Nikolai Boyarsky was a Russian character actor known as Kozlevich in
the popular comedy
The Golden Calf (1968), and as
leading stage actor with the Theatre of Komissarzhevskoi in St.
Petersburg, Russia.
He was born Nikolai Aleksandrovich Boyarsky on 10 December 1922, in St.
Petersburg, Russia. His father, Aleksandr Boyarsky, was a priest of
Russian Orthodox Church who was executed by the communists during the
Great Purge of 1937 under the dictatorship of
Joseph Stalin. Young Nikolai Boyarsky was
fond of theatre, he followed his elder brother,
Sergey Boyarskiy. From 1940 to 1941 he
studied acting at the Leningrad Institute of Theatre and Cinema, but
his studies were interrupted by WWII. Nikolai Boyarsky was drafted in
the Red Army and served for four years fighting in the front-lines
against the Nazis. During the war, he was taken by the Nazi forces and
was kept as a POW, but he managed to escape and survived. He was
wounded in the battle, but survived again and made it to the Victory
day. He received numerous decorations for his courage. After the end of
WWII, Nikolai Boyarsky returned to Leningrad. There, in 1945, he
married actress
Lidiya Shtykan who
survived the Siege of Leningrad.
From 1948 to 1988 Nikolai Boyarsky was a permanent member of the troupe
at the Theatre of Komissarzhevskoi in Leningrad/St. Petersburg. There
his stage partners were such actors as
Galina Korotkevich,
Ivan Dmitriev,
Tamara Abrosimova,
Natalya Chetverikova,
Elena Safonova, Valentina Chemberg,
Tatyana Samarina,
Aleksandr Galibin, Yefim Kamenetsky,
Mikhail Khrabrov, Georgi Korolchuk,
Stanislav Landgraf,
Sergey Boyarskiy,
Vladimir Osobik, Boris Sokolov, Ivan Krasko,
Pyotr Shelokhonov, and other notable
Russian actors. His most memorable stage appearances were as Zakhar in
"Oblomov" and as Levan in "Esli b nebo bylo zerkalom" among other stage
works.
He made his film debut as King Karl II of Spain in
Don Sezar de Bazan (1957).
In the course of his acting career, Nikolai Boyarsky played over 30
characters in film and on television. He worked with such directors as
Pavel Kadochnikov, Mikhail Shapiro,
Aleksandr Belinsky, Mikhail
Shveitser, Vladimir Vengerov,
Aleksandr Rou, Aleksandr Proshkin,
Sergey Bondarchuk, and others. Nikolai
Boyarsky was regarded for his presence and effortless style. He was
designated People's Artist of Russia. He died on 7 October 1988, and
was laid to rest in Komarovo cemetery near St. Petersburg, Russia.
Zhizn Klima Samgina(1988)as Varvara's stepfather, Varvara's stepfather (1986)
Mikhaylo Lomonosov(1986)
Rus iznachalnaya(1986)
Protivostoyanie(1985)as Fyodor Vasilyevich Varentsov
Sopernitsy(1985)as Sergey Pavlovskiy