Russian actor Tikhonov dies at 81

Published 8:53 am Friday, December 4, 2009

MOSCOW — Film actor Vyacheslav Tikhonov, 81, known for his roles as Soviet spies and Russian princes, died today, Russian news agencies reported.

Tikhonov died in a Moscow clinic days after a heart attack, the ITAR-Tass and RIA Novosti agencies cited the Russian Cinematographers’ Union as saying.

“He was an actor who became part of our national psyche,” movie director Sergei Ursulyak was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.

Tikhonov was known in the West largely for his role as a Russian prince in the 1967 Oscar-winning film version of “War and Peace.”

Since the late 1950s, Tikhonov has starred in dozens of films where his characters often portrayed Soviet heroes who fought for the triumph of Communist ideas by overcoming moral dilemmas.

In the 1973 television series “17 Moments of Spring,” Tikhonov portrayed a historical Soviet spy who thwarted Nazi negotiation attempts with a U.S. operative.

“This role personified an ideal Soviet spy — smart, refined, intelligent,” the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Ivanov, told the ITAR-Tass news agency.

The role won Tikhonov immense popularity and government awards, including a KGB medal. It also spawned a genre of popular jokes, where Tikhonov’s character is twisted between Soviet reality and the fictional Third Reich.

Tikhonov was born in 1928 in the Moscow region and worked as a lathe operator before becoming an actor.

His last role was a cameo in the upcoming film “Burnt By the Sun 2,” a sequel to the 1994 Oscar-winning drama about Stalinist purges.

Survivors include a daughter and four grandsons.