Biography
Mikhail Ivanovich Zharov (1899–1981) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor and director. He trained under Theodore Komisarjevsky and appeared in early films including Aelita (1924). From 1938 he was a leading member of the Maly Theatre in Moscow, where he remained for the rest of his career and performed many classical roles.
Zharov gained prominence in sound films with his performance as Zhigan in Road to Life (1931). He played Prince Menshikov in Vladimir Petrov’s Peter the Great (1937–1938) and Czar’s Guard Malyuta Skuratov in Sergei Eisenstein’s Ivan the Terrible, Part I (1944) and Part II (1958). He also directed several films and later appeared in the television series The Village Detective (1968) and its sequels as the village militiaman Aniskin.
Zharov received the title of People’s Artist of the USSR in 1949 and was named a Hero of Socialist Labour in 1974. He was awarded three Stalin Prizes.
