Ants Mihkelevich Lauter

Born June 23 (July 5), 1894, in Valga, now in Raplas Raion. Estonian Soviet actor and director; People’s Artist of the USSR (1948).

Lauter made his debut in 1913 at the Estonia Theater (Tallinn). In 1917 and 1918 he performed in Russian theaters in Novgorod and then worked at the Estonia Theater (1918–41; managing director, 1944–49) and at the Vanemujne Theater in Tartu (1951–58; managing director, 1953–55). His roles included Khlestakov and the Mayor (in Gogol’s The Inspector-General); Hamlet, Othello, and Shylock (in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Othello, and The Merchant of Venice); and lives and Heinman (in Vil’de’s Liaison and Intangible Marvel).

Lauter’s acting is distinguished by intellectual subtlety and concise expressiveness. He began directing in 1919, and his productions include Vil’de’s House Spirit (1924 and 1938), Gorky’s Enemies (1946), Simonov’s The Russian Question (1947), Iakobson’s Two Camps (1948), Chekhov’s Three Sisters (1948), and Gogol’s The Inspector-General (1954).

Lauter taught at the Estonian Conservatory (1938–41) and the Theatrical Institute (1945–50), becoming a professor in 1947. He made his first motion picture in 1924. Lauter received the State Prize of the USSR in 1952. He was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and several medals.