Armen Borisi Dzhigarkhanyan (3 October 193514 November 2020) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

n, and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n actor. Born and raised in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

, Dzhigarkhanyan started acting in the academic and Russian theaters of the city, before moving to Moscow to continue stage acting. Since 1960, he appeared in a number of Armenian films. He became popular in the 1970s with the various roles he portrayed in Soviet films like ''

The New Adventures of the Elusive Avengers ''The New Adventures of the Elusive Avengers'' (, Transliteration, translit. ''Novye prikluchenya Neulovimykh'') is a 1968 Soviet Union, Soviet action adventure film, a sequel of ''The Elusive Avengers'', directed by Edmond Keosayan and made ...

'' (1968), its sequel ''

The Crown of the Russian Empire, or Once Again the Elusive Avengers ''The Crown of the Russian Empire, or Once Again the Elusive Avengers'' (; translit. ''Korona Rossiyskoy Imperii, ili Snova Neulovimye'') is a 1971 Soviet historical action adventure movie, a second sequel of ''The Elusive Avengers'', direct ...

'' (1971) and ''

The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed ''The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed'' () is a 1979 Soviet five-part television film directed by Stanislav Govorukhin and starring singer-songwriter Vladimir Vysotsky in one of his final screen appearances alongside actor Vladimir Konkin. The ...

'' (1979). After almost 30 years on the stage of the

Mayakovsky Theatre Mayakovsky Theater () is a theater in Moscow, Russia, founded in 1920, first as ''Terevsat'' (Theater of Revolutionary Satire, 1920-1922), then ''Revolution Theater'' (1922-1943) and ''Drama Theater'' (1944-1953). In 1954 it was renamed after Vlad ...

, Dzhigarkhanyan taught at

VGIK The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, officially the S. A. Gerasimov All-Russian University of Cinematography (, meaning ''All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography named after S. A. Gerasimov''), a.k.a. VGIK, is a film school in Moscow, ...

and in 1996 he founded his own drama theater in Moscow. With more than 250 appearances, Dzhigarkhanyan, one of the most renowned film and stage Armenian and Russian actors, appeared in more films than any other Russian actor.

Early life

Armen Dzhigarkhanyan was born in

Armenian SSR The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR), also known as Soviet Armenia, or simply Armenia, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Soviet Armenia bordered the Soviet republics ...

, Soviet Union on 3 October 1935. His paternal grandfather, a "professional

tamada A tamada ( ka, თამადა) is a Georgian toastmaster at a Georgian ''supra'' (feast) or at a wedding, corresponding to the symposiarch at the Greek symposion or to the thyle at the Anglo-Saxon sumbel. All supras, regardless of si ...

", came from an Armenian family from Tbilisi,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

's capital. He graduated from a Russian high school named after

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

. Between 1953 and 1954, he worked as

camera operator A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not necessarily imply that a male is performing the task. ...

's assistant at the state-run Hayfilm studio.

Career

Theater

Actor

In 1955, Dzhigarkhanyan was admitted to the

Sundukyan State Academic Theatre The Gabriel Sundukyan State Academic Theatre (), founded on February 25, 1922 in Yerevan, is the oldest modern theatre in Armenia. Well-known actors and directors such as Vardan Ajemian, , Vahram Papazian, Hrachia Ghaplanyan, Hrachia Nersisyan ...

. He studied in director Armen Gulakyan's ( hy, ru) class until 1958. Beginning in his first year at the Sundukyan Theatre, he started acting at the

Stanislavski Russian Theatre of Yerevan Officially State Russian Drama Theatre named after Konstantin Stanislavski (), more commonly Stanislavski Russian Theatre, is a state theatre in the Armenian capital of Yerevan located on Abovyan Street in the central Kentron district of the city ...

. He remained there for over 10 years, until 1967. At Armenia's only Russian theater, he played around 30 roles, most notably as Vanya Kudryash in '' The Storm'' by

Alexander Ostrovsky Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky (; ) was a Russian playwright, generally considered the greatest representative of the Russian realistic period. The author of 47 original plays, Ostrovsky "almost single-handedly created a Russian national repe ...

, Sergey in ''An Irkutsk Story'' by

Aleksei Arbuzov Aleksei Nikolayevich Arbuzov (; April 20, 1986) was a Soviet and Russian playwright. Biography Arbuzov was born in Moscow, but his family moved to Petrograd in 1914. His father was Russian and his mother was Greek. Orphaned at the age of eleven ...

, Actor in ''

The Lower Depths ''The Lower Depths'' (, literally: ''At the bottom'') is a play by Russian dramatist Maxim Gorky written in 1902 and produced by the Moscow Arts Theatre on December 18, 1902, under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski. It became his first ma ...

'' by

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an aut ...

. "From the beginning of his stage career, Dzhigarkhanyan has demonstrated an awesome versatility, succeeding in a wide variety of roles in the classical and contemporary repertory, including Shakespeare,

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...

, and modern Russian authors. In 1967, Dzhigarkhanyan moved to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

to make a career at the

Lenkom Theatre Lenkom Theatre, formerly known as Lenin’s Komsomol Moscow Theatre or Moscow Leninist Komsomol Theatre is the official name of what was once known as the Moscow State Theatre named after Komsomol, a Communist youth league set up by Vladimir Leni ...

. He started acting under directorship of

Anatoly Efros Anatoly Vasilievich Efros (; July 3, 1925, Kharkiv – January 13, 1987, Moscow) was a Soviet theatre and film director. He was a leading interpreter of Russian classics during the Era of Stagnation and "received numerous awards for creative exce ...

, however, they worked together for a brief period. Dzhigarkhanyan portrayed

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( ; rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪdʑ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright. His novel ''The M ...

's ''The Cabal of Hypocrites''. Following Efros's departure, Dzhigarkhanyan was given more roles, but he didn't wish to continue acting in a theater without the director he came for in the first place. In 1969, Dzhigarkhanyan joined Moscow's

Andrey Goncharov Andrey Aleksandrovich Goncharov (2 January 19187 September 2001) was a Soviet and Russian theater director, pedagogue and author. Goncharov, the People's Artist of the USSR (1977), received numerous state awards, including Hero of Socialist Lab ...

's recommendation. He worked there until 1996 and for almost 30 years, he was "its leading actor". He first appeared in the role of Levinson in ''The Rout'' by Alexander Fadeyev. His later roles include

Stanley Kowalski Stanley Kowalski is a fictional character in Tennessee Williams' play '' A Streetcar Named Desire''. In the play Stanley lives in the working-class Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans with his wife, Stella ( DuBois), and is employe ...

's ''

A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pe ...

''. Since most of his roles were

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

ic, he moved to portray several

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.Socrates Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...

Edvard Radzinsky Edvard Stanislavovich Radzinsky (; born September 23, 1936) is a Russian historian, playwright, television personality, and screenwriter. He authored more than forty history books that are popular in Russia. Biography Edvard Stanislavovich Rad ...

's ''Conversations with Socrates'' in 1975 was acclaimed by critics and made him one of the "most interesting and strongest actors of the contemporary scene." During the 1970s and 1980s, Dzhigarkhanyan appeared less frequently on stage and more frequently in films and became known to the wider Soviet public. Even with decreased number of appearances on stage, Dzhigarkhanyan's every role became an object of discussion. The finest roles from this period include Big Daddy in ''

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' is a 1955 American three-act play by Tennessee Williams. The play, an adaptation of his 1952 short story "Three Players of a Summer Game", was written between 1953 and 1955. One of Williams's more famous works and his ...

'' by Tennessee Williams, Lord Bothwell in

Robert Bolt Robert Oxton Bolt (15 August 1924 – 20 February 1995) was an English playwright and a screenwriter, known for writing the screenplays for '' Lawrence of Arabia'', '' Doctor Zhivago'', and '' A Man for All Seasons'', the latter two of which w ...

's ''

Vivat! Vivat Regina! ''Vivat! Vivat Regina!'' ( ) is a play written by Robert Bolt. It debuted at Chichester in 1970 and later at the Piccadilly Theatre London. Principal actors were Sarah Miles and Eileen Atkins. The play was directed by Peter Dews and desig ...

'', Nero in

's ''Theater in the Time of Nero and Seneca'' and others.

Director

Between 1989 and 1997, Dzhigarkhanyan taught the

Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, officially the S. A. Gerasimov All-Russian University of Cinematography (, meaning ''All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography named after S. A. Gerasimov''), a.k.a. VGIK, is a film school in Moscow, ...

(VGIK), Russia's state film school. In the mid-1990s, Dzhigarkhanyan decided to create a theater that would bring together his students at VGIK. In March 1996, Dzhigarkhanyan founded his own theater named "D" and currently named "Moscow Drama Theater headed by Armen Dzhigarkhanyan" (Московский драматический театр под руководством Армена Джигарханяна). His theater has staged a number of famous plays, including

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

's ''

Krapp's Last Tape ''Krapp's Last Tape'' is a 1958 one-act play, in English, by Samuel Beckett. With a cast of one man, it was written for Northern Irish actor Patrick Magee (actor), Patrick Magee and first titled "Magee monologue". It was inspired by Beckett's e ...

'' and

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...

's ''

The Homecoming ''The Homecoming'' is a two-act play written in 1964 and published in 1965 by Harold Pinter. Its premières in London (1965) and New York (1967) were both directed by Sir Peter Hall. The original Broadway production won the 1967 Tony Award ...

''. Dzhigarkhanyan has also directed combination companies and has played the roles of General in

Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influent ...

's '' The Gambler'' and the main character in ''

Filumena Marturano ''Filumena Marturano'' (; ), sometime performed in English as ''The Best House in Naples'', is a play written in 1946 by Italian playwright, actor and poet Eduardo De Filippo. It is the basis for the 1950 Spanish-language Argentine musical film ' ...

'' by

Eduardo De Filippo Eduardo De Filippo OMRI (; 26 May 1900 – 31 October 1984), also known simply as ''Eduardo'', was an Italian actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright, best known for his Neapolitan language, Neapolitan works ''Filumena Marturano'' and ...

at the

Film

Dzhigarkhanyan made his film debut in 1960 film ''Landslide'' (Obval) as Akop. He "impressed viewers with his inspired portrayal of physicist" in

Frunze Dovlatyan Frunze Vaghinaki Dovlatyan (; May 26, 1927 – August 30, 1997) was an Armenian film director, screenwriter and actor. Biography Frunze Dovlatyan was born in Gavar, Soviet Armenia, a brother to Vram Dovlatyan. He was a theater actor before bec ...

's ''

Hello, That's Me! ''Hello, It's Me!'' (; Transliteration, translit. Barev, yes em) is a 1966 Armenian romantic drama film directed by Frunze Dovlatyan. It was entered into the 1966 Cannes Film Festival, nominated to Palme d'Or and awarded by the ''State Priz ...

'' (Barev Yes Em, 1966) as Artem Manvelyan. It "gave him national renown and initiated an extremely prolific screen career." Usta Mukuch, the role of an old blacksmith he created in ''Triangle'' (Yerankyuni, 1967) directed by famed Armenian director

Henrik Malyan Henrik Sureni Malyan (, also transliterated Henrik Malian; September 30, 1925 – March 14, 1988) was an Armenian film director and writer. He was born in Telavi, Georgia. Malyan's uncle was the actor David Malyan. He studied chess at an e ...

, paved the way for dozens of films in later decades. He later appeared in several iconic films, including as captain Ovechkin in

Edmond Keosayan Edmond Gareginovich Keosayan (; ; 9 October 1936 – 21 April 1994) was an Armenian Soviet Union, Soviet film director and musician. * 1952-54 — worked in Yerevan watch factory. 1954-56 — studied in Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, ...

's ''

'' (1968) and ''

'' (1971). The 1973 comedy ''The Men'', directed by

, became one of the most iconic Armenian films of the late Soviet period and today, a statue of its leading characters stands in central Yerevan. By the early 1970s, Dzhigarkhanyan had become one of the most popular Soviet film actor who appeared in more than 200 roles, covering all genres from

situational comedy A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

to historical adventure,

psychological drama Psychological drama, or psychodrama, is a Genre, subgenre of Drama (film and television), drama and psychological fiction literatures that generally focuses upon the emotional, mental, and psychological development of the protagonists and other c ...

, thriller, and quality literary adaptation, moving effortlessly from trivial entertainment to sophisticated art. In the five-part TV miniseries ''

'' (1979), starring all-time favorite

Vladimir Vysotsky Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky (25 January 193825 July 1980) was a Soviet singer-songwriter, poet, and actor who had an immense and enduring effect on Soviet culture. He became widely known for his unique singing style and for his lyrics, which ...

, Dzhigarkhanyan played a

thief in law Theft (, cognate to ) is the act of taking another person's property or Service (economics), services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synon ...

, which made him more popular to the general Soviet public. He also appeared in a leading role in the joint Soviet-French ''

Teheran 43 ''Teheran 43'' (Russian: ''Тегеран-43''; French: ''Téhéran 43, Nid d'espions'') is a 1981 Soviet-French-Swiss political thriller film made by Mosfilm, ''Mediterraneo Cine'' and ''Pro Dis Film'', directed by Aleksandr Alov and Vladimir ...

'' (1981) alongside

Claude Jade Claude Marcelle Jorré, better known as Claude Jade (; 8 October 1948 – 1 December 2006), was a French actress. She starred as Antoine Doinel#Christine Darbon, Christine in François Truffaut's three films ''Stolen Kisses'' (1968), ''Bed and B ...

as his mysterious young mistress and

Curd Jürgens Curd Gustav Andreas Gottlieb Franz Jürgens (13 December 191518 June 1982) was a German-Austrian stage and film actor. He was usually billed in English-speaking films as Curt Jurgens. He was well known for playing Ernst Udet in ''Des Teufels Gener ...

as his lawyer.

Political activity

In 2001, Dzhigarkhanyan signed a letter in defense of the NTV channel. In 2012, during the

presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The ...

, Dzhigarkhanyan starred in a video in support of candidate

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

; however, contrary to popular belief, he was not Putin’s confidant. In March 2014, Dzhigarkhanyan condemned the annexation of Crimea, said "so far this will not bring us anything good," and refused to sign a

letter Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech or none in the case of a silent letter; any of the symbols of an alphabet * Letterform, the g ...

in support of the annexation. In 2017, Dzhigarkhanyan took part in municipal elections in

Gagarinsky District, Moscow Gagarinsky District, Moscow () is an administrative district (raion) of South-Western Administrative Okrug, and one of the 125 raions of Moscow, Russia. The area of the district is . Population - 72,072. Established in 1995. Education School N ...

, for the

United Russia The All-Russian Political Party United Russia (, ) is the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Russia, political party of Russia. As the largest party in the Russian Federation, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the St ...

party. According to the voting results, he took 5th place in the three-mandate district and did not receive a deputy mandate. All three mandates in the constituency where Armen Dzhigarkhanyan ran were won by representatives of the

Yabloko The Russian United Democratic Party Yabloko (RUDP Yabloko; rus, Росси́йская объединённая демократи́ческая па́ртия «Я́блоко», Rossiyskaya obyedinyonnaya demokraticheskaya partiya "Yabloko" ...

party. Dzhigarkhanyan advocated friendship between the Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples.

Personal life

Dzhigarkhanyan was married three times. In the early 1960s, he secretly married Alla Vanovskaya, an actress at the Stanislavski Russian Theatre of Yerevan. Their daughter Yelena was born in 1964 and died at age 23 in 1987 of suffocation while asleep, because she left the car engine running. His second partner, Tatyana Vlasova, was also an actress at the Stanislavski Theatre in Yerevan. They never officially married, but they started living together in 1967, when they moved to Moscow together. Tatyana now resides in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

and works as a Russian language teacher at a university. Dzhigarkhanyan often visited her. His third wife is 43 years younger than him.

Illness and death

In the last years of his life, Dzhigarkhanyan suffered from poor health. He was hospitalized in March 2016 and January 2018. In April 2018 he again was hospitalized after a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

and fell into a coma. Dzhigarkhanyan died in Moscow on November 14, 2020. The cause of death was

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

due to

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as renal failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney fa ...

and other chronic diseases. Presidents of Russia

and Armenia

Armen Sarkissian Armen Vardani Sarkissian (; born 23 June 1952) is an Armenian politician, physicist, investor, businessman, and computer scientist who was the 4th president of Armenia from 2018 to 2022. He also was Prime Minister of Armenia from 1996 to 1997. ...

, Armenian Prime Minister

Nikol Pashinyan Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan (born 1 June 1975) is an Armenian politician who is serving as the 16th and current Prime Minister of Armenia, prime minister of Armenia since 8 May 2018. A journalist by profession, Pashinyan founded his own newspaper in ...

and Moscow Mayor

Sergey Sobyanin Sergey Semyonovich Sobyanin (; born 21 June 1958) is a Russian politician, serving as the 3rd mayor of Moscow since 21 October 2010. Sobyanin previously served as the governor of Tyumen Oblast (2001–2005), Head of the Russian presidential ad ...

issued messages of condolence.

Recognition

Dzhigarkhanyan was one of the most popular and renowned Russian actors of his generation, both in films and theatre. ''

Novaya Gazeta ''Novaya Gazeta'' (, ) is an independent Russian newspaper. It is known for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs, the Chechen wars, corruption among the ruling elite, and increasing authoritarianism i ...

'', one of Russia's largest weeklies, described Dzhigarkhanyan as a "distinct brand" in Russian theatre and film and his voice as "a separate living brand". According to Peter Rollberg, Professor of Slavic Languages, Film Studies at the

Elliott School of International Affairs The Elliott School of International Affairs (known as the Elliott School or ESIA) is the professional school of international relations, foreign policy, and international development of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. It is ...

, "Dzhigarkhanyan's characters usually are distinguished by stoicism, irony, and a quiet inner strength, irradiating a rough charm that has only grown with age." With the deaths of Frunzik Mkrtchyan (1993),

Khoren Abrahamyan Khoren Babkeni Abrahamyan (April 1, 1930December 10, 2004) was an Armenian actor and director. Abrahamyan was honored with the title People’s Artist of the USSR in 1980. Life and career He studied at the Yerevan Institute of Theater and Fine ...

(2004) and

Sos Sargsyan Sos Artashesi Sargsyan (; 24 October 1929 – 26 September 2013) was a prominent Armenian actor, director and writer. Biography Sos Sargsyan was born in Stepanavan in northern Armenia, at the time part of the Soviet Union. He moved to Yerevan ...

(2013), Dzhigarkhanyan remained the last major Armenian actor of the Soviet era. In his birthday congratulation in 2005, Armenia's second president

Robert Kocharyan Robert Sedraki Kocharyan ( ; born 31 August 1954) is an Armenian politician. He served as the President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic from 1994 to 1997 and Prime Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh from 1992 to 1994. He served as the second Presiden ...

stated that Dzhigarkhanyan's "great popularity" is "due to istalent and devoted work". Kocharyan further said that " isart has become a peculiar standard of mutual enrichment of Armenian and Russian cultures." In 2010, Armenia's current president

Serzh Sargsyan Serzh Azati Sargsyan (, ; born 30 June 1954)Official biography of Serzh Sargsyan

described the artist as "one of the prominent figures of the modern cinema" who has "boundless talent and charm". Sargsyan stated that "The Armenian nation is proud of you." In 2010, Russian president

Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev (born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician and lawyer who has served as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia since 2020. Medvedev was also President of Russia between 2008 and 2012 and Prime Mini ...

awarded Dzhigarkhanyan with the

Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" The Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" () is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was instituted on 2 March 1994 by Presidential Decree 442. Until the re-establishment of the Order of St. Andrew in 1998, it was the highest order of ...

and stated: In 2012, Moscow Mayor

congratulated Dzhigarkhanyan on his birthday and described him as "an outstanding actor and talented director" who "over many years of service to the stage and screen made a huge contribution to the development of Russian culture."

Record

A number of sources claim that Dzhigarkhanyan is included in ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

'' as the Russian actor with most film appearances (as of 2013), suggesting that he has played in more than 250 films (300 according to

RIA Novosti RIA Novosti (), sometimes referred to as RIAN () or RIA (), is a Russian state-owned domestic news agency. On 9 December 2013, by a decree of Vladimir Putin, it was liquidated and its assets and workforce were transferred to the newly created ...

). However, the ''Guinness World Records'' website does not provide such data by country. In reference to the large number of films in which he has appeared, prominent Soviet Armenian composer

Aram Khachaturian Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; 1 May 1978) was a Soviet Armenians, Armenian composer and conductor. He is considered one of the leading Music of the Soviet Union#Classical music of the Soviet Union, Soviet composers. Khachaturian was born and rai ...

once stated, " heneveryou turn on the

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

, Dzhigarkhanyan is there!" Actor

Valentin Gaft Valentin Iosifovich Gaft (; 2 September 1935 – 12 December 2020) was a Soviet and Russian actor. He was a People's Artist of the RSFSR (1984). Biography Early life and education Gaft was born in Moscow to Jewish parents, Iosif Ruvimovich Gaft ...

has written an

epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word derives from the Greek (, "inscription", from [], "to write on, to inscribe"). This literary device has been practiced for over two millennia ...

in a humorous reference to his large number of appearances: "There are less Armenians in the world, / Than there are films where Dzhigarkhanyan has appeared" (Гораздо меньше на земле армян, / Чем фильмов, где сыграл Джигарханян.)

Awards

;Soviet Union *

People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR, also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. The term is confusingly used to translate two Russian language titles: Народный арти ...

(1985) ;Russia *

People's Artist of the RSFSR People's Artist of the RSFSR (, ''Narodnyj artist RSFSR'') was an honorary title granted to Soviet Union artists, including theatre and film directors, actors, choreographers, music performers, and orchestra conductors, who had outstanding achiev ...

(1973) *

, III class (1995) *Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", IV class (2005) *

Order of Alexander Nevsky The Order of Alexander Nevsky () is an Order (distinction), order of merit of the Russia, Russian Federation named in honour of saint Alexander Nevsky (1220–1263) and bestowed to civil servants for twenty years or more of highly meritorious ser ...

(2006) * Crystal Turandot (Хрустальная Турандот), Highest Theater Prize of Moscow (2010) *Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", II class (2010) ;Armenia *

People's Artist of the Armenian SSR People's, branded as ''People's ViennaLine'' until May 2018, and legally ''Altenrhein Luftfahrt GmbH'', is an Austro-Swiss airline headquartered in Vienna, Austria. It operates scheduled and charter passenger flights mainly from its base at St. ...

(1977) *

Order of St. Mesrop Mashtots The Order of St. Mesrop Mashtots () is awarded for significant achievements in economic development of Armenia, natural and social sciences, inventions, culture, education, healthcare, and public service, as well as for activities promoting scient ...

(1996) *Honorary Citizen of Yerevan (2001) *Order of Honor of Armenia (2010)

Selected filmography

; Voice * '' Once Upon a Dog'' (Жил-был пёс, 1982) — The Wolf * ''

Formula of Love ''Formula of Love'' () is a 1984 Soviet romantic fantasy comedy film directed by Mark Zakharov, from a screenplay by Grigori Gorin. It is loosely based on the story "Count Cagliostro" by Aleksey Tolstoy. Plot In 1780, after a short fraudulen ...

'' (Формула любви, 1984) — Count Cagliostro (played by

Nodar Mgaloblishvili Nodar Mgaloblishvili (, ka, ნოდარ მგალობლიშვილი, July 15, 1931 in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union – March 26, 2019 in Tbilisi) was a Soviet Union, Soviet and Georgian people, Georgian theatrical and cine ...

) * ''

Treasure Island ''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure a ...

'' (Остров сокровищ, 1988) — John Silver *''

Cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

'' (Тачки, 2006) — Doc Hudson (Russian dub) *'' Up'' (Вверх, 2009) — Carl Fredricksen (Russian dub) * '' Alisa Knows What to Do!'' (Алиса знает, что делать!, 2013–2016) — Vasily Petrovich, robot teacher (first episodes)

References

;Notes ;Citations

External links

* * by

Shant TV Shant TV () is a private television broadcasting company in Armenia. Shant TV was founded by Arthur Yezekyan in Gyumri, the second largest city in Armenia, in 1994. Shant TV launched a full 6 hour broadcasting schedule in May 1995. History The ...

Photo gallery of Dzhigarkhanyan
at

media library {{DEFAULTSORT:Dzhigarkhanyan, Armen People from Yerevan 1935 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Armenian male actors 21st-century Armenian male actors Male actors from Yerevan Academicians of the National Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Russia Academic staff of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography People's Artists of Armenia People's Artists of the RSFSR People's Artists of the USSR Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class Russian people of Armenian descent Armenian male film actors Armenian male stage actors Ethnic Armenian male actors Soviet Armenians Soviet male film actors Soviet male stage actors Soviet male voice actors Burials at Vagankovo Cemetery