Biografia
Igor Gorbachyov was a popular Russian actor best known as Chichikov in stage and film productions of "Revizor" (The Inspector-General) based on the novel by Nikolay Gogol.
He was born Igor Olegovich Gorbachyov on October 20, 1927, in Leningrad, USSR (now St. Petersburg, Russia). His father was an engineer; his mother was a teacher of French literature. Young Igor Gorbachyov survived the siege of Leningrad during the Nazi occupation in the Second World War. After the war, he struggled to overcome the traumatic experience he suffered during the Nazi bombardments and aerial attacks. From 1944-47 he studied psychology at Leningrad University. There he joined a student theatre and made a successful performance in the title role in "Revizor" (The Inspector-General) by Nikolay Gogol. He was invited to transfer to the Institute of Theatre, Music, and Cinematography, from which he graduated with honors in 1951. That same year he was cast in the leading role in The Inspector-General (1952), a film that made him famous.
Igor Gorbachyov had a stellar career as a stage actor. From 1951-1954 he was an actor at Bolshoi Drama Theatre (BDT) in Leningrad. From 1954-1992 he was a permanent member of the troupe and the leading actor of the Pushkin Drama Theatre in Leningrad (St. Petersburg). There his stage partners were such remarkable actors as Nikolay Cherkasov, Nikolai Simonov, Vasiliy Merkurev, Konstantin Skorobogatov, Yuriy Tolubeev, Galina Karelina, Aleksandr Borisov, Bruno Frejndlikh, Rem Lebedev, Vladimir Chestnokov, Vladimir Erenberg, Konstantin Adashevsky, Leonid Vivyen, Olga Lebzak, Nina Mamaeva, Lidiya Shtykan, Nina Urgant, Nikolay Marton, Ivan Dmitriev, Sergei Parshin, and other notable Russian actors.
Igor Gorbachyov was Artistic Director of Pushkin (Alexandrinsky) Drama Theatre in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) from 1975-1992. He was awarded the State Prize of the USSR (1973) for his stage work. He was designated the People's Artis of the USSR (1977), decorated with the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and received many other awards and decorations from the state of USSR. He was a professor of the Institute of Theatre, Music, and Cinematography in Leningrad (St. Petersburg). His best students were Aristarkh Livanov, Igor Livanov, Nikolay Fomenko, and other notable Russian actors.
In 1992, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Igor Gorbachyov was confronted by Anatoli Sobchak, mayor of St. Petersburg. Sobchak had a bitter conflict with Igor Gorbachyov and forced the actor to quit his acting job at the Pushkin Drama Theatre. Gorbachyov had a heart attack. After his recovery he limited his work to teaching and playing small roles in movies. He died of a heart failure on February 19, 2003, in St. Petersburg, and was laid to rest in the Necropolis of Masters of Art "Literatorskie Mostki" at Volkovo Cemetery in St. Petersburg, Russia.
