Oleg Yankovsky | Star Russian actor, 65
Oleg Yankovsky, 65, a charismatic and versatile actor who was one of Russia's most beloved stage and screen stars, died Sunday in a Moscow hospital after a battle with cancer, said Yulia Kosareva, spokeswoman for Lenkom, the Moscow theater where the actor worked for decades.
Oleg Yankovsky, 65, a charismatic and versatile actor who was one of Russia's most beloved stage and screen stars, died Sunday in a Moscow hospital after a battle with cancer, said Yulia Kosareva, spokeswoman for Lenkom, the Moscow theater where the actor worked for decades.
His film career spanned five decades and included leading roles in many movies that endure as icons for millions of across the former Soviet Union.
He was little-known in the West, but one of his last roles was as a religious leader and foe of Ivan the Terrible in Russian director Pavel Lungin's film Tsar, screened this month at the Cannes Film Festival.
He also played leading roles in films of the brooding Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky, including Mirror and Nostalgia. - AP