Oleg Tabakov

After graduating from the Moscow Art Theater School in 1956, Oleg Tabakov became a founding member of The Sovremennik (Contemporary) Theatre, serving as its Producing Director between 1971 and 1976. Mr. Tabakov joined the MXAT in 1983, was named the head of the MXAT School in 1986, and Artistic Director of the Moscow Art Theatre in 2000.

As one of the most prominent theatre and movie actors in Russia, Mr. Tabakov has been seen in more than 150 roles at The Sovremennik and at MXAT, including Malvolio in Twelfth Night, Salieri in Amadeus, Ivan Kolomiytsev in The Last People by Maxim Gorky, and Anchugin in Anecdotes by Vampilov. His film appearances most well-known to Western audiences include Oblomov in Oblomov, Scherbuk in Unfinished Piece for the Mechanical Piano, and Pyotr Rostov in War and Peace. He has directed over 30 productions in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. His teaching credentials include workshops and productions at the Paris Conservatoire, the British American Drama Academy, Akademie Der Künst in Hamburg, the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna, Carnegie Mellon, The Juilliard School, New York University, Florida State University, The University of Delaware, and Harvard University. Mr. Tabakov is the recipient of the highest national and international awards for artistic excellence, including the title of People's Artist of the Soviet Union, the USSR State Prize for the Arts, the Russian State Prize for the Arts, and other national and international awards and decorations from Hungary, France, Poland, and the USSR.