Biography
Vasili Merkuryev (also credited as Vasiliy Merkurev) was a Soviet actor, theatre director and pedagogue. Born on 6 April 1904 in Ostrov, Pskov Governorate, Russian Empire, he graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Theatrical Art in 1926 and began his stage career in the 1920s. From 1937 until his death he was a leading actor and director at the Alexandrinsky Theatre (Pushkin Drama Theatre) in Leningrad.
Merkuryev appeared in more than 40 films between 1935 and 1974. He is known for his roles as the forester in Cinderella (1947), Fyodor Ivanovich in The Cranes Are Flying (1957) and Academician Blagovidov in Moscow-Cassiopeia (1974). He received the title People's Artist of the USSR in 1960 and was awarded the State Prize of the USSR three times.
He died on 12 May 1978 in Leningrad.
