Georgy Frantsevich Millyar, sometimes spelled Milliar (; 7 November 1903 in

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 ...

– 4 June 1993 in Moscow), 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 ...

and

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

actor, best known for playing evil spirits in Soviet fairy tale films, including the witch

Baba Yaga Baba Yaga is a female character (or one of a trio of sisters of the same name) from Slavic folklore who has two contrasting roles. In some narratives, she is described as a repulsive or ferocious-looking old woman who fries and eats children, ...

in films such as ''

Vasilisa the Beautiful Vasilisa the Beautiful () or Vasilisa the Fair is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in ''Narodnye russkie skazki''. Synopsis A merchant's wife, with whom he has lived in marriage for 12 years, dies, leaving behind an only d ...

'', ''

Jack Frost Jack Frost is a personification of frost, ice, snow, sleet, winter, and freezing cold. He is a variant of Old Man Winter who is held responsible for frosty weather, nipping the fingers and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, a ...

'', '' Fire, Water, and Brass Pipes'' and '' The Golden Horns''.45 (1722)
/ref>

Biography

Georgy Millyar was born into a wealthy family of Franz de Milieu, a

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

bridge builder working in Russia, and Elizaveta Zhuravlyova, a daughter of an

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and , ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 587,891 Irkutsk is the List of cities and towns in Russ ...

goldminer. Millyar's father died when he was almost three. Before the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he and his widowed mother had moved from Moscow to

Gelendzhik Gelendzhik (; Adyghe: Хъулъыжъий, Ḣułəžij) is a resort town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located on the Gelendzhik Bay of the Black Sea, between Novorossiysk ( to the northwest) and Tuapse ( to the southeast). Greater Gelendzhik sp ...

. After the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

, Millyar's family was left without relatives and means of living, their apartment in Moscow and a house in Gelendzhik were soon nationalized by the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

. Millyar's mother was prudent enough to remove the "de" particle from her and her son's last name to conceal their French origin and then change it to Millyar. Even though Georgy Millyar was able to speak fluent French and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, he never mentioned this fact in any official documents.Аргументы и факты. Суперзвёзды
/ref> After the October Revolution, Georgy Millyar worked as a props man at a Gelendzhik theater. He always dreamed of becoming a professional actor and memorized all the roles played at his theater. In 1920, Millyar made his first incidental appearance on stage when one of the actors fell suddenly ill. His debut was a success, and from then on he was asked to substitute on a regular basis. In 1924, Georgy Millyar, already a well-known provincial actor, entered an Acting School for Juniors at Moscow Theater of the Revolution (today's

Mayakovsky Theater 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 ...

). Subsequently, he played different roles in numerous stage plays. Prominent Soviet film director

Aleksandr Rou Alexander Arturovich Rou (; – 28 December 1973) was a Soviet film director. He directed a number of children's fantasy films, based mostly on Russian folklore that were highly popular and often imitated in the Soviet Union. Rou received t ...

played an important part in Georgy Millyar's acting career. He invited Millyar to star in a film adaptation of a Russian fairy tale, ''

Wish upon a Pike ''Wish upon a Pike'', also known as ''The Magic Fish'' (), is a 1938 fantasy film directed by Alexander Rou, Alexander Rowe, which was his debut and filmed at Soyuzdetfilm. It is adapted from a play by Yelizaveta Tarakhovskaya, itself based on ''At ...

'' (1938). From that moment on, their cinematographic partnership and friendship lasted for over 30 years. Millyar acted in all Rou's films. Among his roles are Kashei the Deathless, Baba-Yaga, king Goroh, king Chudo-Yudo, a demon etc. Throughout his career, Georgy Millyar played thirty major roles, took part in the

dubbing Dubbing (also known as re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and the video production process where supplementary recordings (known as doubles) are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production audio to cr ...

of seventy movies, and voiced over a hundred

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

s.''Оллэ''. К гастролям Московского Театра Революции // ''Бурят-Монгольская правда''. Верхнеудинск. № 168 (1138) за 28 июля 1927 года. — С. 4. He died in 1993, 2 years after the

Dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

Selected filmography

References

External links

* *
Georgy Millyar
1903 births 1993 deaths 20th-century Russian male actors Male actors from Moscow Honored Artists of the RSFSR People's Artists of the RSFSR {{USSR-actor-stub Russian male film actors Russian male stage actors Russian male voice actors Russian people of French descent Soviet male film actors Soviet male stage actors Soviet male voice actors Burials in Troyekurovskoye Cemetery