Aleksandr Abdulov


Aleksandr Gavrilovich Abdulov was a Soviet and Russian film and stage actor, film director, screenwriter and television presenter. He was awarded People's Artist of the RSFSR in 1991.

Biography

Aleksandr Abdulov went to school from 1960 to 1970, and upon graduation wanted to become a sportsman. However, Abdulov's father encouraged his son to act, and Aleksandr Abdulov starred in About Vitya, about Masha and the Sea Force, 1974. In 1975 he graduated from GITIS and was hired by Lenkom Theater director Mark Zakharov.
Aleksandr Abdulov appeared in several films in the 1970s. In 1977 he was in the TV version The Twelve Chairs, directed by Mark Zakharov. In 1978 he became a celebrity after his role in An Ordinary Miracle. In 1979 Abdulov appeared in The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed with Vladimir Vysotskiy. That year he also had roles in Do not part with the Loved Ones and The Very Same Munchhausen.
During the early 1980s, he was considered a sex symbol. In 1982 he performed in Look for a Woman, Magicians and The Woman in White. In 1982, he was given a role in The House That Swift Built as Dr. Simpson. In 1984 Abdulov was in The Formula of Love and, the following year, In Search for Captain Grant. He also performed in The Most Charming and Attractive and Naval Cadets, Charge!.
Aleksandr Abdulov then went on to play in Desyat Negrityat in 1987 and To Kill a Dragon in 1988. The next year he had a role in Black Rose Is an Emblem of Sorrow, Red Rose Is an Emblem of Love.
Abdulov was in Genius, The House under the Starry Sky and "Gold". During the 1990s he mostly worked in the Lenkom Theatre. In 2000 he performed in Still Waters and The Christmas Miracle with Chulpan Khamatova. In 2002 he appeared in the TV series Next, where he played a Russian oligarch. He reprised the role in the sequel "Next 2". The following year he was in About Love.
In 2005, Abdulov had roles in the TV series Anna Karenina and The Master and Margarita. In 2006 he directed the play One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest at the Lenkom and played the lead character of Randall P. McMurphy. He also had an appearance in the film Attack on Leningrad.

Attitude to the mass media

In the last years of his life, Abdulov had extremely tense relations with the mass media, especially the tabloids. He vehemently resented all false information about him and hated those unscrupulous journalists who tried to pry into his personal life. On Man and Law, aired on Russia's Channel One, Abdulov said once that he owned a licensed gun and he would not hesitate to shoot any trespasser who dared to enter the territory of his dacha during his forthcoming birthday party.

Marriages

Aleksandr Abdulov was married three times. His first marriage was to Irina Alfyorova, by whom he had a stepdaughter, Ksenia Alfyorova. His second wife was Galina, a theatre administrator. In 2006 he married Julia Miloslavskaya, who gave birth to their daughter Eugenia in 2007.

Health problems and death

Abdulov was a smoker throughout his adult life. In August 2007, the actor experienced health problems, supposedly an ulcer. However, in September of the same year he was diagnosed with lung cancer in an Israeli clinic.
He was last seen in public in mid-December 2007 at an awards ceremony at the Kremlin, where Vladimir Putin awarded the actor with the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class.
He died on 3 January 2008, aged 54.

Honors and awards

  • Honored Artist of the RSFSR
  • People's Artist of the RSFSR
  • Order of Honour
  • Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class

    Selected filmography

  • 1974: Moscow, My Love as boyfriend
  • 1974: About Vitya, about Masha and the Marines as paratrooper Kozlov
  • 1975: The Lost Expedition as Boris Rogov
  • 1977: Golden River as Boris Rogov
  • 1976: Twelve Chairs as engineer Ernest Schukin
  • 1977: An Ordinary Miracle as the Bear
  • 1978: Front Beyond the Front Line as Soldier
  • 1979: The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed as driver for the gang
  • 1979: The Very Same Munchhausen as Heinrich Rammkopf
  • 1980: Do Not Part with Your Beloved as Mitya Lavrov
  • 1982: Carnival as Nikita
  • 1982: Premonition of Love as Sergey Vishnyakov
  • 1982: The House That Swift Built as Richard Simpson, Doctor
  • 1982: Charodei as Ivan Sergeevich Puhov
  • 1983: Look for a Woman as Robert de Charans
  • 1984: Formula of Love as Jacob
  • 1985: The Most Charming and Attractive as Volodya Smirnov
  • 1985: In Search for Captain Grant as Bob the Tar
  • 1986: Guard Me, My Talisman as Anatoli Klimov
  • 1987: And Then There Were None as Anthony Marston
  • 1987: Tracker as Vanya
  • 1988: Gardes-Marines, Ahead! as Count Vasily Lyadashchev
  • 1988: To Kill a Dragon as Lancelot
  • 1989: Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District as Sergei
  • 1990: Black Rose Is an Emblem of Sorrow, Red Rose Is an Emblem of Love as Vladimir
  • 1991: Genius as Sergey Nenashev
  • 1991: Sons of Bitches as Igor Gordynsky
  • 1991: Humiliated and Insulted as Masloboev
  • 1991: Caccia alla vedova as Prince Badritzky
  • 1991: House under the Starry Sky as Zhora
  • 1993: Prison Romance as Artynov
  • 1992: Over the Dark Water as Lev
  • 1994: Nastya as Teterin
  • 1997: Schizophrenia as Ivan Golubchik
  • 1999: Women's Property as Sazonov
  • 2000: Still Waters as academician Anton Kashtanov
  • 2000: The Christmas Miracle as the puppeteer
  • 2001: Yellow Dwarf as Vladimir Zharovsky
  • 2005: The Master and Margarita as Koroviev
  • 2005: The Case of "Dead Souls" as Nozdryov
  • 2006: The Funeral Party as Alik
  • 2007: Actress as Bosyakin
  • 2009: Attack on Leningrad as Chigasov