Armen Dzhigarkhanyan

Armen Dzhigarkhanyan was born in Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union on 3 October 1935. His paternal grandfather, a "professional tamada", came from an Armenian family from Tbilisi, Georgia's capital. He graduated from a Russian high school named after Anton Chekhov. Between 1953 and 1954, he worked as camera operator's assistant at the state-run Hayfilm studio. ==Career==

Theater Actor In 1955, Dzhigarkhanyan was admitted to the Sundukyan State Academic Theatre. He studied in director Armen Gulakyan's (hy, ru) class until 1958. By the early 1970s, Dzhigarkhanyan had become one of the most popular Soviet film actor who appeared in more than 200 roles, covering all genres from situational comedy to historical adventure, psychological drama, thriller, and quality literary adaptation, moving effortlessly from trivial entertainment to sophisticated art. In the five-part TV miniseries The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed (1979), starring all-time favorite Vladimir Vysotsky, Dzhigarkhanyan played a thief in law, which made him more popular to the general Soviet public. He also appeared in a leading role in the joint Soviet-French Teheran 43 (1981) alongside Claude Jade as his mysterious young mistress and Curd Jürgens as his lawyer. • На экране им созданы в этот период такие значительные роли, как горбатый Карп (Место встречи изменить нельзя), Фарричетти (Рафферти), Варавка (Жизнь Клима Самгина), Казарин (Маскарад), Макс Ришар (Тегеран-43), Гаук (Рецепт ее молодости). Почти одновременно на экране и на сцене артист создает образ Менделя Крика в пьесе И.Бабеля Закат. Последней работой Джигарханяна на сцене Театра им. Вл. Маяковского стал Салай Салтаныч (Жертва века по пьесе А.Н.Островского Последняя жертва). ;Armenian • 1973 Տղամարդիկ Ղազարյան • 1975 Երբ գալիս է սեպտեմբերը Լևոն Պողոսյան • 1975 Հարսնացու հյուսիսից Սերոբ • 1977 Խոհարարները եկել են մրցույթի Համո • 1982 Գիքոր բազազ Արտեմ • 1998 Մեր բակը 2 Արմեն Ջիգարխանյան (կամեո) Voice acting Դերակատարումեր է ունեցել բազմաթիվ ռուսական ֆիլմերում և կադրից այն կողմ մարմնավորել է «Սոյուզմուլտֆիլմ» ստուդիայի բազմաթիվ մուլտհերոսների: --> ==Political activity==

In 2001, Dzhigarkhanyan signed a letter in defense of the NTV channel. In 2012, during the presidential elections, Dzhigarkhanyan starred in a video in support of candidate Vladimir Putin; however, contrary to popular belief, he was not Putin’s confidant. In March 2014, Dzhigarkhanyan condemned the annexation of Crimea, said "so far this will not bring us anything good," and refused to sign a letter in support of the annexation. In 2017, Dzhigarkhanyan took part in municipal elections in Gagarinsky District, Moscow, for the United Russia party. According to the voting results, he took 5th place in the three-mandate district and did not receive a deputy mandate. All three mandates in the constituency where Armen Dzhigarkhanyan ran were won by representatives of the Yabloko party. Dzhigarkhanyan advocated friendship between the Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples. ==Personal life==

Dzhigarkhanyan was married three times. In the early 1960s, he secretly married Alla Vanovskaya, an actress at the Stanislavski Russian Theatre of Yerevan. Their daughter Yelena was born in 1964 and died at age 23 in 1987 of suffocation while asleep, because she left the car engine running. His second partner, Tatyana Vlasova, was also an actress at the Stanislavski Theatre in Yerevan. They never officially married, but they started living together in 1967, when they moved to Moscow together. Tatyana now resides in Dallas, Texas and works as a Russian language teacher at a university. Dzhigarkhanyan often visited her. His third wife is 43 years younger than him. ==Illness and death==

In the last years of his life, Dzhigarkhanyan suffered from poor health. He was hospitalized in March 2016 and January 2018. In April 2018 he again was hospitalized after a heart attack and fell into a coma. Dzhigarkhanyan died in Moscow on November 14, 2020. The cause of death was cardiac arrest due to kidney failure and other chronic diseases. Presidents of Russia Vladimir Putin and Armenia Armen Sarkissian, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin issued messages of condolence. ==Recognition==

, 2010 Dzhigarkhanyan was one of the most popular and renowned Russian actors of his generation, both in films and theatre. Novaya Gazeta, one of Russia's largest weeklies, described Dzhigarkhanyan as a "distinct brand" in Russian theatre and film and his voice as "a separate living brand". According to Peter Rollberg, Professor of Slavic Languages, Film Studies at the Elliott School of International Affairs, "Dzhigarkhanyan's characters usually are distinguished by stoicism, irony, and a quiet inner strength, irradiating a rough charm that has only grown with age." In his birthday congratulation in 2005, Armenia's second president Robert Kocharyan stated that Dzhigarkhanyan's "great popularity" is "due to [his] talent and devoted work". Kocharyan further said that "[his] art has become a peculiar standard of mutual enrichment of Armenian and Russian cultures." In 2010, Armenia's current president Serzh Sargsyan described the artist as "one of the prominent figures of the modern cinema" who has "boundless talent and charm". Sargsyan stated that "The Armenian nation is proud of you." In 2010, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev awarded Dzhigarkhanyan with the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" and stated: In 2012, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin congratulated Dzhigarkhanyan on his birthday and described him as "an outstanding actor and talented director" who "over many years of service to the stage and screen made a huge contribution to the development of Russian culture." Record A number of sources claim that Dzhigarkhanyan is included in Guinness World Records as the Russian actor with most film appearances (as of 2013), suggesting that he has played in more than 250 films (300 according to RIA Novosti). However, the Guinness World Records website does not provide such data by country. In reference to the large number of films in which he has appeared, prominent Soviet Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian once stated, "[Whenever] you turn on the iron, Dzhigarkhanyan is there!" Actor Valentin Gaft has written an epigram in a humorous reference to his large number of appearances: "There are less Armenians in the world, / Than there are films where Dzhigarkhanyan has appeared" (Гораздо меньше на земле армян, / Чем фильмов, где сыграл Джигарханян.) • Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", III class (1995) • Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", IV class (2005) • Order of Alexander Nevsky (2006) • Crystal Turandot (Хрустальная Турандот), Highest Theater Prize of Moscow (2010) • Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", II class (2010) ;Armenia • People's Artist of the Armenian SSR (1977) • Order of Honor of Armenia (2010) ==Selected filmography==

; Voice • Once Upon a Dog (Жил-был пёс, 1982) — The Wolf • Formula of Love (Формула любви, 1984) — Count Cagliostro (played by Nodar Mgaloblishvili) • Treasure Island (Остров сокровищ, 1988) — John Silver • Grey Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood (Серый Волк энд Красная Шапочка, 1990) — Grey Wolf • Cars (Тачки, 2006) — Doc Hudson (Russian dub) • Up (Вверх, 2009) — Carl Fredricksen (Russian dub) • Alisa Knows What to Do! (Алиса знает, что делать!, 2013–2016) — Vasily Petrovich, robot teacher (first episodes) ==References==