Andrei Alexandrowitsch Mironow

Andrei Mironov as Ostap Bender in the 1976 TV version of The Twelve Chairs.

Andrei Alexandrovich Mironov (Андрей Алексадрович Миронов; March 8 1941 – August 16 1987) was a much loved and respected Russian film actor who played lead roles in some of the most popular Soviet films, such as The Diamond Arm, Watch Out for the Car and Unbelievable Adventures of Italians in Russia. Mironov was also a popular singer.

Andrei Mironov's parents were known nationwide as a comedic duo. His Jewish father was Alexander Semenovich Menaker, and his mother, Maria Mironova, rose to become People's Artist of the USSR in 1990.

Career

Mironov studied in the Vakhtangov Theatre School during the early 1950s. From 1958-1962 he studied acting at the Moscow Shchukin School. From 18 June 1962-1987 Mironov was a permanent member of the trope at the Moscow Theatre of Satire. In 1962, he acted in his first film, What If This Is Love? On 18 December, 1980 he was awarded the title of People's Artist of the RSFSR.

Andrei Mironov is known and loved for his roles in films made by Eldar Ryazanov, Leonid Gaidai, Mark Zakharov, and other directors. He had a wide comedic range and played diverse roles (e.g. a Soviet bureaucrat, Figaro, a romantic spy, a member of the Russian intelligentsia, a con man, an American movie pioneer, a tale-teller, etc.).

On one of his tours through Latvia in 1987, he lost consciousness while performing the lead role in The Marriage of Figaro. He was driven to a hospital where two days later he was pronounced dead on August 16th, only nine days after the passing of his close friend and frequent co-star Anatoli Papanov. The cause of his death was excessive internal bleeding due a bursting of a congenital cerebral aneurism.

Personal

Andrei Mironov was married twice. First to Yekaterina Gradova (Ekaterina Gradova), with whom he had one daughter, Maria Mironova, and second to Larisa Golubkina, a singer and actress best known for her role of the hussar maiden in Hussar Ballad. His daughter, Maria Mironova from his first marriage and his adopted daughter Maria Golubkina (from his marriage with Larisa) had successful careers in Russian cinema. M. Mironova's recent roles include the wife of the chief protagonist in the blockbuster Night Watch (2004) and Day Watch (2006).