Leonid Dyachkov

Leonid Dyachkov was a Russian film and stage actor best known as surgeon Petr in You and Me (1971) by director Larisa Shepitko. He was born in 1939, in Leningrad, and survived the siege of Leningrad during the Second World War, as a child. From 1957 to 1961 he studied acting under Boris Zon at Leningrad State Institute of Theatre and Film, graduating in 1961 as actor. From 1961 to 1985 Dyachkov was a member of the troupe at Lensoveta Theatre in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, Russia. There his stage partners were such actors as Alisa Freyndlikh, Igor Vladimirov, Georgi Zhzhyonov, Valentina Ulik, Larisa Luppian, Mikhail Boyarskiy, Vladimir Kuzin, Sergey Migitsko, Leyla Kirakosian, Dmitri Barkov, Irina Mazurkevich, Anatoliy Ravikovich, Mikhail Devyatkin, Anna Aleksahina, Efim Kamenetsky, Pyotr Shelokhonov and other notable actors. Dyachkov gave his most memorable stage performances as Raskolnikov in "Crime and Punishment" adaptation from the eponymous novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky, and as Cheshkov in 'Chelovek so storony' (aka.. A man from the outside). He played leading and supporting roles in about thirty film and television productions. Dyachkov was designated People's Actor of Russia. In the 60s and 70s he received much critical acclaim for his works on stage and in film. However, in the late 1980s, he left the theatre company, and had a slowdown in his acting career. He suffered from a severe depression after the death of his only son in 1986, and the death of his wife in 1987. In an effort to make a comeback, Dyachkov joined the company at State Pushkin Theatre (Aleksandrinsky). There he was hit in the head by a piece of heavy stage equipment and suffered a severe head trauma; later he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. On October 25, 1995, Dyachkov committed suicide by jumping out of a balcony in his apartment building, leaving a suicidal note behind. He was laid to rest in Bogoslovskoe Cemetery in St. Petersburg, Russia.