Aleksandr Abdulov
Encyclopedia
Aleksandr Gavrilovich Abdúlov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Гаври́лович Абду́лов - May 29, 1953 – January 3, 2008) was a notable Soviet/Russia
n actor.
Aleksandr Abdulov went to school from 1960 to 1970 and upon graduating wanted to become a sportsman. However, Abdulov's father encouraged his son to act, and, in 1974 Aleksandr Abdulov starred in About Vitya, about Masha and the Sea Force. In 1975 he graduated from the GITIS and was hired by Lenkom Theater director Mark Zakharov
.
Aleksandr Abdulov appeared in several films in the 1970s. In 1977 he appeared in the TV version of the film The Twelve Chairs
by Mark Zakharov
. In 1978 he became a celebrity after he appeared in An Ordinary Miracle
and in 1979 Abdulov appeared in The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed
with Vladimir Vysotskiy. That year he also appeared in Do not part with the Loved Ones.
During the early 1980s he was considered a sex symbol
and in 1982 he appeared in Look for a Woman, Magicians and The Woman in White
. In 1983 he appeared in the film The House that Swift Built (about Jonathan Swift
) as Dr. Simpson. In 1984 Abdulov appeared in The Formula of Love. The following year he appeared in Searching for Captain Grant. He also appeared in The Most Charming and Attractive and Naval Cadets, Charge!.
Aleksandr Abdulov then went on to appear in Desyat Negrityat
(based on Agatha Christie
's mystery novel Ten Little Indians
) in 1987 and To Kill a Dragon in 1988. The next year he appeared in Black Rose Is an Emblem of Sorrow, Red Rose Is an Emblem of Love
.
In 1991 Abdulov appeared in Genius and The House under the Starry Sky. In 1992 he appeared in the film Gold. During the 1990s he mostly worked in the Lenkom Theatre
. In 2000 he appeared in Still Waters
, and in The Christmas Miracle with Chulpan Khamatova
. In 2002 he appeared in the TV series Next (the title being the actual English word) playing a Russian oligarch
. In 2003 he appeared in the sequel Next 2; the following year he was in About Love.
In 2005 Abdulov appeared 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 (played by Jack Nicholson
in the American film). Abdulov has also appeared in the film Leningrad.
In 1991 Abdulov was awarded the title of People's Artist of the RSFSR.
during his forthcoming birthday party.
, by whom he has a stepdaughter, Ksenia Alfyorova. His second wife was a theatre administrator named Galina. In 2006 he married Julia Miloslavskaya, who gave birth to their daughter Eugenia in early 2007.
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 Israel
i clinic. http://www.lenta.ru/news/2007/09/09/abdoulov.
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 of National Merit (4th degree).
He died on January 3, 2008, aged 54.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n actor.
Aleksandr Abdulov went to school from 1960 to 1970 and upon graduating wanted to become a sportsman. However, Abdulov's father encouraged his son to act, and, in 1974 Aleksandr Abdulov starred in About Vitya, about Masha and the Sea Force. In 1975 he graduated from the GITIS and was hired by Lenkom Theater director Mark Zakharov
Mark Zakharov
Mark Anatolyevich Zakharov is a Soviet and Russian theatrical director and playwright. He was also a professor of the Moscow Theatre Institute ....
.
Aleksandr Abdulov appeared in several films in the 1970s. In 1977 he appeared in the TV version of the film The Twelve Chairs
The Twelve Chairs
The Twelve Chairs is a classic satirical novel by the Soviet authors Ilf and Petrov, released in 1928. Its main character Ostap Bender reappears in the book's sequel The Little Golden Calf.-Plot:...
by Mark Zakharov
Mark Zakharov
Mark Anatolyevich Zakharov is a Soviet and Russian theatrical director and playwright. He was also a professor of the Moscow Theatre Institute ....
. In 1978 he became a celebrity after he appeared in An Ordinary Miracle
An Ordinary Miracle (1978 film)
An Ordinary Miracle is a Soviet 1978 musical film, a love story by Mark Zakharov based on a play by Yevgeni Shvarts. This is the second screen version of the play; the first one was filmed in 1964 by Erast Garin....
and in 1979 Abdulov appeared in The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed
The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed
The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed is a 1979 Soviet 5-part television miniseries directed by Stanislav Govorukhin. It achieved the status of a cult film in the USSR, and along with Seventeen Moments of Spring it became a part of popular culture with several generations of russophone TV viewers...
with Vladimir Vysotskiy. That year he also appeared in Do not part with the Loved Ones.
During the early 1980s he was considered a sex symbol
Sex symbol
A sex symbol is a celebrity of either gender, typically an actor, musician, supermodel, teen idol, or sports star, noted for their sex appeal. The term was first used in the mid 1950s in relation to the popularity of certain Hollywood stars, especially Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte...
and in 1982 he appeared in Look for a Woman, Magicians and The Woman in White
The Woman in White (novel)
The Woman in White is an epistolary novel written by Wilkie Collins in 1859, serialized in 1859–1860, and first published in book form in 1860...
. In 1983 he appeared in the film The House that Swift Built (about Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
) as Dr. Simpson. In 1984 Abdulov appeared in The Formula of Love. The following year he appeared in Searching for Captain Grant. He also appeared in The Most Charming and Attractive and Naval Cadets, Charge!.
Aleksandr Abdulov then went on to appear in Desyat Negrityat
Desyat Negrityat
Desyat Negrityat is a 1987 Soviet film adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel And Then There Were None . It was directed by Stanislav Govorukhin, who also penned the script...
(based on Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
's mystery novel Ten Little Indians
And Then There Were None
And Then There Were None is a detective fiction novel by Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1939 under the title Ten Little Niggers which was changed by Dodd, Mead and Company in January 1940 because of the presence of a racial...
) in 1987 and To Kill a Dragon in 1988. The next year he appeared in Black Rose Is an Emblem of Sorrow, Red Rose Is an Emblem of Love
Black Rose Is an Emblem of Sorrow, Red Rose Is an Emblem of Love
Black Rose Is an Emblem of Sorrow, Red Rose Is an Emblem of Love is a 1989 Soviet comedy film directed by Sergei Solovyov. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Tatyana Drubich as Alexandra...
.
In 1991 Abdulov appeared in Genius and The House under the Starry Sky. In 1992 he appeared in the film Gold. During the 1990s he mostly worked in the Lenkom Theatre
Lenkom Theatre
Lenkom Theatre is the official name of what was once known as the Moscow State Theatre named after Lenin's Komsomol. Designed by Illarion Ivanov-Schitz, it was built in 1907 to house a Merchant's Club, and was home to many theatrical and musical performances...
. In 2000 he appeared in Still Waters
Still Waters (Russian film)
-Plot:Anton M. Kashtanov is a talented surgeon and head of a large clinic. He decides to escape his domineering and bitchy wife Pauline in the village of Still Waters. Here he reconnects with his childhood friend, the head of the local nature reserve...
, and in The Christmas Miracle with Chulpan Khamatova
Chulpan Khamatova
Chulpan Nailevna Khamatova is a Russian film, theater and TV actress of Tatar origin. Her name, Chulpan, means "morning star" in Tatar.- Background :...
. In 2002 he appeared in the TV series Next (the title being the actual English word) playing a Russian oligarch
Business oligarch
Business oligarch is a near-synonym of the term "business magnate", borrowed by the English speaking and western media from post-Soviet parlance to describe the huge, fast-acquired wealth of some businessmen of the former Soviet republics during the privatization in Russia and other post-Soviet...
. In 2003 he appeared in the sequel Next 2; the following year he was in About Love.
In 2005 Abdulov appeared in the TV series Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina is a novel by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, published in serial installments from 1873 to 1877 in the periodical The Russian Messenger...
and The Master and Margarita
The Master and Margarita
The Master and Margarita is a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, woven around the premise of a visit by the Devil to the fervently atheistic Soviet Union. Many critics consider the book to be one of the greatest novels of the 20th century, and one of the foremost Soviet satires, directed against a...
. In 2006 he directed the play One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (play)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a play based on Ken Kesey's 1962 novel of the same name. Dale Wasserman's stage adaptation, with music by Teiji Ito, made its Broadway preview on November 12, 1963, its premiere on November 13, and ran until January 25, 1964 for a total of one preview and 82...
at the Lenkom and played the lead character of Randall P. McMurphy (played by Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
in the American film). Abdulov has also appeared in the film Leningrad.
In 1991 Abdulov was awarded the title of People's Artist of the RSFSR.
Attitude to the mass media
Abdulov had extremely tense relations with the mass media, especially tabloids, in the last years of his life. He fervently resented all false information about him and hated those unscrupulous journalists who tried to pry into his personal life. Once on "Chelovek i zakon" ("Man and law") aired on Russia's Channel One Abdulov said that he owned a licensed gun and he would not hesitate to shoot any trespassing rubber neck that dared to enter the territory of his dachaDacha
Dacha is a Russian word for seasonal or year-round second homes often located in the exurbs of Soviet and post-Soviet cities. Cottages or shacks serving as family's main or only home are not considered dachas, although many purpose-built dachas are recently being converted for year-round residence...
during his forthcoming birthday party.
Marriages
Aleksandr Abdulov was married three times. His first marriage was to Irina AlfyorovaIrina Alfyorova
Irina Ivanovna Alfyorova is a Soviet and Russian actress. She was formerly married to Russian film and stage actor Aleksandr Abdulov, by whom she has a daughter, Ksenia.-Selected filmography:* TASS Is Authorized to Declare......
, by whom he has a stepdaughter, Ksenia Alfyorova. His second wife was a theatre administrator named Galina. In 2006 he married Julia Miloslavskaya, who gave birth to their daughter Eugenia in early 2007.
Health problems and death
Peptic ulcer
A peptic ulcer, also known as PUD or peptic ulcer disease, is the most common ulcer of an area of the gastrointestinal tract that is usually acidic and thus extremely painful. It is defined as mucosal erosions equal to or greater than 0.5 cm...
. However, in September of the same year he was diagnosed with lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
in an Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i clinic. http://www.lenta.ru/news/2007/09/09/abdoulov.
He was last seen in public in mid-December 2007 at an awards ceremony at the Kremlin
Kremlin
A kremlin , same root as in kremen is a major fortified central complex found in historic Russian cities. This word is often used to refer to the best-known one, the Moscow Kremlin, or metonymically to the government that is based there...
, where Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
awarded the actor with the Order of National Merit (4th degree).
He died on January 3, 2008, aged 54.
Honours and awards
- Order of Merit for the FatherlandOrder of Merit for the FatherlandThe Order of Merit for the Fatherland was instituted on 2 March 1994 by Presidential Decree. The statutes describe it as a decoration for merit, not an order of knights....
, 4th class - Medal of Honour
- People's Artist of the RSFSR, 1991
- Honoured Artist of the RSFSR, 1986
Quotes
In an interview some months prior to his death, Abdulov said: "God knows the length of a life, but its breadth depends on the person."Filmography
- 1973 Pro Vityu, pro Mashu i morskuyu pekhotu
- 1974 Moscow, My Love
- 1975 The Lost Expedition
- 1976 Twelve Chairs
- 1977 An Ordinary MiracleAn Ordinary Miracle (1978 film)An Ordinary Miracle is a Soviet 1978 musical film, a love story by Mark Zakharov based on a play by Yevgeni Shvarts. This is the second screen version of the play; the first one was filmed in 1964 by Erast Garin....
- 1979 The Meeting Place Cannot Be ChangedThe Meeting Place Cannot Be ChangedThe Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed is a 1979 Soviet 5-part television miniseries directed by Stanislav Govorukhin. It achieved the status of a cult film in the USSR, and along with Seventeen Moments of Spring it became a part of popular culture with several generations of russophone TV viewers...
- 1979 The Very Same MunchhausenThe Very Same MunchhausenThe Very Same Munchausen is a 1979 Soviet television movie directed by Mark Zakharov, based on a script by Grigoriy Gorin. The film relays the story of the baron's life after the adventures portrayed in the book, particularly his struggle to prove himself sane...
- 1982 Look for a Woman
- 1982 Charodei
- 1984 Formula of LoveFormula of Love (film)Formula of Love is a 1984 Soviet film directed by Mark Zakharov, from a screenplay by Grigori Gorin loosely based on the story "Count Cagliostro" by Aleksei Tolstoy.- Cast :* Nodar Mgaloblishvili as Count Cagliostro...
- 1985 In Search for Captain Grant
- 1985 The Most Charming and Attractive
- 1987 Naval Cadets, Charge!
- 1987 Desyat NegrityatDesyat NegrityatDesyat Negrityat is a 1987 Soviet film adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel And Then There Were None . It was directed by Stanislav Govorukhin, who also penned the script...
- 1988 To Kill a Dragon
- 1989 Black Rose Is an Emblem of Sorrow, Red Rose Is an Emblem of LoveBlack Rose Is an Emblem of Sorrow, Red Rose Is an Emblem of LoveBlack Rose Is an Emblem of Sorrow, Red Rose Is an Emblem of Love is a 1989 Soviet comedy film directed by Sergei Solovyov. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Tatyana Drubich as Alexandra...
- 1991 Genius
- 1993 Pominalnaja molitva
- 1994 Kafe V'Limon
- 2005 The Master and Margarita
- 2006 Park Sovetskogo Perioda
- 2006 The Funeral Party
- 2007 Anna Karenina
- 2007 Artistka
- 2007 Leningrad
- 2007 Luzer
- 2008 Mika i Alfred
External links
- http://www.geocities.com/rusatg/Alexander_Abdulov.htm (Archived 2009-10-25)
- http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=5&issue_id=258&article_id=2925