Andrey Vasilyevich Myagkov (Russian: Андрей Васильевич Мягков; (8 July 1938 Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union - 18 February 2021) was a Soviet/Russian film and theater actor.[1] He is best known for his roles in famous films directed by Eldar Ryazanov, such as The Irony of Fate (1975), Office Romance (1977), The Garage (1979) and A Cruel Romance (1984).

Biography

Andrey Myagkov was born on 8 July 1938 in Leningrad, USSR. His father, Vasily Myagkov, was a professor at Saint Petersburg Polytechnical University. Young Myagkov showed interest in theater and acting and participated in a drama club at high school. Upon his graduation from high school he chose to study chemistry and attended Leningrad Institute of Technology, graduating in 1961 as a chemical engineer. His first job was engineer-researcher at Leningrad State Institute of Plastics. At the same time he continued to play on stage as an amateur actor.

In 1961 he entered the Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Art Theatre school. After graduation in 1964 Myagkov joined the Sovremennik Theatre in Moscow. There his stage partners were such notable Soviet actors as Oleg Yefremov, Yevgeniy Yevstigneyev, Galina Volchek, Oleg Tabakov, Oleg Dal, Igor Kvasha, Valentin Gaft. One of his first stage plays was Uncle's dream (based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel of the same name) where he performed the role of the uncle.

In cinema he got his big break when director Elem Klimov offered him the lead role in the satiric film Adventures of a Dentist (1965). His next work in cinema was a role of Alyosha in critically acclaimed The Brothers Karamazov (1969) based on Dostoevsky's eponymous novel, which made him known.

In 1975 he gained fame in the enormously popular comedy-drama film The Irony of Fate as a surgeon Zhenya Lukashin. In 1977 he starred in another Ryazanov hit, Office Romance, as timid statistician Anatoly Novoseltsev, alongside Alisa Freindlich, in which he also debuted as a singer. For both roles he was awarded the State Prize of the USSR. In 1978 he was named Best Actor by readers of Soviet Screen.

In 1977 Myagkov left the Sovremennik Theatre and joined the Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT), where he debuted in the leading role as Zilov in Duck Hunt by Aleksandr Vampilov, and eventually established himself as a leading actor in many other stage productions.

His other notable films are The Days of the Turbins (1976) based on Mikhail Bulgakov's novel, The Garage (1980), Vertical Race (1983), A Cruel Romance (1984).

In 1990s Myagkov was concentrated on theatrical performances and worked as a professor at the Moscow Art Theatre school. In this period he starred in the drama Mother (1990), Leonid Gaidai's comedy film Weather Is Good on Deribasovskaya, It Rains Again on Brighton Beach (1992), and the detective story Contact with Death (1998).

Myagkov played over 50 roles in film and on television. In 1989, Myagkov made his debut as director on the stage of Moscow Art Theatre with Goodnight, Mama (Spokoinoy nochi, Mama). In 2000 he directed a stageplay, Retro.

Selected filmography

• Adventures of a Dentist (Похождения зубного врача, 1965) as Sergey Petrovich Chesnokov
• The Brothers Karamazov (Братья Карамазовы, 1969) as Alyosha Karamazov
• The Irony of Fate (Ирония судьбы, или С лёгким паром!, 1975) as Zhenya Lukashin
• The Days of the Turbins (Дни Турбиных, 1976) as Aleksei Turbin
• Office Romance (Служебный роман, 1977) as Novoseltsev
• The Garage (Гараж, 1979) as Khvostov
• Vertical Race (Гонки по вертикали, 1983) as Inspector Stanislav Tikhonov
• Lethargy (Летаргия) as Bekasov
• A Cruel Romance (Жестокий романс, 1984) as Juliy Kapitonovich Karandyshev
• Weather Is Good on Deribasovskaya, It Rains Again on Brighton Beach (На Дерибасовской хорошая погода, или На Брайтон-Бич опять идут дожди, 1992) as "Artist", the leader of the Russian mafia / uncle Misha, immigrant
• The Irony of Fate 2 (Ирония Судьбы. Продолжение, 2007) as Zhenya Lukashin