Leonid Dyachkov was a Russian film and stage actor best known as
surgeon Petr in Du und ich (1971) by
director Larisa Shepitko. He was born in
1939, in Leningrad, and survived the siege of Leningrad during the
Second World War, as a child. From 1957 to 1961 he studied acting under
Boris Zon at Leningrad State Institute of Theatre and Film, graduating
in 1961 as actor.
From 1961 to 1985 Dyachkov was a member of the troupe at Lensoveta
Theatre in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, Russia. There his stage
partners were such actors as
Alisa Freyndlikh, Igor Vladimirov,
Georgi Zhzhyonov, Valentina Ulik,
Larisa Luppian,
Mikhail Boyarskiy, Vladimir Kuzin,
Sergey Migitsko, Leyla Kirakosian,
Dmitri Barkov, Irina Mazurkevich,
Anatoliy Ravikovich,
Mikhail Devyatkin, Anna Aleksahina,
Efim Kamenetsky, Pyotr Shelokhonov and
other notable actors. Dyachkov gave his most memorable stage
performances as Raskolnikov in "Crime and Punishment" adaptation from
the eponymous novel by
Fyodor Dostoevsky, and as Cheshkov
in 'Chelovek so storony' (aka.. A man from the outside). He played
leading and supporting roles in about thirty film and television
productions.
Dyachkov was designated People's Actor of Russia. In the 60s and 70s he
received much critical acclaim for his works on stage and in film.
However, in the late 1980s, he left the theatre company, and had a
slowdown in his acting career. He suffered from a severe depression
after the death of his only son in 1986, and the death of his wife in
1987. In an effort to make a comeback, Dyachkov joined the company at
State Pushkin Theatre (Aleksandrinsky). There he was hit in the head by
a piece of heavy stage equipment and suffered a severe head trauma;
later he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. On October 25, 1995,
Dyachkov committed suicide by jumping out of a balcony in his apartment
building, leaving a suicidal note behind. He was laid to rest in
Bogoslovskoe Cemetery in St. Petersburg, Russia.
