Vsevolod Kuznetsov

Vsevolod Anatolevich Kuznetsov was born on June 9, 1928, in Leningrad, USSR (now St. Petersburg, Russia). His mother was a renown actress Vera Kuznetsova. In 1949, he graduated from the Institute of Theatre, Music, and Cinematography in Leningrad (St. Petersburg). From 1951-1956 he was an actor at the Baltic Fleet Theatre, then at Lensovet Theatre in Leningrad. In 1954, Kuznetsov made his film debut in The Boys from Leningrad (1954). From 1956-2003 Vsevolod Kuznetsov was a permanent member of the legendary troupe of Bolshoi Drama Theatre (BDT) in St. Petersburg (Leningrad) under directorship of Georgi Tovstonogov. Kuznetsov worked with Tovstonogov for 44 years. During that time Kuznetsov worked with an outstanding ensemble of actors at BDT. There his stage partners were such stars as Oleg Basilashvili, Tatyana Doronina, Alisa Freyndlikh, Lyudmila Makarova, Svetlana Kryuchkova, Zinaida Sharko, Valentina Kovel, Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy, Sergey Yurskiy, Kirill Lavrov, Oleg Borisov, Vladislav Strzhelchik, Yefim Kopelyan, Evgeniy Lebedev, Pavel Luspekayev, Nikolay Trofimov, Georgiy Shtil, Leonid Nevedomsky, Vadim Medvedev, Yuriy Demich, Gennadiy Bogachyov, Andrey Tolubeev, and many other remarkable Russian actors. Vsevolod Kuznetsov was Chairman of the Actors' Union of the BDT, and Co-Chairman of the Actors' Union of St. Petersburg (Leningrad), Russia. Vsevolod Kuznetsov was honored with the title of People's Artist of the Russia. He received numerous awards and decorations for his works on stage and in film. His filmography includes over 30 roles, he also played over 100 roles on stage. He also directed several stage plays and one film. Vsevolod Kuznetsov died of a heart failure on July 5, 2003, and was laid to rest in Literatorskie Mostki of the Volkovo Cemetery in St. Petersburg, Russia.