Biography
Mikhail Tsarev was a Russian stage actor and director of Maly Theatre in Moscow, best known for his acclaimed renditions of poems by Aleksandr Pushkin as well as his mastery of Russian language and powerful delivery. He was a long time Chairman of the Russia's Theatrical Society (the Actors Union of Russia) and was president of the Soviet National Center of the International Theater Institute.
He was born Mikhail Ivanovich Tsarev on December 1, 1903, in Tver, Russia. His father, Ivan Izotovich, was a medical nurse at Tver Hospital. In 1908 , then 5-year-old Tsarev moved with his father to Tallinn, Estonia. There, from 1911 to 1917 he attended the Revelsky Classical Gymnasium. In 1917, during the First World War, the Tsarevs fled from the advancing German armies and moved to St. Petersburg (then called Petrograd, then Leningrad). There his father was assigned to a Railroad Hospital in Tsarskoe Selo suburb of St. Petersburg, and the family lived in a house near the Imperial Pavilion railroad station. On August 14, 1917, young Tsarev witnessed the arrested Tsar Nicholas II and the Russian royal family departure to exile in Siberia.
From 1917 to 1919, Tsarev attended the Tsarskoselsky Gymnasium, the famous school which was associated with many important names of Russian culture and science. There Tsarev caught the acting bug and became involved in the student drama club. He was fond of Russian literature, especially in the poetry of Aleksandr Pushkin. At that time, student Tsarev made his first solo stage performances delivering Pushkin's poems and prose, and after that, Pushkin's poetry became the staple of Tsarev's repertoire, and brought him much public success with his numerous stage and radio performances.
From 1919 to 1921 Mikhail Tsarev studied acting under Yuri Yuryev at the School of Russia Drama in St. Petersburg (Petrograd), graduating in 1921 as an actor. From 1920 to 1926 he was member of the troupe at Bolshoi Drama Theatre (BDT) in Leningrad, where his partner was Yuri Lavrov and other notable actors of Leningrad. In the early 1930s he worked in various Moscow theatres under such directors as Aleksandr Tairov, and from 1933-1937 he was member of the troupe under director Vsevolod Meyerhold. In 1932, Tsarev made his film debut in 'Pobediteli nochi' by directors Adolf Minkin and Igor Sorokhtin, albeit the film was destroyed.
From 1937 to 1987, he was permanent member of the troupe at Maly Thatre in Moscow. There he worked on stage with such actors as Vera Pashennaya, Olga Sadovskaya, Nikolai Annenkov, A. Yablochkina, Varvara Massalitinova, Varvara Ryzhova, Yevdokiya Turchaninova, Yelena Gogoleva, Varvara Obukhova, Yelena Shatrova, Elina Bystritskaya, Rufina Nifontova, Tatyana Eremeeva, Aleksandr Yuzhin, Aleksandr Ostuzhev, Vladimir Davydov, Sergei Aidarov, Stepan Kuznetsov, Prov Sadovsky, Boris Ravenskikh, Boris Babochkin, Mikhail Zharov, Igor Ilyinsky, Pavel Olenev, Mikhail Sadovsky, Konstantin Zubov, Viktor Khokhryakov, Vsevolod Aksyonov, Nikolai Ryzhov, Evgeniy Vesnik, Viktor Korshunov, Evgeniy Samoylov, Yuriy Solomin, and many other notable Russian actors.
Mikhail Tsarev was best known for his performances in classical Russia dramas, such as the leading role as Chatsky in A. Griboedov's 'Woe From Wit' which was captured on film as Gore ot uma (1952) by director Sergei Alekseyev. From 1950 - 1988, Tsarev was artistic director of the Maly Theatre. He was designated People's Actor of the USSR, was twice awarded the State Prize of the USSR, and was three times decorated with the Order of Lenin, as well as numerous other order and medals of Russia and the USSR. Mikhail Tsarev died on November 10, 1987, and was laid to rest in Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, Russia. His obituary was signed by Mikhail Gorbachev.
