Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy
Born: 1946-07-23 in Rostov-na-Donu, Rostovskaya oblast, RSFSR, USSR
Died: 1995-12-03
Known For: Acting
Biography
Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy (23 July 1946 — 2 December 1995) was a Soviet actor and film director. His best known roles are in films such as Stalker, At Home Among Strangers, and The Bodyguard. Prior to pursuing an acting career, Kaydanovskiy attended technical college where he trained to become a welder. In 1965 he started studying acting at The Rostov Theatre School and the Shchukin theatrical school in Moscow. Before completing the course he took his first part in the film The Mysterious Wall and upon graduation in 1969, he worked as stage actor, making his debut at the Vakhtangov Theatre in 1969. In 1971, he was invited to join the prestigious Moscow Arts Theatre, a rare privilege for a 25-year-old graduate. He made his major film debut in At Home Among Strangers, and over the next few years appeared in some two dozen films, including the satirical comedy Diamonds for Dictatorship of the Proletariat and The Life of Beethoven. At his peak in the '70s Kaidanovsky was among the USSR’s most popular actors, and it was at this point that famed Soviet director Andrei Tarkovsky, impressed by the looks and the acting technique of Kaidanovsky in Diamonds, invited him to play the title role in his new film, Stalker. The role earned Kaydanovskiy international acclaim. In 1985 he directed A Simple Death, which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. In 1993 he directed Just Death, which was about the death of Leo Tolstoy.
Filmography
1996
- The Arrival of a Train
- Secrets Shared with a Stranger as Kriouchoff
1994
- Magic Hunter as Maxim
1993
- To Remember as Himself - archiveFootage
- Tear of the Prince of Darkness
- The Devil's Breath as Damian
1992
- The Dream of a Ridiculous Man as Narrator (voice)
- Parajanov: The Last Spring as Himself, Tarkovsky's actor
1989
- Kerosene Salesman's Wife ... (Director)
1988
- New Adventures of a Yankee in King Arthur's Court as Sir Lancelot
- The Pass as Narrator (voice)
1987
- Ten Little Indians as Philip Lombard
- The Theater Is My House as А. Н. Островский
- Khareba and Gogia as Vokhovski
- The Guest ... (Writer)
1985
- Two Tickets to India
- Contract
- A Simple Death ... (Director)
1984
- Jonah, or the Artist at Work ... (Director)
1983
- The Garden ... (Director)
1981
- And I'm With You Again...
- Fact as Stanislav
1980
- The Return
- Story of an Unknown Man
- The Rescuer as Николай Вараксин
- Rafferty as Эймс
1979
- Stalker as Stalker
- The Bodyguard as Mirzo
- Pilot Pirx's Inquest as Nowak
1978
1977
- Forward March, Time! as Reading poem (voice)
- That Was in Kokand as поручик Зайченко
- Golden River as бывший царский офицер Кирилл Зимин
1976
- Diamonds for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat as Vorontsov
- My Calling
- The Importance of Being Earnest as Джон Уортинг
- Fiery Bridge
1975
- The Lost Expedition as Кирилл Петрович Зимин (бывший царский офицер)
- Under the Roofs of Montmartre
- Going My Way
1974
- Vanyushin's Kids as Костя
- At Home Among Strangers, a Stranger Among His Own as Lemke
1973
- Failure of Engineer Garin as Wolf
- Failure of Engineer Garin as Вольф
1972
- Past and Thoughts as Виссарион Белинский
- The Gambler
- The Mathematician and the Devil as Черт
- The Fourth
1971
- Investigation Held by ZnaToKi as Борис Миркин - скупщик золота
- Hound of the Baskervilles as Jack Stapleton
- And There Was Evening, And There Was Morning
- Hound of the Baskervilles as Джэк Стэплтон
- The Fifteenth Spring as Messenger
1970
- Drama on the Hunt as Граф Карнеев
- A Quiet Day at the End of the War as Sergeant
1967
- Anna Karenina as Jules Landeau
- The Mysterious Wall