Boris Andreyev was born 9 February 1915 in
Saratov,
Russian Empire to a family of workers. His childhood and youth years were spent in
Atkarsk, Saratov Governorate. After completing the seventh grade at school, Andreyev went to work as a mechanic-electrician at a сombine factory, where he started going to a local theatrical circle. There he was noticed by a famous Saratov actor, , who suggested that he enter the Saratov Theatre Technical School, from which Boris Andreyev graduated in 1937. For a while, Boris Andreyev played on the
Saratov Drama Theater's stage. During the theater tour in Moscow, film director
Ivan Pyryev offered him the role of Nazar Duma in
Tractor Drivers (1939). It became his first film role and also brought him great popularity in the medium. His next notable role was as Khariton Balun in
A Great Life (1st part in 1939, 2nd part in 1958). During the
Second World War, Andreyev with
Mark Bernes acted in the legendary Soviet film
Two Soldiers (1943). In the role of Ilya Zhurbin in
A Big Family (1954), Andreyev demonstrated his ability to play psychologically-complicated characters. His roles in
Cruelty (1959) and
The Road to Berlin (1962) brought forth two of his most intense performances. The role of Vozhak in the film
An Optimistic Tragedy became one of the defining performances of his career and one of its major highlights. In the 1971–1973, Boris Andreyev served as the narrator of several documentaries, such as ''People's Artist Andreyev
, People's Artist Kasymov
and People's Artist
Shukur Burkhanov''. Andreyev died on 25 April 1982 in Moscow, and was buried at
Vagankovo Cemetery in Moscow. ==Filmography==