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Early life

Menshikov was born in Serpukhov, Moscow Oblast, to father Evgeny (born 1934), a military engineer, and mother Yelena (born 1933), a doctor.²³

In addition to regular school, Menshikov also attended music school, where he played the piano and the violin.⁴ In 1977, he enrolled the Mikhail Shchepkin Higher Theatre School, where he studied acting under Vladimir Monakhov.⁵

Career

Menshikov had his debut role in the 1980 television film Zhdu i nadeyus (Russian: Жду и надеюсь; English: I'm Waiting and Hoping) by Suren Shazbazyan. The next year he made his film debut in Family Relations, which was his first collaboration with Nikita Mikhalkov. Menshikov then went on to star a series of successful films that made him a star in the Soviet Union, including supporting roles in Flights in Dreams and Reality (1983), Through Main Street with an Orchestra (1986) and lead roles in My Favorite Clown (1986) Moonzund (1988) and The Stairway (1989). He garnered further critical acclaim for his performance in Dyuba-Dyuba (1992), for which he was nominated for a Nika Award.

Menshikov first attracted international media attention in the Globe Theatre production When She Danced, for which he won the 1992 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He gained further success with Nikita Mikhalkov's Burnt by the Sun, in which he portrayed a manipulative and suicidal NKVD agent during Joseph Stalin's Great Purge. Burnt by the Sun won the Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Menshikov reprised his role in the Burnt by the Sun sequels Burnt by the Sun 2: Exodus (2010) and Burnt by the Sun 2: Citadel (2011).

In 1996, Menshikov starred in Sergei Bodrov's Prisoner of the Mountains, for which he won a Nika Award for Best Actor. He went on to star in Mikhalkov's The Barber of Siberia (1998) opposite Julia Ormond, and in Régis Wargnier's East/West (1999) opposite Sandrine Bonnaire and Catherine Deneuve. His most recent credits include performances in the television series Prime Suspect 6 (2003), films The State Counsellor (2005) as Erast Fandorin and Legend № 17 (2013) as Anatoly Tarasov, and the miniseries Doctor Zhivago (2006).

In 1997, Menshikov was the president of the jury at the 20th Moscow International Film Festival.⁶ Since 2012, he has served as the artistic director of the Yermolova Theatre in Moscow.⁷

Menshikov is a three-time winner of the annual State Prize of the Russian Federation for his outstanding contribution to film art.⁸⁹¹⁰ In 2003, he was named a People's Artist of Russia.¹¹ Menshikov was presented with the Order of Honour in 2010.¹²

Personal life

In 2005, Menshikov married fellow actress Anastasia Chernova.¹³ He resides in Moscow.¹⁴

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Honours

• France: Ordre des Palmes Académiques (2003)
• Russia: People's Artist of Russia (2003)
• Russia: Order of Honour (2010)
• Russia: Lev Nikolaev Medal for Achievement in Art

External links

• Oleg Menshikov at IMDb

References

1. Peter Rollberg (2009). Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema. US: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 444–445. ISBN 978-0-8108-6072-8. 978-0-8108-6072-8 ↩

2. "Картинка: Олег Меньшиков". Km.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 13 January 2017. http://www.km.ru/news/menshikov_1/dossier ↩

3. "Олег Меньшиков / Oleg Menshikov". Peoples.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 13 January 2017. http://www.peoples.ru/art/cinema/actor/menshikov/ ↩

4. "Картинка: Олег Меньшиков". Km.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 13 January 2017. http://www.km.ru/news/menshikov_1/dossier ↩

5. "Олег Меньшиков / Oleg Menshikov". Peoples.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 13 January 2017. http://www.peoples.ru/art/cinema/actor/menshikov/ ↩

6. "20th Moscow International Film Festival (1997)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 2013-03-22. Retrieved 2013-03-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20130322163106/http://moscowfilmfestival.ru/miff34/eng/archives/?year=1997 ↩

7. Pyatakov, Sergei (4 April 2012). "Олег Меньшиков станет худруком театра им. Ермоловой". Ria.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 13 January 2017. https://ria.ru/culture/20120404/617795199.html ↩

8. "Указ Президента РФ от 27.05.1996 № 779". Wikisource.ru (in Russian). 27 May 1996. Retrieved 13 January 2017. https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%A3%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%B7_%D0%9F%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B0_%D0%A0%D0%A4_%D0%BE%D1%82_27.05.1996_%E2%84%96_779 ↩

9. "Указ Президента РФ от 06.06.1998 № 657". Wikisource.ru (in Russian). 6 June 1998. Retrieved 13 January 2017. https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%A3%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%B7_%D0%9F%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B0_%D0%A0%D0%A4_%D0%BE%D1%82_06.06.1998_%E2%84%96_657 ↩

10. "Указ Президента РФ от 09.06.2000 № 1085". Wikisource.ru (in Russian). 9 June 2000. Retrieved 13 January 2017. https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%A3%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%B7_%D0%9F%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B0_%D0%A0%D0%A4_%D0%BE%D1%82_09.06.2000_%E2%84%96_1085 ↩

11. "Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 05.06.2003 г. № 621". Kremlin.ru (in Russian). 5 June 2003. Retrieved 13 January 2017. http://www.kremlin.ru/acts/bank/19571 ↩

12. "Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 08.11.2010 г. № 1385". Kremlin.ru (in Russian). 8 November 2010. Retrieved 13 January 2017. http://www.kremlin.ru/acts/bank/32070 ↩

13. "Oleg Evgenyevich Menshikov". Gloriamundi.ru (in Russian). 23 May 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2017. http://gloriamundi.ru/dossier/oleg_mentchikov/about_author.html ↩

14. "Олег Меньшиков / Oleg Menshikov". Peoples.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 13 January 2017. http://www.peoples.ru/art/cinema/actor/menshikov/ ↩