Mihai Volontir (9 March 1934 – 15 September 2015) 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

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

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 ...

(1984).

Biography

Volontir was born on 9 March 1934 in the village of Glinjeni,

. He attended the Pedagogical Institution in

Orhei Orhei (), also formerly known as Orgeev (), is a city, municipality and the administrative centre of Orhei District in the Moldova, Republic of Moldova, with a population of 21,065. Orhei is approximately north of the capital, Chișinău. Hist ...

from 1952 to 1955. After over a decade of working in theatre, Volontir began appearing in films made at the

Moldova-Film ''Moldova-Film'' (, ) is a Moldovan film studio and production company founded in 1952 in the Moldavian SSR. History Moldova-Film was founded in 1947 in Chişinău as a branch of the Central Studio for Documentary Film. In 1949 the branch was ...

studio in 1967. He became famous in the late 1970s after his roles in ''

In the Zone of Special Attention ''In the Zone of Special Attention'' () is a 1978 Soviet action movie, directorial debut of Andrei Malyukov. It achieved cult film status among several generations of the Soviet Airborne Forces and veterans, and, along with ''Hit Back'', it beca ...

'' and ''The Gypsy'' film series. The films were so popular that he is still strongly associated with his character, Budulai, a wise lone gypsy. His performance resulted in increased tolerance towards gypsy communities in the

Soviet Union 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 ...

. The film series was revived fifteen years later with a new production as well as a TV series. Volontir worked at the ''Vasile Alecsandri Theatre'' in Bălţi, where he was employed as an actor from 1957 until his death in 2015. He was also a supporter of the Romanian identity. 17 September 2015, the day of his funeral, was declared a day of National Mourning in Moldova.

Filmography

Awards

Order of the Republic (Moldova) The Order of the Republic () is Moldova's highest Order (decoration), order. It is awarded by the President of Moldova for exceptional merits in all fields which benefit Moldova and humanity as a whole. The order was established in July 1992 and i ...

Vasilyev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR The Vasilyev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR was an annual State Prize established by the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic) in 1965. Three Vasilyev Brothers prizes were awarded annually from 1966 unti ...

(1980) *

(1984)

References

External links

*
Volontir biography and photos
1934 births 2015 deaths People from Șoldănești District Moldovan MPs 1990–1994 Moldovan male stage actors Moldovan male film actors People's Artists of the USSR People's Artists of the Moldavian SSR Recipients of the Moldavian SSR State Prize Recipients of the Vasilyev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR Recipients of the Order of the Republic (Moldova) Burials at Chișinău Central Cemetery {{Moldova-politician-stub

Biography

Filmography

Awards

See also

References

External links