Blinnikov, Sergei

Born July 20 (Aug. 2), 1901, in Moscow; died there Sept. 28, 1969. Soviet Russian actor. People’s Artist of the USSR (1963).

Blinnikov studied at the Malyi Theater’s school and in 1922 joined the troupe of the Moscow Art Theater. A character actor, he devoted special attention to the mastery of stage discourse and the art of characterization. His roles included Aleshka and Bubnov in Gorky’s The Lower Depths, Vosmibratov in Ostrovskii’s The Forest, Prokofii Pazukhin in Saltykov-Shchedrin’s The Death of Pazukhin, Sobakevich in the stage version of Gogol’s Dead Souls, Kuroslepov in Ostrovskii’s Passionate Heart, and Trotter in The Pickwick Club, based on Dickens’ novel. Blinnikov also worked as a director and staged Gorky’s The Petite Bourgeoisie (1949) in which he played Bessemenov, Mal’tsev and Venkstern’s Second Love (1950), and Korneichuk’s On the Dnieper (1961), in which he and others played Som. From 1945 to 1959 he taught at the Nemirovich-Danchenko Studio-School. He also appeared in films. Blinnikov received the State Prize of the USSR in 1949 and 1951 and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and various medals.