Biography
Vladimir Kashpur was a Russian actor affiliated with the Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT).
Born Vladimir Terentevich Kashpur on October 26, 1926, in Severka village, Altai province, Soviet Union (now Russia), he served as a pilot-navigator in the Red Army during World War II. From 1946 to 1949, he worked as an officer in military air traffic control. During his military service, Kashpur also participated in amateur acting. Between 1951 and 1955, he performed at the Lunacharsky Drama Theatre in Vladimir, Russia. From 1956 to 1959, he studied acting under Viktor Stanitsyn at the Moscow Art Theatre School of Acting, graduating alongside classmates such as Anatoliy Romashin, Albert Filozov, Aleksandr Lazarev, and Evgeniy Lazarev.
From 1959 to 1961, Kashpur was part of the Sovremennik Theatre troupe in Moscow, sharing the stage with actors like Oleg Efremov, Evgeniy Evstigneev, Galina Volchek, Stanislav Lyubshin, Andrey Myagkov, Viktor Sergachyov, Alla Pokrovskaya, Oleg Tabakov, Oleg Dal, Igor Kvasha, and Valentin Gaft.
Beginning in 1961, Vladimir Kashpur became a permanent member of the Moscow Art Theatre troupe. There, he performed alongside renowned Russian actors including Anatoli Ktorov, Olga Androvskaya, Angelina Stepanova, Mikhail Yanshin, Aleksey Gribov, Boris Livanov, Mikhail Kedrov, Mark Prudkin, Anastasiya Georgievskaya, Vasili Toporkov, Mikhail Bolduman, Pavel Massalsky, as well as the next generation of MKhAT actors such as Oleg Efremov, Tatyana Doronina, Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy, Oleg Tabakov, Kristina Babushkina, Alla Pokrovskaya, Kira Golovko, Tatyana Lavrova, Iya Savvina, Nina Gulyaeva, Elena Panova, Darya Moroz, Olga Litvinova, Natalya Rogozhkina, Ekaterina Semyonova, Olga Yakovleva, Anastasiya Voznesenskaya, Irina Miroshnichenko, Evgeniya Dobrovolskaya, Andrey Myagkov, Stanislav Lyubshin, Viktor Sergachyov, Vyacheslav Nevinnyy, Evgeniy Kindinov, Sergei Sosnovsky, Vladimir Krasnov, Dmitriy Nazarov, Sergey Sazontev, Avangard Leontev, Igor Vasilev, Igor Vernik, Aleksei Agapov, Mikhail Porechenkov, Konstantin Khabenskiy, Valeri Khlevinsky, Valeriy Troshin, Mikhail Trukhin, Eduard Chekmazov, Aleksey Kravchenko, and Evgeniy Mironov. Among his most notable stage roles were Firs in Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard and Marmeladov in Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. Kashpur also co-starred as Zakhar in Oblomov, an adaptation of Ivan Goncharov's novel, directed by Aleksandr Galibin.
Vladimir Kashpur was honored as a People's Artist of Russia. He passed away on October 17, 2009, and was buried in Dolgoprudny cemetery near Moscow. He is survived by his son, Aleksei Kashpur, and his wife, Lyudmila Kashpur, a medical doctor.
