Vladimir Zeldin


Vladimir Mikhailovich Zeldin was a Soviet and Russian theatre and cinema actor. A centenarian, he was among the longest-serving stage performers and continued acting up until his death.

Early life

Zeldin was born in the town of Kozlov, the youngest of five children. With the start of the Russian Civil War the family moved to their relatives in Tver. His mother Anna Nikolaevna Zeldina was a native Russian teacher turned a housewife. His father Mikhail Evgenievich Zeldin was a musician of Jewish origin who converted to Russian Orthodoxy in order to enter the Moscow Conservatory; he served as a kapellmeister in the Imperial Russian Army concert band and as the head of the Kozlov and Tver music schools after the October Revolution. Vladimir himself was raised in the Russian Orthodox traditions and associated himself with Russian culture.
In 1924 the family moved to Moscow. Zeldin continued studying at the secondary school. He also learned to play trumpet, piano and violin, and at the age of 12 tried to enter The Bolshoi Theatre Ballet School. According to Zeldin, his father wished him a better career and was highly against this decision, so he did everything to prevent his son from entering the school. For several years Vladimir played trumpet in the military band under the Joint State Political Directorate led by his father's friend Feodor Nikolaevsky. In 1935 he graduated from the theatre college at the Mossovet Theatre where he studied under Evgeny Lepkovsky and became its actor.

Career

In 1938 Zeldin moved to the Moscow Transport Theatre where he performed as Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors and Ferdinand in Intrigue and Love, among other roles.
Zeldin became an all-Union celebrity in 1941 starring in the leading role in the musical comedy They Met in Moscow by Ivan Pyryev. His other famous movie works include Boris Olenich in Ballad of Siberia, Aldemaro in Dance Teacher, a clown in Carnival Night, Aleksandr Vladimirovich Serebryakov in Uncle Vanya, Judge in And Then There Were None and grandfather in Cops and Robbers, a remake of the Italian comedy of the same name.
During the Battle of Moscow he and other actors were evacuated to Almaty where he played in the Alma-Ata Russian Drama Theatre. He also visited the frontline to perform for soldiers and was awarded the Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" after the war.
From 1945 to his death Zeldin performed in the Russian Army Theatre. His most famous role was Aldemaro in The Dancing Master play by Lope de Vega. Other popular roles include Tranio in The Taming of the Shrew, Aleksandr Vladimirovich Serebryakov in Uncle Vanya, Albert Gregor in The Makropulos Affair, Frank Gardner in Mrs. Warren's Profession and others. The Most Honest, a satirical play about an elderly Baron Munchausen, was written by Grigori Gorin on Zeldin's suggestion and with him in mind. It was an enormous success and was later adapted by Mark Zakharov into a TV movie The Very Same Munchhausen with Oleg Yankovsky in the lead.
In February 2005 Zeldin celebrated his 90th birthday by performing in the new musical Man of La Mancha where he starred both as Don Quixote and Miguel de Cervantes. The role of Don Quixote quickly became his signature role and he closely associated himself with the character.
He celebrated his 101st birthday on stage by performing the leading role in the play Dance with the Master and written specially for him. According to the director Yuli Gusman, a total of 200 performances of Man of La Mancha and Dance with the Master were staged during Zeldin's lifetime. Man of La Mancha was last shown just a month prior to the actor's death. Due to a recent hip fracture, he had to perform with a walking stick.

Late years

Zeldin was, as of 2014, the oldest living People's Artist of the USSR. He turned 101 in 2016.
In June 2005, his signature appeared under the open letter by "members of culture, science and public representatives" published in Izvestia where they supposedly expressed support to the court decision concerning the former Yukos management. However, a number of signatories, including Zeldin, denied their involvement.
In October 2013, at the age of 98 he took part in the 2014 Winter Olympics torch relay, becoming the oldest torchbearer in history.
Vladimir Zeldin died on 31 October 2016 and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. He was survived by his third wife Ivetta Evgenievna Kapralova-Zeldina who died just two months after her husband and was buried near him. They lived together for 52 years.
Vladimir Zeldin's only son died of a gastric infection at the age of 18 months in 1941. Zeldin took care of his grave until his death.

Honours and awards