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Pyotr Velyaminov was a Russian character actor best known for his role as Zakhar Bolshakov in the popular 1971 Russian TV series Teni ischezayut v polden.
Born Pyotr Sergeyevich Velyaminov on December 7, 1926, in Moscow, he came from a family of ancient Russian nobility. His father, Sergei Velyaminov, descended from Norwegian royalty who, in 1027, established one of the oldest Russian landed gentry dynasties that later rivaled the Romanovs for the Russian czarist throne. At 16, Pyotr was arrested for anti-Soviet activities and spent 10 years in GULAG labor camps during Joseph Stalin's dictatorship. Meanwhile, his father fought bravely in WWII against the Nazis and was decorated for valor, but was also arrested and imprisoned after the war. The father and son reunited only after Stalin's death. Due to Soviet restrictions, Pyotr was confined to Siberia, where he began acting in prisoner stage productions. He eventually became a professional actor, performing with several troupes across Russia, including the Dzerzhinsk City Drama Theatre in the 1950s, Novocherkassk Drama Theatre (1962-1963), and companies in Cheboksary and Ivanovo, before securing a steady position at the Sverdlovsk Drama Theatre in 1970. There, directors Valeriy Uskov and Vladimir Krasnopolskiy noticed him and cast him as Bolshakov in Teni ischezayut v polden.
Despite lacking formal acting education, Velyaminov portrayed over two hundred roles across stage, film, and television during a career spanning more than five decades. From 1974 to 1994, he was part of the Moscow Studio of Film Actors, and from 1995 to 2009, he was a troupe member at the Theatre of Comedy in St. Petersburg.
He was honored as a People's Artist of Russia in 1985 and received the USSR State Prize in 1978. Additionally, he was a respected professor of acting at the Baltic Institute in St. Petersburg. Pyotr Velyaminov passed away from pneumonia and heart failure on June 14, 2009, in St. Petersburg. He was buried in the Necropolis of Masters of Art "Literatorskie Mostki" at Volkovo Cemetery in St. Petersburg. He is survived by his son, Sergei Velyaminov, who is also an actor.
