Matveev, Evgenii

Born Mar. 8, 1922, in the village of Novoukrainka, Skadovsk Raion, Kherson Oblast. Soviet Russian actor and film director. People’s Artist of the USSR (1974). Member of the CPSU since 1948.

After studying at the Kiev School for Motion-picture Actors from 1940 to 1941, Matveev appeared in theaters in Tiumen’ and Novosibirsk. From 1952 to 1968 he was with the Moscow Malyi Theater. His roles have included Latkin in Nikitin’s Northern Dawns, Berkut in Sofronov’s Money, and Iarovoi in Trenev’s Liubov’ Iarovaia.

Since the 1960’s, Matveev has worked mainly in motion pictures. His film roles have included Konstantin in The House I Live in, Nagul’nov in Virgin Soil Upturned, Nekhliudov in Resurrection, Shapovalov in High Rank, and Fedotov in Native Blood. He portrayed L. I. Brezhnev in the film Soldiers of Freedom (1977). Matveev has directed the films The Gypsy (1967), in which he also played the role of Budulai; A Postal Romance (1970), in which he played Kovshov; and Earthly Love (1975) and Fate (1977), in both of which he played Zakhar Deriugin.

Matveev received the Vasil’ev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR in 1974 and the State Prize of the USSR in 1979. He has been awarded the Order of Lenin and several medals.