Biography
Vasili Vasilyevich Merkuryev (Russian: Васи́лий Васи́льевич Мерку́рьев; 6 April 1904 – 12 May 1978) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor, theater director and pedagogue. People's Artist of the USSR (1960). Vasili Merkuryev was born into a mixed Russian-German family. His father Vasily Ilyich Merkuryev was a Russian laborer turned merchant. He ran a successful business selling tar and fish. His mother Anna Ivanovna Grossen was of German descent. She emigrated from Switzerland along with her brother Heinrich. Vasili was the fourth of their six sons.He was raised in his native town of Ostrov and became an actor of the local theater at the age of 16. In 1921 he moved to Petrograd and entered the Saint Petersburg State Theatre Arts Academy which he finished in 1926. He later returned to the academy to work as a teacher and became a professor in 1961. Between 1926 and 1937 Merkuryev had worked in five different drama theaters, all based in Leningrad. In 1937 he entered the Alexandrinsky Theatre where he served till his death, both as an actor and stage director.
He is mostly remembered for his comedy roles in movies such as True Friends (1954), Heavenly Slug (1945) and Cinderella (1947). He also played one of the main parts in the war drama The Cranes Are Flying directed by Mikhail Kalatozov that won the Palme d'Or at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival.He continued his theater and movie career when the war started. During the evacuation he served as a director of the Narym Theater (1942-1944), as well as a director of the Novosibirsk Youth Theatre in 1944-1945.
Merkuryev died on 12 May 1978 in Leningrad. He was buried in the Volkovo Cemetery.
Filmography
all 59
Movies 59
The Great Tamer (1974)
Kseniya, Fyodor's Beloved Wife (1974)
Faithful Friend Sancho (1974)
Moscow-Cassiopeia (1974)
Here Is Our House (1974)
Farewell to Sankt Petersburg (1971)
Late Child (1971)
The Seven Brides of Lance-Corporal Zbruyev (1970)
A Nest of Gentry (1969)
Exam for Rank (1969)
Roll call (1966)
Новогодний календарь (1966)
The Whistle Stop (1963)
I Accept the War (1963)
Be Happy, Ani! (1963)
Cherry Town (1962)
Happy Birthday (1962)
Chronicle of Flaming Years (1961)
The Girl With Whom I Was Friends (1961)
A Summer to Remember (1960)
A Sleepless Night (1960)
Горячая душа (1960)
People on the Bridge (1960)
Пучина (1958)
In a Quiet Marina (1958)
The Cranes Are Flying (1957)
An Ordinary Man (1957)
Behind the Footlights (1956)
Twelfth Night (1955)
World Champion (1955)
Гвоздь программы (1955)
Did We Meet Somewhere Before (1954)
True Friends (1954)
The Honor of Comrade (1953)
The Forest (1953)
The Encounter of a Lifetime (1952)
The Unforgettable Year 1919 (1951)
The Miners of Donetsk (1951)
The Battle of Stalingrad (1949)
The Star (1949)
Story of a Real Man (1948)
Cinderella (1947)
The Vow (1946)
The Great Glinka (1946)
Sons (1946)
Naval Battalion (1946)
The Sky Slow-Mover (1945)
Tanker "Derbent" (1941)
Song about Friendship (1941)
Member of the Government (1940)
Patriot (1939)
Guest (1939)
Surgery (1939)
Танкисты (1939)
Komsomolsk (1938)
Professor Mamlock (1938)
The Return of Maxim (1937)
The Girlfriends (1936)
Федька (1936)
Ratings
Information
Known ForActing
GenderMale
Birthday1904-04-06
Deathday1978-05-12 (74 years old)
Birth PlaceOstrov, Russia
ChildrenPyotr Merkuryev
CitizenshipsSoviet Union, Russian Empire
Also Known AsVasili Merkuriev, Василий Меркурьев, V. Merkuryev, Vasiliy Merkurev, Василий Васильевич Меркyрьев, Vasili Vasilyevich Merkuryev
AwardsPeople's Artist of the RSFSR, Merited Artist of the RSFSR, State Stalin Prize, 2nd degree, Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945", People's Artist of the USSR, Order of Lenin, Medal "Veteran of Labour", Order of the Red Banner of Labour
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