Mark Prudkin was an actor of Moscow Art Theatre, who refused to work in
film for 40 years, believing that acting on stage is a superior form of
art.
He was born Mark Isaakovich Prudkin on September 14, 1898, in Klin,
Russian Empire. His father, Isaac Prudkin, was a tailor in Klin. From
1918 - 1924 Prudkin studied acting at 2nd Studio of Moscow Art Theatre.
In 1924 he was invited by
Konstantin Stanislavski to join
the company of Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT).
In 1927 Prudkin made his film debut as cameo in a silent movie
Man from the Restaurant (1927)
by director
Yakov Protazanov, then
appeared as Officer in
Sedmoy sputnik (1927). For the
next 40 years Prudkin refused to work in movies; he even rejected the
offer from
Grigoriy Kozintsev to star
as King Lear in the famous adaptation of the Shakespeare's play.
However, in 1969 Prudkin appeared as father Fedor Karamazov in
The Brothers Karamazov (1969), an
Academy Award-nominated film by directors
Ivan Pyrev,
Kirill Lavrov, and
Mikhail Ulyanov.
From 1924 to 1994 Mark Prudkin was a permanent member of the troupe at
Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT). There his stage partners were such renown
Russian actors as
Alla Tarasova,
Anatoli Ktorov,
Olga Androvskaya,
Angelina Stepanova,
Nikolay Khmelyov,
Mikhail Yanshin,
Aleksey Gribov,
Boris Livanov,
Mikhail Kedrov,
Viktor Stanitsyn,
Anastasiya Georgievskaya,
Vasili Toporkov,
Mikhail Bolduman,
Pavel Massalsky, and the next generation
of MKhAT actors -
Kira Golovko,
Iya Savvina,
Alla Pokrovskaya,
Anastasiya Voznesenskaya,
Irina Miroshnichenko,
Oleg Tabakov,
Andrey Myagkov,
Vladimir Kashpur,
Viktor Sergachyov,
Vyacheslav Nevinnyy,
Stanislav Lyubshin,
Sergey Sazontev,
Avangard Leontev,
Igor Vasilev, and others. Prudkin's
acting career spanned 70 years, and he was a member of the board at
Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT).
Mark Prudkin received Stalin's Prize three times (1946, 1947, 1949),
and was designated People's Actor of the USSR. He died of a heart
failure, on 25 September 1994, in Moscow, and was laid to rest in
Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, Russia.
Osenniy veter(1986)as Georges
Zateryannye v peskakh(1984)as Old Man
Blondinka za uglom(1984)as Gavrila Maksimovich, Nikolay's father
Dve glavy iz semeynoy khroniki(1983)as Gammer
Chekhovskiye stranitsy(1977)as Vasil Vasilich Svetlovidov
