Anatoly Solonitsyn

Anatoly Solonitsyn
Born
Otto Alekseyevich Solonitsyn

(1934-08-30)30 August 1934
Died11 June 1982(1982-06-11) (aged 47)
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
OccupationActor
Years active1960–1982
AwardsSilver Bear

Anatoly (Otto) Alekseyevich Solonitsyn (Russian: Анатолий (Отто) Алексеевич Солоницын; 30 August 1934 – 11 June 1982) was a Soviet actor known for his roles in Andrei Tarkovsky's films.[1] He won the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 31st Berlin International Film Festival.

Film career[edit]

Solonitsyn was born in Bogorodsk. At birth, he was named Otto, after polar explorer Otto Schmidt.

His debut in cinema was in the Sverdlovsk Film Studio's short film The Case of Kurt Clausewitz (1963), directed by Gleb Panfilov. Solonitsyn is best known in the west for his roles in several of Andrei Tarkovsky's films, including Dr. Sartorius in Solaris (1972), the Writer in Stalker (1979), the physician in Mirror (1975), and the title role in Andrei Rublev (1966).

In his book Sculpting in Time, Tarkovsky calls him his favorite actor,[2] and writes that Solonitsyn was intended to play the lead roles in each of his films Nostalghia (1983) and The Sacrifice (1986), but the actor died before their production. Tarkovsky admired Solonitsyn's ability to fully embody the ideas of the director. When Tarkovsky was considering making a film adaptation of Dostoevsky's famous novel The Idiot, Solonitsyn was even ready to do the plastic surgery to look more like the great Russian writer.[3]

In the former Soviet Union he is also well known for his roles in At Home Among Strangers (1974), The Train Has Stopped (1982), and many others.

Awards[edit]

In 1981, he won the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 31st Berlin International Film Festival for his role in Aleksandr Zarkhi's film Twenty Six Days from the Life of Dostoyevsky.[4] The same year, he was given the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR.

Death[edit]

Solonitsyn died from lung cancer in 1982, at the age of 47. Allegedly, according to Viktor Sharun, the sound editor on Stalker, Solonitsyn, Tarkovsky and Larisa Tarkovskaya became ill due to exposure to toxic chemicals during filming on the location of the movie.[5][unreliable source?]

Filmography[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1966 Andrei Rublev Andrei Rublev
1968 No Path Through Fire Ivan Yevstryukov
1971 Trial on the Road Major Igor Leonidovich Petushkov
1972 Grandmaster Sergey's father
1972 The Love of Mankind Dmitry Andreyevich Kalmykov
1972 The Prince and the Pauper Lord Saint John
1972 Solaris Dr. Sartorius, astrobiologist
1974 Agony Baroness' husband, colonel Released in 1981
1974 At Home Among Strangers Vasily Antonovich Sarychev
1974 Under en steinhimmel Hofmeyer, German colonel
1975 Mirror Forensic doctor, the passerby
1975 Trust Alexander Shotman
1976 The Ascent Pavel Gavrilovich Portnov, the Nazi interrogator
1977 Bag of the Collector Ivan Timofeyevich
1978 The Turning Point Konstantin Korolyov
1979 The Bodyguard Sultan-Nazar
1979 Stalker Writer
1980 Life on Holidays Tolik Chikin
1980 Twenty Six Days from the Life of Dostoyevsky Fyodor Dostoevsky
1981 Muzhiki! Pyotr the painter, Pavlik's father
1982 The Train Has Stopped Igor Malinin, journalist Final film role

References[edit]

  1. ^ Peter Rollberg (2016). Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema. US: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 703–704. ISBN 978-1442268425.
  2. ^ "Tarkovsky's favorite actor – Anatoly Solonitsyn". latgale.academy. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  3. ^ "«Выпил у меня всю кровь»: трагедия любимого актера Тарковского". gazeta.ru. 30 August 2019.
  4. ^ "Berlinale 1981: Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
  5. ^ "Greeninteger blog". 25 January 2010. Retrieved 15 August 2011.

External links[edit]