Sergei Bondarchuk

Sergei Fedorovich Bondarchuk (Russian pronunciation: [sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈfʲɵdərəvʲɪtɕ bəndɐrˈtɕuk]; Russian: Серге́й Фё́дорович Бондарчу́к; Ukrainian: Сергі́й Фе́дорович Бондарчу́к, Serhiy Fedorovych Bondarchuk; 25 September 1920 – 20 October 1994) was a Soviet film director, screenwriter and actor.

Biography

Born in Belozerka, in the Kherson Governorate of the Ukrainian SSR, Sergei Bondarchuk spent his childhood in the cities of Yeysk and Taganrog, graduating from the Taganrog School Number 4 in 1938. His first performance as an actor was onstage of the Taganrog Theatre in 1937. He continued studies in the Rostov-on-Don theater school (1938–1942). After his studies, he was conscripted into the Red Army against Nazi Germany and was discharged in 1946.

At the age of 32, he became the youngest Soviet actor ever to receive the top dignity of People's Artist of the USSR. In 1955, he starred with future wife Irina Skobtseva in Othello and after four years, they married. He was previously married to Inna Makarova, mother to his elder daughter. In 1959 he made his directorial debut with Destiny of a Man, based on the Mikhail Sholokhov short story of the same name.