Lukianov, Sergei

Born Sept. 14 (27), 1910, in the village of Nizhnee, in Donbas; died Mar. 1, 1965, in Moscow. Soviet Russian actor. People’s Artist of the RSFSR (1952).

After graduating from a school of mining, Luk’ianov worked as a miner and took part in amateur theatricals. From 1928 to 1931 he studied at the school of the Shevchenko Theater in Khar’kov. He played in the Khar’kov, Krasnozavodsk, and Arkhangel’sk theaters. From 1942 to 1955 and from 1963 he acted in the Vakhtangov Theater. In 1955-56 he worked in the Vladimir Mayakovsky Theater, and from 1956 to 1963 in the Moscow Art Theater.

Luk’ianov’s best roles were Safonov in Simonov’s Russian People; Prokop Tarenko and Kondrat Topol’ in Korneichuk’s Come to Zvonkovoe and Makar Dubrava; Kudriash in Ostrovskii’s The Storm—at the Vakhtangov Theater; and Lopakhin in Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard—at the Moscow Art Theater. His most important role was that of Egor Bulychov in Gorky’s Egor Bulychov and the Others, at the Vakhtangov Theater (awarded the State Prize of the USSR, 1952).

Luk’ianov’s acting was characterized by manly lyricism, humor, genuine national spirit, and predilection for modern themes.

Luk’ianov also acted in films. His first role was that of criminal investigator Lartsev (The Duel, 1945). He also played the roles of Gordei Voron (Kuban Cossacks, 1950), Vasilii Bortnikov (The Return of Vasilii Bortnikov, 1953), Matvei Zhurbin (The Big Family, 1954), and Colonel Afanas’ev (The Rumiantsev Case, 1956). He received the State Prize of the USSR in 1951 and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.