Oleg Ivanovich Yankovsky (Russian: Оле́г Ива́нович Янко́вский; 23 February 1944 – 20 May 2009) was a Soviet and Russian actor who excelled in psychologically sophisticated roles of modern intellectuals. In 1991, he became, together with Sofia Pilyavskaya, the last person to be named a People's Artist of the USSR.
Contents
Biography
Early life
Oleg Ivanovich Yankovsky was born on 23 February 1944 in Jezkazgan, Kazakh SSR (now Kazakhstan). His family was of noble Russian, Belarusian and Polish ancestry. His father, Ivan Pavlovich, was Life-Guards Semenovsky Regiment's Stabskapitän. Yankovsky's father was arrested during the purges in the Red Army after the Tukhachevsky case and was deported with his family to Kazakhstan, where he died in the camps of the Gulag system.
After the death of Stalin, the Yankovsky family was able to leave Central Asia for Saratov. Oleg's eldest brother, Rostislav, after graduating from the Sobinov Theatre Institute of the Saratov State Conservatory, went to Minsk to play at the Russian Theater. He took 14-year-old Oleg with him due to financial concerns, as in the family there was only one breadwinner – middle brother Nikolay. In Minsk, the youngest Yankovsky made his debut on the stage – it was necessary to substitute the sick performer of the episodic role of the boy in the play The Drummer.
Career
After leaving school, Yankovsky returned to Saratov, where in 1965 he graduated from the Saratov Theater School. After graduation, he was accepted into the troupe of the Saratov Drama Theater, where for eight years of work he played a number of leading roles. After success in the role of Prince Myshkin in the play The Idiot in 1973, he was invited to the Lenkom Theatre.
Yankovsky's film career was launched when he was cast in two movies, The Shield and the Sword (1968) by director Vladimir Basov about World War II and Two Comrades Were Serving (1968) by Yevgeny Karelov about the Russian Civil War.
During his prolific screen career, Yankovsky appeared in many film adaptations of Russian classics, notably A Hunting Accident (1977) and The Kreutzer Sonata (1987). A leading actor of Mark Zakharov's Lenkom Theatre since 1975, he starred in the TV versions of the theatre's productions, An Ordinary Miracle (1978) and The Very Same Munchhausen (1979), being the most notable. For his role in Roman Balayan's Flights in Dreams and Reality (1984), Yankovsky was awarded the USSR State Prize. He has been better known abroad for his parts in Tarkovsky's movies Mirror (as the father) and Nostalghia (in the main role).
In the early 1990s, Yankovsky also played quite different roles in Georgiy Daneliya’s tragic comedy Passport (1990) and in Karen Shakhnazarov’s historical and psychological drama The Assassin of the Tsar (1991). In 1991, he was the president of the jury at the 17th Moscow International Film Festival.
Starting in 1993, Yankovsky ran the Kinotavr Film Festival in Sochi. He continued to receive awards for his work with several Nika Awards from the Russian Film Academy for his directorial debut Come Look at Me (2001) and Valery Todorovsky's Lyubovnik (2002). He appeared as Count Pahlen in Poor Poor Paul (2004) and as Komarovsky in a TV adaptation of Doctor Zhivago (2006), directed by Oleg Menshikov.
The last film Yankovsky appeared in was Tsar, which was released in 2009 and screened at the Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 2009, just three days before his death. Yankovsky played the sophisticated role of Metropolitan Philip in his last film.
Death
On 20 May 2009, Yankovsky died from pancreatic cancer in Moscow, aged 65. A civil funeral took place at the Lenkom Theater. His burial was held on 22 May 2009 at Novodevichy Cemetery in the presence of his close relatives only.
Personal life
Wife – Lyudmila Zorina (born 1 May 1941), actress, Merited Artist of the Russian Federation.
Son – Filipp (born 10 October 1968), actor and film director.
Daughter-in-law – Oksana Fandera (born 7 November 1967), actress.
Grandchildren – Ivan (born 30 October 1990), actor; Elizaveta (born 1 May 1994).
Brothers – Rostislav Yankovsky (5 February 1930 – 26 June 2016), actor, People's Artist of the USSR; Nikolai Ivanovich Yankovsky (26 July 1941 – 25 May 2015), deputy director of the Saratov Puppet Theater "Teremok".
Nephew – Igor Yankovsky (29 April 1951 – 26 January 2025), actor and media manager.
Honours and awards
Soviet and Russian awards
1977 – Honored Artist of the RSFSR
1984 – People's Artist of the RSFSR
1987 – USSR State Prize – for his role in "Flights in dream and reality"
1989 – Vasilyev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR – for role in "The Kreutzer Sonata"
1991 – People's Artist of the USSR
28 December 1995 – Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class – for services to the state, many years of fruitful work in the arts and culture
1996 – State Prize of the Russian Federation – the main role in Anton Chekhov's play "The Seagull" at the Moscow State Theatre, (Lenkom)
2002 – State Prize of the Russian Federation – the main role in the play "Jester Balakirev" of the Moscow State Theatre
11 August 2007 – Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class – for his great contribution to the development of theatrical art, and many years of fruitful activity
23 February 2009 – Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class – for outstanding contributions to the development of domestic theatrical and cinematic arts
Cinematic and public awards
1977 – Lenin Komsomol Prize – "for talented contemporary incarnation of the images in the movie"
1983 – Best Actor of the Year – for starring in the film Love by Request (according to a poll of the magazine "Soviet Screen")
