Actor Oleg Tabakov personal life. Oleg Tabakov. Brief creative biography. Awards and titles

Oleg Tabakov is a legend and outstanding figure in Soviet and Russian cinema, a popularly loved artist, an extraordinary and bright personality, born 08/17/1935 in Saratov.

Childhood

The future great artist was born into a medical family. His childhood was during the difficult war years, and his youth was during the post-war years.

The first years of life were carefree and happy, surrounded by loving parents and the care of grandmothers. But the war forced me to experience hunger, cold and hardship early, strengthening my character and forcing me to grow up too early.

My father went to the front almost from the first days of the war and went through the entire war as the chief physician of an ambulance train. Tabakov’s family, along with thousands of other refugees, was evacuated to the Urals, where his mother treated the wounded in a military hospital for days on end. It so happened that the war separated his parents forever and, in fact, he grew up without a father.

After the war, Tabakov and his mother returned to Saratov and went to a men's gymnasium there. Life was slowly getting better, cities were being rebuilt, clubs and the local Palace of Pioneers were working again. Tabakov enrolled in a theater club, which he enjoyed attending until he graduated from school.

He was incredibly lucky with his teacher, Natalya Sukhostav. The talented actress played on the stage of the Saratov theater for a long time and trained a whole galaxy of outstanding actors.

Fast start

By the time he graduated from school, Oleg Tabakov had already made his choice - only an acting career. Thanks to the efforts of his teacher, he brilliantly passed the entrance exams and a huge creative competition and on the first try entered the Moscow Art Theater School, being enrolled in a course with the talented director Vasily Toporkov.

He studied with great pleasure, everything free time performing on the theater stage. He was rightfully one of the most diligent and talented students. Already in his third year, he received an invitation to his first serious role in the film “Tight Knot.”

The psychologically complex social drama could not fully reveal Tabakov’s extraordinary and bright talent. However, he made every effort to complete the task assigned to him by the director as accurately as possible.

“Tight Knot” became a kind of launching pad from which the endless movie marathon of Oleg Tabakov, who starred in more than 120 films during his creative life, began. No actor can boast of so many screen roles, many of which will forever go down in the history of Russian cinema. But this whole journey was still ahead.

Contemporary of Sovremennik

While studying, another talented actor, Oleg Efremov, created a student independent theater studio at the Moscow Art Theater, which staged both classical and ultra-modern performances that were completely extraordinary for that time. It’s called “Sovremennik” studio.

Young Oleg Tabakov also takes an active part in the life of the team. And after Sovremennik was separated into an independent creative unit, he remained to work at Sovremennik.

Oleg Tabakov has remained one of the leading actors of Sovremennik for 15 long years, during which he played more than 30 outstanding roles, somehow miraculously managing to simultaneously work actively on film sets.

Due to such an insane load, his heart could not stand it and, on the threshold of his thirtieth birthday, he ended up in the hospital with his first heart attack. Doctors categorically forbade Tabakov to live in such a regime, but having only slightly recovered from his illness, he again plunges into the creative whirlpool.

After his beloved Sovremennik began to be torn apart by creative and organizational contradictions, Tabakov took the side of Efremov and after some time moved with him to the Moscow Art Theater.

However, he still has the warmest relationship with his creative cradle and has played roles in it more than once as a guest actor.

Moscow Art Theater and "Tabakerka"

Feeling like an accomplished mature actor, already in 1973 Oleg Tabakov began his teaching career and created his own theater studio.

Just three years later, at the invitation of GITIS, he is recruiting his first course, the basis of which is precisely the graduates of his studio. Later, Tabakov also had his own courses at the Moscow Art Theater, where he served as rector from 1986 to 2000.

Tabakov’s dream of his own theater began to come true in 1977, when, with the help of friends and through incredible efforts, he managed to get a long-term lease on an abandoned, dilapidated coal warehouse, which, after a long renovation, turned into the basement theater “Tabakerka”, which became famous throughout Moscow.

The performances of “Tabakerka” were a huge success, and she soon became famous not only in the USSR, but also in theater circles beyond its borders. Due to inter-theater creative intrigues, the studio did not officially receive theater status, which meant that it remained an amateur group and did not have many legal rights.

Including officially hiring actors.

This greatly complicated the work of the theater and became one of the reasons that by 1983 it practically ceased its work, since the actors were literally forced to be torn between “Tabakerka” and those theaters in whose troupe they were legally listed.

For several years, Oleg Tabakov goes to teach abroad in order to somehow survive in the conditions of perestroika and the crisis that followed it.

Modern Tabakov

In 1987, “Tabakerka” finally received the status of a theater and resumed its work, which again began with the renovation of the premises. Tabakov recruits a new troupe from the most talented graduates of his courses, and from that time “Tabakerka” becomes one of the best creative groups in the country. However, by this time Tabakov had many other responsibilities.

Since 2000, he has become the head of the Moscow Art Theater, replacing the deceased Oleg Efremov in this post, who continuously led it for more than 20 years. And in 2005 he finally began a major reconstruction of the theater, which turned it into modern classics. In addition, he continues to play in Sovremennik and act in films.

In 2008, Tabakov opens an alternative educational institution for future actors: a boarding studio, a theater college, in which students are completely immersed in the creative process. Now his college successfully competes with leading drama schools countries. Since 2012, he has been Advisor to the President on cultural issues.

Personal life

Tabakov lived with his first wife Lyudmila Krylova for about 20 years, and she bore him a son and a daughter. Son Anton began acting in films from a young age and tried directing. In the 80s, he became interested in the restaurant business, in which he achieved considerable success. He maintains a warm relationship with his father.

The second wife, Marina Zudina, received the status of a legal wife after 10 years of agonizing wait, when Tabakov was torn between his two beloved women. She is 30 years younger than her husband, and this has long been the reason for much gossip.

Soviet and Russian actor, People's Artist of the USSR Oleg Tabakov died at the age of 82, the TV channel reported. REN-TV, the information was confirmed by the press service of the Tabakov Theater.

The condition of 82-year-old Tabakov worsened at the end of November 2017, when he was hospitalized in the intensive care unit of the Pirogov City Clinical Hospital (Moscow). The exact diagnosis of the actor remained unclear. According to unconfirmed information from the REN TV channel, Tabakov was diagnosed with sepsis - blood poisoning by infectious agents.

Oleg Tabakov was born on August 17, 1935 in Saratov into a family of doctors. His pedigree contains blood from four nationalities: Russian, Mordovian, Ukrainian and Polish.

The theater entered Tabakov’s life largely by accident. When he was 13 years old, his father left the family. Oleg was left unattended and began to spend time among the local punks. Then his mother took him by the hand to the drama studio at the city Palace of Pioneers. However, the boy had loved theatrical performances before, so he did not resist.

Oleg Tabakov in the film "A few days in the life of I.I. Oblomov." Photo: video screenshot As lawyer Henry Reznik, who worked in the studio with Tabakov, admitted, he was already considered a local celebrity. After graduating from 10th grade, the future actor went to Moscow and took exams at two creative universities: GITIS and the Moscow Art Theater School. He entered both institutions, but chose the studio school, from which he graduated in 1957.

Initially he was assigned to the Stanislavsky Drama Theater. But soon Tabakov, together with Oleg Efremov, Igor Kvasha, Galina Volchek and other young actors, organized a studio of young actors at the Moscow Art Theater. After the third premiere, the “old” actors accused the youth of trampling on traditions and sent the young team on a free run. Soon the former studio became the Sovremennik Theater - one of the most popular in Moscow.

In the 1960s, Tabakov literally worked at the limit of his strength: he played a lot both in Sovremennik and in films. As a result, in 1965 (at the age of 30!) he had a heart attack. Doctors were thinking of banning him from going on stage altogether. But just two months later, Tabakov played Aduev Jr. in Goncharov’s Ordinary History, losing one and a half kilograms of weight every evening.

In 1970, Sovremennik leader Oleg Efremov moved to the Moscow Art Theater. Therefore, Tabakov, without leaving his film and theater career, became the director of the theater. During these years, he consolidated his status as an all-Union star, starring in the films “Seventeen Moments of Spring” (1973, the role of intelligence chief General Schellenberg), “An Unfinished Piece for a Mechanical Piano” (1977, the role of Pavel Petrovich Shcherbuk), “A Few Days in the Life of I .AND. Oblomov" (1979, role of Ilya Ilyich Oblomov).

Photo: video screenshot In the mid-1970s, Tabakov took up teaching. He completed his course at GITIS, on the basis of which, in the winter of 1979, Oleg Tabakov’s studio appeared - the future Tabakerka Theater, which Oleg Pavlovich headed until his last days.

In those years, Tabakov acted in few films (more often in episodes), but he restarted his acting career: in 1983, he moved to the Moscow Art Theater, where he immediately began playing classical roles: Salieri (“Amadeus”), Sorin (“The Seagull”) , Famusov (“Woe from Wit”). At the same time, Tabakov voiced the role of the cat Matroskin in a cartoon about the village of Prostokvashino. The charming cat made the actor a favorite of all Soviet children.

At that time, the actor's marital status changed. Back in 1960, Tabakov married Lyudmila Krylova, a student at the Shchepkinsky School. Their marriage produced a son, Anton, and a daughter, Alexandra. But in the early 1980s, Oleg Pavlovich began an affair with his student Marina Zudina. Their relationship lasted more than ten years, until Tabakov left the family and married Zudina in 1994. In their marriage they had a son, Pavel, and a daughter, Maria.

Oleg Tabakov and Alisa Freindlich in the film "D" Artagnan and the Three Musketeers." Photo: video screenshot As for Tabakov's acting career, in 1987 the Moscow Art Theater split into two groups: the Chekhov Moscow Art Theater, headed by Efremov, and the Gorky Moscow Art Theater, headed by Tatyana Doronina. Tabakov remained with Efremov. In 2000, his friend and senior comrade died, after which Oleg Pavlovich headed the team and proved himself to be one of the best Russian theater managers. Under his leadership, the Chekhov Moscow Art Theater (mention of academic status disappeared in the name ) has become one of the leading theater venues in Moscow, open to innovative directors.

Oleg Tabakov is often called a legend, and this is true without exaggeration. Over his long life, he managed to become an outstanding theater and film actor, a talented director and a thoughtful teacher who trained more than one generation of artists. He directed the Sovremennik Theater and became the founder of his own theater, which everyone affectionately called “Tabakerka”. The films in which he starred replenished the gold reserve of Russian cinema, and performances with his participation were always sold out.

Oleg Tabakov’s filmography has exceeded well over a hundred successful projects, but the actor’s first fame and fame came after starring in the films “The Living and the Dead,” “War and Peace,” “Seventeen Moments of Spring,” “12 Chairs.”

Childhood and youth

Oleg Tabakov was born in Saratov on August 17, 1935. His parents and Maria Berezovskaya were doctors. They lived in an ordinary Saratov communal apartment, just like many in those years. But later Oleg recalled that his childhood was happy. He grew up in the love and care of not only his parents, but also his grandmothers, uncles and aunts.

In the photo Oleg Tabakov as a child

This happy time was erased overnight in June 1941. In the first days of the war, my father went to the military registration and enlistment office and ended up at the front. He became the chief physician of the military hospital train number 87. In 1943, their family was evacuated to the Urals, and there, in the Caspian Elton, Maria Berezovskaya entered service in a military hospital, where she served until the end of the war. In this city, Oleg went to first grade, and upon returning to his native Saratov, the boy was sent to a boys' school.

The father returned alive from the war, but did not remain in the family; he filed for divorce from Maria. This event came as a real shock for Oleg; for a long time he could not come to terms with his father’s decision; he was hurt and offended for his mother and for himself.

Feeling the lack of a solid male upbringing, Oleg almost went downhill and got involved with a bad company of street punks. Mom found out about this by accident and began to act immediately. She literally led Oleg by the hand to a drama club called “Young Guard,” which was organized at the local Palace of Pioneers. Tabakov was one of the lucky ones, whom Natalya Sukhostav was engaged in. Years later, he would give her the honorary title of “godmother,” and he would be grateful all his life for her first steps in acting. In the meantime, during the audition, a timid boy stood in front of the teacher, with quiet and unintelligible speech. She could have refused to accept him, but for some reason she decided to leave Oleg, and she was absolutely right. Very little time passed, and he turned into a young man confident in his strengths and talent, who was not afraid of the stage, and received exclusively leading roles. Oleg Tabakov attended the drama club in 1950-1953.

Inspired by his first successes on stage, Oleg decides to forever link his biography with art. The guy understands that for this he will have to leave his hometown, and without fear or regret he goes to the capital. He took exams at two universities at the same time - the Moscow Art Theater School and GITIS, in the hope of entering at least one of them. Imagine his surprise when he found his name on the admission lists of both universities. Now the choice was his, and Tabakov settled on the Moscow Art Theater, which he considered the best among other universities.

Oleg ended up on a course with Vasily Toporkov, and this was considered simply incredible luck. Toporkov was famous for his teaching talent, headed the acting department at this institute, and held the title of People's Artist of the USSR. Tabakov was lucky with his classmates, he studied together with Mikhail Kazakov, Leonid Bronev,.

Theater

After receiving a diploma from a theater university in 1957, Tabakov was assigned to the Stanislavsky Theater. But, as fate would have it, he ended up in the troupe of the newly created Sovremennik Theater. The organizer of this theater was.

After Efremov left Sovremennik for the Moscow Art Theater, it was Oleg Tabakov who had to run the theater. He held the position of director for seven years. All this time, the artist dreamed of his own theater, and in 1986 his dream came true. It was this year that the capital’s government signed an order allowing the opening of three new theaters in Moscow. The list of theaters that received the blessing to exist included Tabakov’s brainchild, which soon began to be called simply “Tabakerka”.

Oleg Tabakov's studio theater was received ambiguously. The opinions of critics and theatergoers differed strikingly. The former did not take this studio seriously, while the latter hurried to all the productions, regularly selling out the hall. The first production of “Snuffbox” was released on March 1, 1987, and was called “The Armchair”.

Tabakov worked tirelessly in the theater. He constantly updated the repertoire and accepted new actors. Soon the troupe was replenished with emerging talents -,. Famous directors and screenwriters, whom Tabakov tirelessly invited, worked their magic on the repertoire. Thanks to them, viewers could enjoy new ideas and creative developments.

Oleg Tabakov has a very rich and intense theatrical biography. He was invited to work as a teacher and director abroad. It was abroad that he became the author of over forty productions. Tabakov staged classics - domestic and foreign, he was applauded by many spectators European countries and the USA. Tabakov became the founder and director of the Stanislavsky Summer School at Harvard University. In 1986-2000, the actor took the place of rector at the Moscow Art Theater School and developed a joint graduate program between the Moscow Art Theater and one of the American institutes.

In 2000, Tabakov was appointed director of the Chekhov Moscow Art Theater.

Oleg Tabakov was very busy in cinema and theater, but did not refuse to work on television. He was busy in television productions that were broadcast live. The artist appeared in one-man performances “The Little Humpbacked Horse” and “Vasily Terkin”.

The artist has numerous television performances under his belt, but the audience remembers “Aesop”, “Shagreen Skin”, and “Stove Makers” most of all. With the light hand of Tabakov, the world saw the production of “Twelfth Night”, which was presented to the audience by the famous “Sovremennik”.

Movies

Cinema burst into the life of Oleg Tabakov back in his student years. While still a 3rd year student, he played Sasha Komelev in the film “Sasha Enters Life.” Director Mikhail Shveitser became Tabakov’s guide in amazing world cinema, introducing the future artist to all its wisdom.

Tabakov’s first characters were subsequently combined into one role, which was called “Rozov’s boys.” They embodied on the screen all the best human qualities, they were honest and straightforward, they firmly believed in their beliefs and principles. This is exactly what his characters became in the films “Noisy Day”, “People on the Bridge”, “ Probation", "Clear Sky", "War and Peace", "Young and Green". These films became some of the best at the beginning of his acting career.

The actor's filmography includes over one hundred and twenty films. He did not always get the roles of central characters, but even in minor roles he was inimitable. With each new film, the artist’s skill grew, his achievements and experience appeared, and the circle of familiar actors expanded. During the filming of the film “Seventeen Moments of Spring,” Tabakov met Leonid Bronev. In the film “12 Chairs” he played together with and for the first time.

The artist willingly starred in films for children, and for this he even tried on female role. In the fairy tale “Mary Poppins, Goodbye,” filmed in 1983, he played Mrs. Andrew, then played Koshchei the Immortal in the film “After the Rain on Thursday.” His unforgettable voice was spoken by the cat Matroskin in the cartoon “Prostokvashino”, and another cat, Garfield, in the Hollywood cartoon.

Personal life

Oleg Tabakov's first wife was Lyudmila Krylova, who became the mother of the artist's two children - Anton, born in 1960, and Alexandra, born in 1966.

She was studying at school when she first saw Tabakov on the stage of Sovremennik, and fell in love with him until she lost consciousness. The girl decided that she would definitely go to theater school and find a way to get to know the object of her adoration. Lyudmila really became a student at Shchepka, and even managed to immediately join the Maly Theater. At the same time, she regularly attended all the performances of Sovremennik and waited for an opportunity to get to know each other.

One day a phone call from the studio rang in her house, the director’s assistant asked to send a photo, because for “one picky actor” they couldn’t find a partner in new project. It later turned out that the partner was needed specifically for Tabakov.

When Lyudmila saw who she would be filming with, she almost fainted with happiness. She later recalled that she could not stop the shaking in her knees and the chattering of her teeth. Their relationship began at their very first meeting. 2 months later, after their son Anton was born, the young people ran to the registry office for painting, and again continued the rehearsal.

They had a very strong family, which seemed to be in no danger, but in 1981 Oleg met, who became his student at GITIS. She was only sixteen, Tabakov forty-six. They hid their relationship for a long time, and none of their mutual acquaintances even suspected their romance.

But everything changed in 1995, when their relationship turned ten years old. Tabakov left the family and signed with Zudina. He did not explain anything in detail to his wife, he simply said that a “Luboff” had appeared in his life.

Anton and Alexandra did not understand their father and completely broke off relations with him. They also gave up acting. The son became a successful restaurateur and father of four children. He has one son and three daughters. Alexandra became a presenter on radio and television and became the wife of Jan Liefers, a German cinematographer. In 1988, her daughter Polina was born. Soon the couple divorced, Alexandra took her daughter and returned to her homeland.

In Tabakov’s personal life there was another novel in which a young actress appeared. He was thirty-four when he fell in love with a 16-year-old girl. They met on the set of the project “Shine, Shine, My Star.” Elena later said that Tabakov was her first real feeling, and if not for her age and not for the gossip of well-wishers, then perhaps their relationship would have developed differently.

In 1995, Oleg Tabakov became a father again, Zudina gave birth to a son, Pavel. In 2006, a daughter, Maria, was born into the family. Pavel continued his father's work. He studied at the Tabakov School-Studio, and during the entrance exams he was picked on more than other applicants. The guy entered the service at the Chekhov Moscow Art Theater, and also appeared in cinema. He starred in the films “Star”, “The Duelist”, “Orleans”.

Last years

In 2016, a housewarming party for Oleg Tabakov’s theater took place. He moved to Sukharevskaya Square and settled in a modern building. The celebration began in the presence of Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, who spoke about how much strength and nerves this housewarming party cost Tabakov. At the insistence of the director, all equipment and scenery are computerized with the latest technology. The theater has a large stage and a hall designed for four hundred spectators. Additionally, performances can be staged in a small hall. The first performance staged in the new building was Sailor's Silence.

In 2017, Oleg Tabakov’s theater, the famous “Tabakerka,” celebrated its thirtieth anniversary. On March 1, the opening of a festival took place there, called the “Benefit Performance of Thirty Years.” It was attended by everyone who was directly related to the birth of the theater. Oleg Tabakov, Marina Zudina, Sergei Belyaev took the stage. Festival guests could watch the most interesting theater productions.

The “Culture” channel broadcast all the interesting television plays created based on the “Tabakerka” repertoire over the many years of its existence. Then came the turn of creative evenings for the actors of this theater, and both experienced stage masters and young talents took part in them.

Cause of death

November 2017 brought bad news about the artist’s health. Tabakov was hospitalized at the Pirogov Hospital, suspecting pneumonia. Later they discovered sepsis, which according to doctors was caused by dental implants. On December 2, the actor fell into a precomat state. To alleviate the actor’s condition, he was connected to an artificial respiration apparatus and performed a medical procedure called tracheostomy. The media constantly published reports on the state of health of the great maestro, fans learned about his deterioration, that he even needed an artificial coma. No one believed that this was the approach of the end; it seemed to everyone that Tabakov would soon recover and would soon appear on stage again.

But already in February 2018, the doctors made a final verdict - Tabakov would never return to the stage. Oleg Tabakov passed away on March 12, 2018; the actor was 83 years old.

The resting place of Oleg Tabakov was the Novodevichy cemetery, where he was buried on March 15 of the same year. Ctrl+Enter .

Oleg Pavlovich was born in Saratov on August 17, 1935, into a family of doctors. The actor always remembered his early childhood with great warmth, because he was surrounded by numerous loving relatives who doted on little Olezhik.

The carefree life ended in June 1941. His father immediately volunteered for the front, and his mother became seriously ill with typhoid fever. In 1943, she moved with her children to the small town of Elton, where she worked in a military hospital until the end of the war. The family was finally able to return to Saratov, but this return turned out to be joyless: after the war, the parents separated, and this news was a terrible blow for Oleg.

As an eighth-grade student, he enrolled in the Molodaya Gvardiya children's theater. The talented teacher Natalya Sukhostav was able to discern great creative potential in the boy. Under her leadership, young Tabakov was able to learn the basics of acting and decide on the choice of his future profession.

Student years

After graduating from school, he applied to two capital theater universities at once: GITIS and the Moscow Art Theater School. He passed brilliantly qualifying rounds and was accepted into both institutes, but Tabakov chose to study at the Moscow Art Theater.

Acting skills were taught to Oleg by People's Artist of the USSR Vasily Toporkov, and his classmates were Evgeny Evstigneev, Tatyana Doronina, Valentin Gaft, Mikhail Kazakov, Leonid Bronevoy and many other outstanding actors.

Theater life

After graduation, Tabakov was assigned to the Moscow Drama Theater. Stanislavsky. However, fate would have it that the young actor would play on the stage of the new Sovremennik Theater. Later, when its founder and director Oleg Efremov left his post, the popular theater was headed by Tabakov.

In 1986, when the order was issued to create three theaters in the capital, Oleg Pavlovich organized his own theater studio, which was called “Snuffbox”. The period of formation of the new theater was not at all easy: many critics did not take it seriously. However, the audience quickly realized that wonderful plays were staged at the Tabakerka, and after a while it was rare for a performance to take place without a full house.

To ensure that the theater was always fresh and interesting to the public, Tabakov regularly attracted famous writers and directors to collaborate, and accepted young, but very promising and talented actors into the troupe.

Oleg Pavlovich worked a lot abroad as a teacher and director. In many European countries and in the USA, he staged more than a dozen performances of Russian and foreign classics. Moreover, at Harvard he opened the Summer School named after. Stanislavsky, which he himself headed.

Since 1986, for 14 years, Oleg Pavlovich served as rector of the Moscow Art Theater School and directed the joint program of the Moscow Art Theater and Carnegie Mellon University (USA). In 2000, Tabakov headed the Moscow Art Theater. Chekhov. In addition to working in theater and cinema, the actor also took part in television performances, which broadcast live:

• "Stovemakers";
• “Shagreen skin”;
• "Aesop".

Film work

Tabakov first appeared on the set as a third-year student at the Moscow Art Theater. He played a small role in the film “Sasha Enters Life.” At the beginning of his career, the young actor received exclusively positive roles of young people with pure intentions.

Tabakov has participated in more than 120 films, but not all of his roles were major. However, the talented actor managed to make even a minor character so bright and charismatic that the audience remembered him for a long time. The actor was lucky to play in such outstanding films of his time as:

• "Seventeen Moments of Spring";
• "12 chairs";
• "War and Peace";
• "Moscow does not believe in tears";
• "The Man from the Boulevard des Capucines."

Tabakov also devoted a lot of time to dubbing animated films. In 2016, a joyful and a long-awaited event for Tabakov and his creative team - the opening of the new stage “Tabakerka”. The result of painstaking long-term work is a comfortable, modern and thought-out theater, in which everything is created for the convenience of spectators and actors.

Filmography

At the age of 83, Russian actor, People's Artist of the USSR, theater and film director Oleg Tabakov died in the First City Hospital. This was reported by TASS with reference to the press service of the Moscow Art Theater. Chekhov. “Oleg Pavlovich died after a serious long-term illness,” the theater said. Due to the death of the artistic director, all performances in the theater have been canceled until March 14. The farewell to the actor will take place within the walls of the Moscow Art Theater; the date will be announced later, the theater’s press service noted.

Deputy Minister of Culture Alexander Zhuravsky said that, according to preliminary information, Tabakov will be buried at the Novodevichy cemetery, RIA Novosti reports.

President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to Tabakov’s family and friends. “Putin was informed of the sad news - the death of Oleg Pavlovich Tabakov,” said press secretary of the head of state Dmitry Peskov.

At the end of November, the media reported that Tabakov was admitted to the intensive care unit of the First City Hospital due to pneumonia. “Oleg Pavlovich was admitted to the first City hospital in extremely serious condition,” the press service of the medical institution told Interfax on November 27. Later, Tabakov confirmed the fact of hospitalization to the Moscow city news agency.

On the same day, the artist’s son told reporters that Tabakov was hospitalized for a routine dental examination. The press service of the Tabakerka Theater also stated that Tabakov is undergoing a routine examination in the field of dentistry and there is no talk of “reanimation.” On November 29, the REN TV channel and the online publication Life reported that Tabakov underwent emergency surgery. His condition after the operation was assessed as stable and serious, he was on a ventilator.

In early December, doctors reported some improvement in Tabakov’s health. On December 27, REN TV reported that Tabakov was put into a medically induced coma. In January 2018, the First City Hospital confirmed that Tabakov continues to undergo treatment and is in a state of artificial coma.

Cancellation of performances

Due to Tabakov’s hospitalization, at the end of November the play “The Year When I Was Not Born” was canceled at Tabakerka. The performance was canceled due to technical reasons, as reported on the theater's website.

In December, Tabakov was supposed to play in three performances at the Moscow Art Theater (MAT) named after. A.P. Chekhov. Performances with his participation were also cancelled, according to the theater’s website. We are talking about such productions as “Dragon” (December 5 and 12) and “Jubilee of the Jeweler” (December 7). Instead of these performances, on December 5, the performance “No. 13D” took place on the main stage, and on December 7, the performance “Double Bass” took place.

Biography of Tabakov

Tabakov was born on August 17, 1935 in Saratov into a family of doctors. During his school years (1950-1953), he studied in the “Young Guard” theater group of the Palace of Pioneers and Schoolchildren in Saratov. After graduating from school, Tabakov entered the Moscow Art Theater School on the course of Vasily Toporkov. In his third year he played his first role in a movie (the film “Tight Knot”).

In 1957, Oleg Efremov created the Studio of Young Actors at the Moscow Art Theater School, on the basis of which the Sovremennik Theater later appeared. Tabakov was the youngest of the six founders of the new theater. His first work in the theater was the role of student Misha in the play “Forever Alive”. From 1957 to 1983, Tabakov was the leading artist of Sovremennik.

In 1977, Tabakov, together with students, cleaned and repaired the former coal warehouse at Chaplygina, 1a. Later the room became the “Tabakerka” basement. Since 1978, performances began to be staged at Tabakerka. Only in 1986 did “Tabakerka” receive official theater status from the city authorities. Since 2000, Tabakov simultaneously combined the artistic direction of two theaters - “Tabakerka” and the Moscow Art Theater. Chekhov, played roles in the same theaters, headed the acting department at the Moscow Art Theater School-Studio, and was also involved in producing and filming films. Tabakov is a full holder of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland (1998, 2005, 2010, 2015), and was a member of the Council for Culture and Art under the President of Russia. Tabakov starred in more than 120 films.