Vladimir Troshin

Vladimir Troshin was a Russian singer and actor known for his lyrical interpretation of the popular song 'Moscow nights'.

He was born Vladimir Konstantinovich Troshin on May 15, 1926, in Mikhailovsky, Sverdlovsk province, Russia, USSR. He was the tenth child in a working class family. Young Troshin was fond of music and singing, he played balalaika and harmonica. In 1943 Troshin was accepted to acting school of the Moscow Art Theatre, where his classmates were Vladimir Druzhnikov, Mikhail Pugovkin, Vladlen Davydov, and Yevgeniya Khanayeva among others. He studied acting under Maria Knebel and Vasili Toporkov, and singing under Natalia M. Kupriyanova, graduating in 1947 as actor.

From 1947 to 1988 Troshin was a permanent member of the troupe at Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT). There his stage partners were such renown Russian actors as Anatoli Ktorov, Olga Androvskaya, Angelina Stepanova, Irina Gosheva, Dmitri Orlov, Mikhail Yanshin, Aleksey Gribov, Boris Livanov, Mikhail Kedrov, Mark Prudkin, Anastasiya Georgievskaya, Vasili Toporkov, Mikhail Bolduman, Pavel Massalsky, Sergei Blinnikov, and the next generation of MKhAT actors - Oleg Efremov, Evgeniy Evstigneev, Tatyana Doronina, Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy, Oleg Tabakov, Alla Pokrovskaya, Kira Golovko, Tatyana Lavrova, Iya Savvina, Nina Gulyaeva, Anastasiya Voznesenskaya, Irina Miroshnichenko, Andrey Myagkov, Stanislav Lyubshin, Viktor Sergachyov, Vyacheslav Nevinnyy, Evgeniy Kindinov, Sergey Sazontev, Avangard Leontev, and Igor Vasilev, among others.

In 1955 Troshin appeared as jester Feste in Dvenadtsataya Noch (aka.. Twelfth Night), a Soviet adaptation of the eponymous play by William Shakespeare. In that show Troshin sang nine songs by composer Eduard Kolmanovskiy. In 1956 he became the first performer of 'Podmoskovnye vechera' by composer Vasiliy Solovev-Sedoy to the lyrics of Mikhail Matusovsky. The song became known to the world as 'Moscow Nights' after the 1957 Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow. Eventually Troshin swapped acting for singing, and became one of the most recognized singers in the Soviet Union. He performed songs by such composers as Vasiliy Solovev-Sedoy, Aleksandra Pakhmutova, Nikita Bogoslovskiy, Oskar Feltsman, Aleksandr Tsfasman, Mark Fradkin, Matvey Blanter, and Arno Babadzhanyan among others. Troshin's song list included over two thousand song titles that he performed in over 700 live and studio recordings. His singing career in the USSR and Russia spanned over 50 years.

Troshin also had a film career as a character actor in Soviet and Russian film and television productions. He portrayed such figures as Sir Winston Churchill, Marshall Klim Voroshilov, and Mikhail Gorbachev. Troshin made a reputation for dubbing numerous international stars in more than 70 films released on the Soviet and Russian market, such as Gérard Philippe in the popular film 'Fan-Fan the Tulip' (1952). He also performed for Marlene Dietrich during her visit to Moscow.

Vladimir Troshin received numerous awards and decorations from the Soviet State including the State Stalin's Prize (1950), and was designated People's Actor of Russia (1984). He was married to ballerina Raisa Troshina, and the couple had one son. Vladimir Troshin died of a heart failure on February 25, 2008, and was laid to rest in Troekurovskoe cemetery in Moscow, Russia.