Boris Dobronravov

Born Apr. 4 (16), 1896, in Moscow; died there Oct. 27, 1949. Russian Soviet actor and People’s Artist of the USSR (1937).

In 1915, Dobronravov began working in the Moscow Art Theater and was accepted in its troupe in 1924. During the overseas tour of the Moscow Art Theater from 1922 to 1924, he played the role of Alesha in a stage version of Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov and Petia Trofimov in Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. Upon his return to Moscow, Dobronravov created a number of significant roles, such as Vas’ka Pepel in Gorky’s The Lower Depths and Myshlaevskii in Bulgakov’s Day s of the Turbins. The heroic theme was profoundly developed in his performances as Platon Krechet (Korneichuk’sPlaton Krechet), Listrat (Virta’s The Earth), and Safonov (Simonov’s The Russians). In his artistry, Dobronravov combined purposefulness, warmth, and cordiality. His courageous heroes excelled in modesty, unsophistication, clarity, and strength of feelings. An actor of wide abilities, Dobronravov also excelled in roles of weak-willed persons, such as Tikhon in Ostrovskii’s The Storm, as well as character parts with comic and satirical overtones, such as Lopakhin in Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. Dobronravov’s most important roles in the 1940’s were Tsar Fedor in A. K. Tolstoi’s tragedy Tsar Fedor loannovich and Voinitskii in Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, 1947.

Dobronravov also performed in films: as Efimov in Petersburg Nights, 1934; Shabanov in Aerograd, 1935; and Davydov in Virgin Soil Upturned, 1940. He was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and a medal.