Famous actor Mher Mkrtchyan’s 82nd birth anniversary

PanARMENIAN.Net - July 4 marks 82nd birth anniversary of a famous actor Mher Mkrtchyan, with a memory of him alive in the hearts of many Armenians.Mher (Frunzik) Mkrtchyan (July 4, 1930 – December 29, 1993) was a popular Soviet Armenian actor who was named a People's Artist of the Soviet Union in 1984.

Mkrtchyan was born in Leninakan, currently Gyumri, Armenia. He studied in Leninakan Art College and Theatre Studio, and Yerevan Institute of Fine Arts and Theatre.

Since 1953, he has performed in Yerevan’s Sundukyan Drama Theatre. The actor directed many successful productions, best of them Maxim Gorky's "The Lower Depths".

His cinema career began in 1955. His famous roles in Rolan Bykov's "Aybolit-66" (1966), Leonid Gaidai's "Kidnapping, Caucasian Style" (1966), and Georgi Daneliya's "Mimino" (1977) earned him the reputation of one of the leading comedy actors in the Soviet Union.

But that reputation sometimes overshadowed his real talent and emotional depth which he put into his roles in such classics of Armenian cinema as "Yerankyuni" ("Triangle") (1967), "Menq enq, mer sarere" ("We, Our Mountains") (1969), "Hayrik" ("Father") (1973), "Nahapet" (1977), "Hin oreri yerge" ("Old Days' Song") (1982), "Mer mankutyan tangon" ("Tango of Our Childhood") (1985). Among his many awards was the USSR State Prize for 1978.