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Boris Smirnov was a Russian actor of Moscow Art Theatre also known for his film role as Prince Vasili Kuragin in War and Peace (1965).
He was born Boris Aleksandrovich Smirnov, on October 26, 1908, in St. Petersburg, Russia. From 1925 to 1929 he studied acting at Leningrad Institute of Theatrical Arts, graduating in 1929 as actor. From 1929 to 1950 he was member of several stage companies in Leningrad, such as Theatre of Lensovet and Leningrad Theatre of Comedy. His most memorable stage performances in Leningrad were as Pavel Korchagin in 'Kak zakalyalas stal' and as Hamlet in the Shakespeare's classic play staged at the Theatre of Lensovet.
From 1955 to 1982 Boris Smirnov was a permanent member of Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT). There his stage partners were such renown Russian actors as Alla Tarasova, Anatoli Ktorov, Mark Prudkin, Olga Androvskaya, Anastasiya Georgievskaya, Mikhail Yanshin, Aleksey Gribov, Boris Livanov, Mikhail Kedrov, Viktor Stanitsyn, Angelina Stepanova, Vasili Toporkov, Mikhail Bolduman, Pavel Massalsky, and the next generation of MKhAT actors - Kira Golovko, Iya Savvina, Alla Pokrovskaya, Anastasiya Voznesenskaya, Irina Miroshnichenko, Innokenti Smoktunovsky, Oleg Efremov, Oleg Tabakov, Andrey Myagkov, Vladimir Kashpur, Viktor Sergachyov, Vyacheslav Nevinnyy, Stanislav Lyubshin, Sergey Sazontev, Avangard Leontev, Igor Vasilev, and others.
In the course of his career spanning over 60 years, Smirnov appeared in about 30 film and television productions. During the 50s and 60s he was officially appointed to portray the Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin in four Soviet films and also in three stage plays at Moscow Art Theatre. Ironically, after his portrayals of the iconic Soviet leader, Boris Smirnov was cast as crafty manipulative crook, Prince Vasili Kuragin, in War and Peace (1965) by director Sergey Bondarchuk. He also played leading and supporting roles in stage productions of classic Russian repertoire, such as Paratov in the A. Ostrovsky's play 'Without Dowry', as Ivan Karamazov in stage adaptation of the novel by 'Fyodor Dostoevsky', and as Ivanov in the eponymous play by Anton Chekhov.
Smirnov was designated People's Actor of the USSR (1963). He was awarded Order of Lenin, Order of Revolution, and received other decorations from the Soviet and Russian state. He died on December 19, 1982, in Moscow and was laid to rest in Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, Russia.
