Alexander Godunov began his ballet studies at the age of nine in Riga in 1958 in the same class as Mikhail Baryshnikov.
10 Facts About Alexander Godunov
2.
Alexander Godunov joined the Bolshoi Ballet in 1971 and rose to become Premier danseur.
3.
In 1973, Alexander Godunov won a gold medal at the Moscow International Ballet Competition.
4.
Alexander Godunov joined American Ballet Theatre and danced as a principal dancer until 1982, when he had a falling-out with Mikhail Baryshnikov, the director of the company.
5.
Alexander Godunov's acting roles included an Amish farmer in Witness, a comically narcissistic symphony conductor in The Money Pit and one of the thieves in Die Hard.
6.
Alexander Godunov married Lyudmila Vlasova, a soloist with the Bolshoi Ballet, in 1971.
7.
In 1981, Alexander Godunov began dating actress Jacqueline Bisset after meeting her at a party in New York City.
8.
Alexander Godunov became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1987.
9.
On May 18,1995, Alexander Godunov's friends became concerned when he had been uncharacteristically quiet with his phone calls.
10.
Alexander Godunov's death was determined to be due to complications from hepatitis secondary to chronic alcoholism.