Yuriy Demich

Yuri Aleksandrovich Demich was born on August 18, 1948, in Magadan, USSR. His father, Aleksandr Ivanovich Demich, was an actor at the Ermolova Drama Theatre in Moscow. In 1966, he graduated from the Acting Studio at Gorky Theatre in Kuibyshev (now Samara). From 1964-1973 he was an actor of Gorky Theatre in Kuibyshev (now Samara) in Russia. From 1974-1986 Yuri Demich was a member of the legendary troupe of Bolshoi Drama Theatre (BDT) in St. Petersburg (Leningrad) under directorship of Georgi Tovstonogov. Demich worked with Tovstonogov for 12 years. During that time Demich worked with an outstanding ensemble of actors at BDT. There his stage partners were such stars as Kirill Lavrov, Oleg Borisov, Oleg Basilashvili, Tatyana Doronina, Alisa Freyndlikh, Lyudmila Makarova, Svetlana Kryuchkova, Zinaida Sharko, Natalya Danilova, Tatyana Bedova, Valentina Kovel, Vladislav Strzhelchik, Sergei Yursky, Efim Kopelyan, Nikolai Volkov, Vsevolod Kuznetsov, Nikolay Trofimov, Georgiy Shtil, Vadim Medvedev, Leonid Nevedomsky, Roman Gromadskiy, Andrey Tolubeev, and Gennadiy Bogachyov, among many other remarkable Russian actors. Yuri Demich was designated People's Artist of Russia. He was awarded the State Prize of the USSR (1978) and received other awards and decorations for his works on stage and in film. His son, Aleksandr Demich, is a popular film and stage actor in Russia. His daughter, Yelena Lyukshinova, is an actress and public figure in Moscow. From 1988 to 1990 Demich was a member of the troupe at Ermolova Drama Theatre in Moscow. His filmography includes over 30 roles, he also played over 50 roles on stage. Yuri Demich died of a heart attack on December 24, 1990, in Moscow, and was laid to rest in Vagankovskoe Cemetery in Moscow, Russia.