Ivan Dmitriyev was a Russian character actor known as Gorelov in the
criminal drama Krutye gorki (1956)
by director Nikolai Rozantsev.
He was born Ivan Petrovich Dmitriyev on 30 July 1915, in Vyshny
Volochiok, Tver Province, Russia. From 1932 to 1936 he studied acting
under the legendary Yuri Yuriev at the Leningrad Institute of Theatre,
Music, and Cinematography, graduating with honors in 1936. That same
year he made his stage debut in the Lermontov's "Masquerade" by
director Vsevolod Meyerhold.
Ivan Dmitriyev had a stellar career as a stage actor. For several years
he worked at various stage companies in Leningrad, such as, Theatre of
Comedy and Theatre of the Baltic Fleet. From 1948 to 1973 he was a
permanent member of the troupe and the leading actor at the Theatre of
Komissarzhevskoi in St. Petersburg. There his stage partners were such
actors as Alisa Freyndlikh,
Galina Korotkevich,
Ivan Krasko,
Vladimir Chestnokov, Valentina
Chemberg, Tamara Abrosimova,
Natalya Chetverikova,
Tatyana Samarina,
Sergey Boyarskiy,
Nikolay Boyarskiy, Yefim Kamenetsky,
Mikhail Khrabrov, Stanislav Landgraf,
Georgiy Korolchuk, Vladimir Osobik,
Boris Sokolov, Pyotr Shelokhonov, and
other notable Russian actors. There, Ivan Dmitriyev made memorable
appearances in various classic and contemporary plays under such
directors, as Leonid Vivyen,
Aleksandr Belinsky, Zinovi
Korogodsky, Igor Vladimirov and Ruben
Agamirzyan.
From 1974 to 2000 he was a permanent member of the troupe and the
leading actor of the Pushkin Drama Theatre in Leningrad (St.
Petersburg). There his stage partners were such remarkable actors as
Nikolay Cherkasov,
Nikolai Simonov,
Vasiliy Merkurev,
Konstantin Skorobogatov,
Yuriy Tolubeev,
Aleksandr Borisov,
Bruno Frejndlikh,
Vladimir Chestnokov,
Vladimir Erenberg,
Konstantin Adashevsky, Leonid
Vivyen, Olga Lebzak,
Nina Mamaeva,
Lidiya Shtykan,
Nina Urgant,
Igor Gorbachyov, and other notable
Russian actors. His most memorable stage appearance was as Satin in
"The Lower Depths" by Maxim Gorky. Besides
his appearance as Gorelov in the criminal drama
Krutye gorki (1956) by director
Nikolai Rozantsev, Dmitriev also
appeared in several memorable supporting roles, such as, Starpom in
Rette sich wer kann! (1961) and as
Varentsov in criminal drama
Das geht mich nichts an (1976)
by director Gerbert Rappaport.
Ivan Dmitriyev was designated People's Artist of the USSR (1980). He
also taught acting as professor at the Institute of Theatre, Music, and
Cinematography. He died of a heart failure on 23 October 2003, in St.
Petersburg, and was laid to rest in the Necropolis of Masters of Art
"Literatorskie Mostki" at the Volkovo Cemetery in St. Petersburg,
Russia.
