Alexander Kaidanovsky
Alexander Leonidovich Kaidanovsky (; 23 July 1946 — 2 December 1995) was a Soviet and Russian actor and film director.

His best known roles are in films such as Stalker (1979), At Home Among Strangers (1974), and The Bodyguard  (1979).

Prior to pursuing an acting career, Kaidanovsky attended technical college where he trained to become a welder. In 1965 he started studying acting at The Rostov Theatre School and the Shchukin theatrical school in Moscow. Before completing the course he took his first part in the film The Mysterious Wall (1967) and upon graduation in 1969, he worked as stage actor, making his debut at the Vakhtangov Theatre in 1969. In 1971, he was invited to join the prestigious Moscow Arts Theatre, a rare privilege for a 25-year-old graduate.

He made his major film debut in At Home Among Strangers (1974), and over the next few years appeared in some two dozen films, including the satirical comedy Diamonds for Dictatorship of the Proletariat (1976) and The Life of Beethoven (1980). At his peak in the '70s Kaidanovsky was among Soviet Russia's most popular actors, and it was at this point that famed Soviet director Andrei Tarkovsky, impressed by the looks and the acting technique of Kaidanovsky in Diamonds, invited him to play the title role in his new film, Stalker (1979). The role earned Kaidanovsky international acclaim.

In 1985 he directed A Simple Death, which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. In 1993 he directed Just Death, which was about the death of Leo Tolstoy.

Selected filmography

Anna Karenina (1967) as Jules Lando
The Mysterious Wall (1967) as Someone
Red Square (1970) as Kashchei
 The Hound of the Baskervilles (1971) as Stapleton
Investigation Held by ZnaToKi (1972, TV) as Mirkin
The Fourth (1972) as navigating officer
Failure of Engineer Garin (1973, TV Mini-Series) as Wolf 
At Home Among Strangers (1974) as Lemke, rittmeister
The Lost Expedition (1975) as Zimin
Diamonds for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat (1975) as Vorontsov
Inquest of Pilot Pirx (1979) as Tom Nowak
Stalker (1979) as Stalker
Telokhranitel (1979) as Bodyguard
The Lifeguard (1980) as  Varaksin
Rafferty (1980, TV Movie) as prosecutor Ames
Faktas (1981) as Stanislav
Atsiprasau (1982) as Pranas
Khareba da Gogia (1987) as Volkhovski
And Then There Were None (1987) as Captain Philip Lombard
New Adventures of a Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1988) as Sir Lancelot
Kerosene Salesman's Wife (1988) as Vasily Petrovich (voice) 
Songlines  Segment: For a Million (1989, director)
Just Death (1993, director)
Magic Hunter (1994) as Maxim

References

External links
 
 Alexander Kaidanovsky: articles, filmography and photos (Archived 2009-10-25) 

1946 births
1995 deaths
Actors from Rostov-on-Don
Russian male actors
Soviet male actors
Jewish Russian actors
High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors alumni
Academic staff of High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors
Russian film directors
Soviet film directors
Burials at Kuntsevo Cemetery
Film people from Rostov-on-Don