Viktor Stanitsyn

Viktor Stanitsyn was a legendary actor and director of the Moscow Art Theatre, best known for his role as Prince Ilya Rostov in the Academy Award-winning film War and Peace (1965) by director Sergey Bondarchuk.

He was born Viktor Yakovlevich Gyoze (later changed name to Stanitsyn) on May 2, 1897, in Yekaterinoslav, Russian Empire (now Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine). From 1918 - 1924 he studied acting under Michael Chekhov, following the system of Konstantin Stanislavski at 2nd Studio of Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT), graduating in 1924 as an actor.

From 1924 - 1976 Viktor Stanitsyn was a permanent member of the troupe at Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT). There his stage partners were such renown Russian actors as Konstantin Stanislavski, Olga Knipper-Chekhova, Ivan Moskvin, Alla Tarasova, Anatoli Ktorov, Olga Androvskaya, Angelina Stepanova, Nikolay Khmelyov, Mikhail Yanshin, Aleksey Gribov, Boris Livanov, Mikhail Kedrov, Mark Prudkin, Anastasiya Georgievskaya, Vasili Toporkov, Mikhail Bolduman, Pavel Massalsky, and the next generation of MKhAT actors - Oleg Efremov, Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy, Kira Golovko, Iya Savvina, Anastasiya Voznesenskaya, Irina Miroshnichenko, Oleg Tabakov, Andrey Myagkov, Vladimir Kashpur, Viktor Sergachyov, Vyacheslav Nevinnyy, Sergey Sazontev, Avangard Leontev, Igor Vasilev, and others. Stanitsyn's acting career spanned over 50 years, and he was a member of the board at Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT). His most important stage works were such roles as Molchalin in "Gore ot Uma" (aka.. Woe from Wit), a play by Aleksandr Griboyedov, and Mister Pickwick in a popular stage adaptation of the Dickens's novel.

Viktor Stanitsyn received the Stalin's Prize five times (1944, 1947, 1949, 1951, and 1952), was designated People's Actor of the USSR (1948), and was awarded the Stanislavsky State Prize of Russia (1974). He was married to actress Elena Ponsova and the couple had one daughter, Olga Stanitsina. Stanitsyn died of a heart failure on December 26, 1976, in Moscow, and was laid to rest in Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, Russia.