Biography

Mark Anatolyevich Zakharov was born on October 13, 1933, in Moscow, Russia. His father was a Red Army soldier during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1920, and his mother, Galina Sergeevna Zakharova, was an actress. Young Anatoli Zakharov was raised in Moscow. He was inspired by his mother in his persistent efforts to become an actor. He was admitted after several attempts, and graduated from the acting school of the State Theatre Institute (GITIS) in 1955.

Zakharov began his career as an actor and director at the Perm city theatre, then at the amateur student theatre of Moscow State University in the 1950's-1960's. He played bit parts in many classical and contemporary plays and developed an astute vision of the workings and interplay within an ensemble of actors. In 1965 he was invited to direct plays at the Moscow Theatre of Satire. There he became famous after his successful direction of "Dokhodnoe Mesto", a play by Aleksandr Ostrovskiy starring Andrey Mironov. The brilliant and popular play was soon banned by Soviet censorship during the Neo-Stalinist repressions under Leonid Brezhnev. Zakharov did not give up. He soon directed another innovative production of "Razgrom", a play by Aleksandr Fadeyev. The play was almost banned, but a powerful ideologist Mikhail Suslov was invited and liked the play very much. Zakharov was saved.

Beginning in 1973, Zakharov worked as the Artistic Director of the Moscow Lenkom Theatre. There he directed a dazzling array of popular stage plays including "The Seagull" by Anton Chekhov and "Til" by Grigori Gorin. His biggest stage work was the muscle "Yunona i Avos" (Juno and Avos, 1980) by Andrei Voznesensky on the music of Aleksey Rybnikov. It was the first rock-opera in the Soviet Union, starring Nikolay Karachentsov and Aleksandr Abdulov. It had a run of over a thousand stage performances and was made into a video. Another acclaimed production directed by Zakharov was "Pominalnaya molitva" based on the famous story of Tevie the Milkman by Sholom Aleichem. The title role in this play was the last stage work of the brilliant actor Evgeniy Leonov. Now the title role is played by Vladimir Steklov.

Zakharov was known as a remarkable film director. He made such hits as '12 stulev' (1977), 'Obyknovennoe chudo' (1978), 'Tot samy Munkhgausen' (1979) and 'Ubit drakona' (To Kill a Dragon. 1988). Zakharov created a harmonious ensemble of film stars including Aleksandr Abdulov, Nikolai Karachentsov, Andrey Mironov, Evgeniy Leonov, Oleg Yankovsky, Irina Kupchenko, Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Aleksandr Zbruev, as well as many other distinguished Russian actors.

Zakharov was famous for his wit and wisdom. He made news in 1991, when he burned his Communist Party ID card in front of the TV cameras. It was a bod, witty, and risky action. He later commented with humorous regret about his impulsive action. He said that he should have done it by simply leaving his Communist ID card on a table, like the former Russian President Boris Yeltsin.

Zakharov created a stellar ensemble of actors, who are working with him at the Moscow Lenkom Theatre. They include such stars as Inna Churikova, Leonid Bronevoy, Oleg Yankovskiy, Aleksandr Abdulov, Nikolay Karachentsov, Aleksandr Zbruev, Aleksandra Zakharova, Tatyana Kravchenko, Aleksandr Lazarev, Dmitriy Pevtsov, and other actors. He was also a professor of the Moscow Theatre Institute (GITIS).