Oleg Tabakov

He was born Oleg Pavlovich Tabakov on August 17, 1935, in Saratov, Russia, USSR. His father, Pavel Kondratevich Tabakov, and his mother, Maria Andreevna Berezovskaya, were medical doctors in Saratov. His parents separated during the Second World War, and young Tabakov was brought up by his single mother and grandmother. He attended the all-boys school in Saratov, and was active in the drama class.

From 1950-1953 he studied acting at the Saratov House of Pioneers under the legendary acting coach Natalia Iosifivna Sukhostav.

In 1953, Tabakov moved to Moscow and entered the Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT) School of Acting.

He attended the class of Vasili Toporkov, graduating in 1957 as an actor.

He made his film debut as Sasha in Sasha vstupayet v zhizn (1957) by director Mikhail Shvejtser, in 1956. That same year he became the youngest of the six founding members of Sovremennik Theatre under the directorship of Oleg Efremov.

From 1957 - 1983, he was member of Sovremennik. There he played leading roles in such productions as 'Goly Korol' (aka. . Naked King), 'Tri Zhelaniya' (aka. . Three Wishes), 'Obyknovennaya istoriya' (aka. . Ordinary story) and other contemporary Russian plays.

Oleg Tabakov was a renown Russian actor, director, and public figure, who played over 100 roles in film and on TV. He is best known for his roles as Count Nikita Rostov in War and Peace (1965) by Sergey Bondarchuk, and as Oblomov in the eponymous film by Nikita Mikhalkov.

From 1970 - 1976 Tabakov was General Manager of Sovremennik, he promoted Galina Volchek to Principal Director of the company.

Since 1970s Tabakov had been teaching young actors at his master-class. Many of his students became successful professionals on stage as well as in film industry. His teaching credentials included workshops and productions at the Paris Conservatoire, the British American Drama Academy, Akademie Der Künst in Hamburg, the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna, Carnegie Mellon, The Juilliard School, New York University, Florida State University, The University of Delaware, and Harvard University.

In 1978 Tabakov and his students opened the "Tabakerka" Theatre in downtown Moscow. There Tabakov produced and directed several successful plays, such as 'Vesnoi ya vernus k tebe' (aka. . I'll be back in Spring), 'Proschay Maugli' (aka. . farewell to Maugli), and 'Belosnezhka i sem gnomov' (aka. . Snowhite and seven dwarfs).

Oleg Tabakov was designated People's Actor of the USSR and Russia (1980s), and was decorated with the Order of Merit of Fatherland II degree, by the Russian president Vladimir Putin (2005). Oleg Tabakov has been married twice. His first son, Anton Tabakov, is an actor and also a successful night-club owner in Moscow.

However, regardless of success with public and steady critical acclaim, the Soviet officials did not authorize Tabakov's new theatre, and his company dissolved by 1982. At that time Tabakov was depressed and transferred to MKhAT. There he played one of his best stage roles, Salieri, in the popular play 'Amadeus' under directorship of Oleg Efremov. Over the course of his acting career Tabakov appeared in about 150 roles, he also directed over 30 international stage productions.

He has four children by two different women and, so far, five grandchildren. He and his first wife, Russian actress Lyudmila Krylova, have two children, son Anton Tabakov and daughter Aleksandra Tabakova. Anton, in turn, has given them four grandchildren by three different women: one by his second wife, Russian actress Ekaterina Semyonova, one by his third wife, Anastasiya Chukhray, and two by his fourth wife, Anzhelika. And Aleksandra and her first husband, German actor Jan Josef Liefers, in turn, have given them one granddaughter, German actress Paulina Liefers, who was born in 1988. Oleg and his second wife, Russian actress Marina Zudina, have two children, a son, Pavel, who was born in 1995, and a daughter, Mariya, who was born in April 2006.

During the 1990s, Oleg Tabakov was a strong supporter of democratic reforms and freedom in the new Russia. He made public speeches and was involved in many public events facilitating the cultural transformation of arts and theatres in Russia. Having himself experienced the Soviet control and suppression during his creative career, Tabakov became one of the leading proponents of cultural reforms in Russia. His efforts came to fruition in the revival of the Moscow Art Theatre under his leadership, as well as his participation in numerous cultural and political events in Russia. Over the course of his life and career, Oleg Tabakov rose to become one of the living symbols of artistic freedom in Russia. However, during the last years of life, Tabakov had shown public support of the ruling regime of Russia, supposedly out of the desire to help his students and the actors of his theatre.

Since 1996, Oleg Tabakov had been married to actress Marina Zudina and the couple had two children, son, Pavel (b.

1996), and daughter, Maria (b.

Since 2000, after the death of his friend Oleg Efremov, Tabakov had been Artistic Director of Moscow Art Theatre named after A. Chekhov. He was also the Artistic Director of "Tabakerka" Theatre, and the leading actor in both companies. He was awarded the USSR State Prize for the Arts, the Russian State Prize for the Arts, and other national and international awards and decorations from Hungary, France, Poland, and the USSR.

The main stage director and an actor of the Moscow Art Theater after the death of its previous main stage director Oleg Efremov. [2001]

2006).

Oleg Tabakov was hospitalized in the late November of 2017.