Biographie
Ivan Dmitriyev, born Ivan Petrovich Dmitriyev on July 30, 1915, in Vyshny Volochiok, Tver Province, Russia, was a renowned Russian character actor best known for his role as Gorelov in the 1956 criminal drama Krutye gorki, directed by Nikolai Rozantsev.
From 1932 to 1936, he studied acting under the esteemed Yuri Yuriev at the Leningrad Institute of Theatre, Music, and Cinematography, graduating with honors. In 1936, he made his stage debut in Lermontov's Masquerade, directed by Vsevolod Meyerhold.
Dmitriyev enjoyed a distinguished stage career, working with various Leningrad theaters including the Theatre of Comedy and Theatre of the Baltic Fleet. Between 1948 and 1973, he was a leading actor and permanent member of the Theatre of Komissarzhevskoi in St. Petersburg. There, he performed alongside notable actors such as Alisa Freyndlikh, Galina Korotkevich, Ivan Krasko, Vladimir Chestnokov, Valentina Chemberg, Tamara Abrosimova, Natalya Chetverikova, Tatyana Samarina, Sergey Boyarskiy, Nikolay Boyarskiy, Yefim Kamenetsky, Mikhail Khrabrov, Stanislav Landgraf, Georgiy Korolchuk, Vladimir Osobik, Boris Sokolov, and Peter Shelokhonov. He appeared in a range of classic and contemporary plays under directors including Leonid Vivyen, Aleksandr Belinsky, Zinovi Korogodsky, Igor Vladimirov, and Ruben Agamirzyan.
From 1974 until 2000, Dmitriyev was a leading actor and permanent troupe member at the Pushkin Drama Theatre in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), where he shared the stage with distinguished actors such as Nikolay Cherkasov, Nikolai Simonov, Vasiliy Merkurev, Konstantin Skorobogatov, Yuriy Tolubeev, Aleksandr Borisov, Bruno Frejndlikh, Vladimir Chestnokov, Vladimir Erenberg, Konstantin Adashevsky, Leonid Vivyen, Olga Lebzak, Nina Mamaeva, Lidiya Shtykan, Nina Urgant, and Igor Gorbachyov. His most acclaimed performance there was as Satin in Maxim Gorky’s The Lower Depths. Besides his role in Krutye gorki, Dmitriyev also held notable supporting roles such as Starpom in Striped Trip (1961) and Varentsov in the criminal drama Menya eto ne kasaetsya (1976), directed by Gerbert Rappaport.
In recognition of his contributions, Ivan Dmitriyev was honored as People's Artist of the USSR in 1980. He also served as a professor of acting at the Institute of Theatre, Music, and Cinematography. He passed away from heart failure on October 23, 2003, in St. Petersburg and was buried at the Necropolis of Masters of Art "Literatorskie Mostki" within the Volkovo Cemetery in St. Petersburg, Russia.
