vasilyevich Tikhonov (; 8 February 1928 – 4 December 2009) was a Soviet and Russian actor whose best-known role was as Soviet spy Stierlitz in the television series Seventeen Moments of Spring. He was a recipient of numerous state awards, including the titles of People's Artist of the USSR (1974) and Hero of Socialist Labour (1982).

Biography Tikhonov was born in Pavlovsky Posad near Moscow. His mother was a kindergarten teacher and his father an engineer in the local textile factory. Vyacheslav dreamed of acting but his parents envisioned a different career, and during the war he worked in a munitions factory. also an actor, who died in 1990. The marriage was dissolved in 1963. Later, Tikhonov married a second time to Tamara Ivanovna Tikhonova and had one child with her, Anna Tikhonova, also an actor, in 1969.

He died on 4 December 2009 in Moscow, Russia. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev expressed his condolences to Tikhonov's family.

Career Tikhonov made his film debut in 1948. For the next few years, he appeared in relatively low-profile films and at the Film Actors' Studio Theatre in Smolensk. The film enjoyed enormous popularity among Russian viewers of several generations. Prior to that, however, it had faced the risk of remaining unknown: Mikhail Suslov had opposed the film's going on general release. He had claimed that the film did not show the feat of the Soviet people in the war. Fortunately, the decision to release the would-be classic film was supported by KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov.

Tikhonov appeared in Nikita Mikhalkov's Oscar-winning Burnt By the Sun (1994) and also appeared in the 2010 sequel, which finished shooting before his death.

Filmography Film

Television

Legacy The name of Vyacheslav Tikhonov is given to the marine vessel of geophysical exploration of the shipping company Sovcomflot (launched in August 2011, the flag was raised on 16 September 2011). In May 2013, a monument by sculptor Alexey Blagovestnov was installed on the actor's grave. The monument reflects the versatility of Tikhonov's talent. The bronze figure is located in front of the relief on the gospel story Adoration of the Magi, which depicts many biblical characters. A Commemorative plaque is installed on the building of Lyceum No. 2 in Pavlovsky Posad (the former school No. 1, where the actor studied), now bearing his name. Since 2017, the Vyacheslav Tikhonov International Film Festival, called "17 Moments", has been held. The initiator of the festival was the actor's daughter Anna. On 25 August 2018, the V. Tikhonov House-museum was opened in Pavlovsky Posad in the house where the actor was born and grew up. 2019 — Volodarsky Street in Pavlovsky Posad was renamed Tikhonov Street. On 20 May 2022, a monument to Vyacheslav Tikhonov was unveiled in Pavlovsky Posad. The monument made of bronze and granite is installed at the intersection of Herzen and Kirov streets.