Vitalii Politseimako

Born Apr. 22 (May 5), 1906, in Tsaritsyn, now Volgograd; died Dec. 21, 1967, in Leningrad. Soviet actor. People’s Artist of the USSR (1957). Member of the CPSU from 1948.

Politseimako graduated from the Leningrad Technicum of Theater Arts in 1927 and in that year began acting in the Leningrad Young People’s Theater. Beginning in 1930 he acted in the Gorky Bolshoi Drama Theater. His best roles were in Gorky’s plays and included Egor Bulychov in Egor Bulychov and the Others, Nil in Smug Citizens, Nestrashnyi and Dostigaev in Dos-tigaev and the Others, Dvoetochie in The Summer People, and Redozubov in The Barbarians.

The popular nature of Politseimako’s talent, his vitality, and the lofty romanticism of his acting were factors contributing to his outstanding portrayals of heroes of Soviet drama, including Godun in Lavrenev’s The Break and Shadrin in Pogodin’s Man With a Gun. He was also gifted in satirical, accusatory roles, for example, Prokopii Pazukhin in Saltykov-Shchedrin’s The Death of Pazukhin and Zub in Shtein’s The Ocean. An important role in his repertoire was Aesop in Figueiredo’s The Fox and the Grapes. Politseimako also acted in films. He was awarded the State Prize of the USSR (1951), two orders, and several medals.