Mikhail Derzhavin

Mikhail Mikhajlovich Derzhavin (15 June 1936, Moscow – 10 January 2018, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian actor.

Biography

Mikhail Mikhajlovich Derzhavin was born in the family of the People's Artist of the RSFSR, who was the leading actor of Vakhtangov’s Theatre, Mikhail Derzhavin and Iraida Derzhavina. He grew up in a house on the Vakhtangov Street, home to numerous actors, artists and musicians. The next entrance was to the Shchukin Theater School. All children's games were centered on improvised theatrical stage: children staged tales, wrote scripts, assigned roles and were both actors and audience. The famous “Vakhtangovs”, such as Ruben Simonov and Viktor Koltsov, visited Derazhavin's apartment frequently.

After the start of the Great Patriotic War, the Vakhtangov's Theater was evacuated to Omsk. During the evacuation Mikhail Derzhavin attended all performances of his father, but he especially liked "Marshal Kutuzov". At the age of five, Mikhail learned by heart Kutuzov's monologue, and he read it in front of injured in the hospital. In 1954 he entered the Shchukin's Theater School, after he worked at the Lenkom Theatre in 1959. In 1965 he moved to the Theater on Malaya Bronnaya, and since 1968 he worked in the Moscow Theater of Satire. He was a friend and constant partner of Alexander Shirvindt's cabaret since 1957. In the mid-1980s, they hosted the program "Morning Post” together, and beginning in 2013 they hosted "I want to know".

Death

Derzhavin died on 10 January 2018, aged 81, following a long illness. Information about Derzhavin's death was confirmed by his widow, Roksana Babajan.