Evgenii Iakovlevich Diordiev

Born Oct. 7 (20), 1912, in Odessa. Russian Soviet actor and producer. People’s Artist of the USSR (1970).

Diordiev was graduated from the school at the Odessa Theater of Drama, where he began his creative activities (1930-35). He worked in several theaters, including the Tiraspol’ Theater (1935-37) and the Sverdlovsk Theater (1937-40). Since 1946 he has been an actor and producer at the Alma-Ata Russian Theater. Diordiev is noted for his skill in impersonation, inclination toward character roles, brilliant comedy, and profound psychological portrayal of dramatic roles. Since the 1940’s he has worked as a producer and has taught.

Diordiev’s roles have included Ferdinand in Schiller’s Intrigue and Love, Godun in Lavrenev’s The Break, Paratov in Ostrovskii’s The Girl Without a Dowry, Gorodnichii in Gogol’s The Inspector-General, Lear in Shakespeare’s King Lear, and Egor Bulychov in Gorky’s Egor Bulychov and the Others. He staged Gorky’s Counterfeit Coin in 1950, De Filippo’s Filumena Marturano in 1959 (he played Domenico), Vishnevskii’s Optimistic Tragedy in 1960 (he played Vozhak), and Pavlova’s Conscience in 1966. He also worked as a motion picture actor. Diordiev has been awarded the Order of Lenin.