Igor Vasilev

Igor Vasilyev was a Russian actor of the Moscow Art Theatre. He was born Igor Alekseevich Vasilyev on May 20, 1938, in Moscow, Soviet Union (now Moscow, Russia). He studied acting at the School of Moscow Art Theatre, graduating in 1961 as actor. From 1964 to 1970 he was a permanent member of the troupe at Sovremennik Theatre in Moscow. There his stage partners were such actor as Oleg Efremov, Evgeniy Evstigneev, Galina Volchek, Stanislav Lyubshin, Anatoliy Romashin, Alla Pokrovskaya, Oleg Tabakov, Oleg Dal, Igor Kvasha, Valentin Gaft and other notable Russian actors. From 1970 to 2007 Vasilyev was a member of the troupe at Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT). There he made such memorable appearances as Zilov in 'Utinaya Okhota' by Aleksandr Vampilov, as Svidrigailov in 'Crime and Punishment' - adaptation of the eponymous novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky, and eventually established himself as a leading actor in many stage productions at MKhAT. There his stage partners were such actors as Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy, Yekaterina Vasilyeva, Tatyana Doronina, Oleg Efremov, Evgeniy Evstigneev, Oleg Tabakov, Aleksandr Kalyagin, Andrei Popov and other notable Russian actors. After the split of the troupe in 1987, he was a member of MKhAT named after Anton Chekhov, where his stage partners included many notable Russian actors. Igor Vasilyev was designated People's Actor of Russia. He played leading and supporting roles in about 30 film and television productions. He died of a heart failure on December 23, 2007, and was laid to rest in Troekurovskoe cemetery in Moscow, Russia.