20 Facts About Boris Babochkin

Boris Andreyevich Babochkin was a Soviet and Russian film and theater actor and director.

Boris Babochkin was one of the first internationally recognized stars of the Soviet-Russian cinema.

Boris Babochkin rose to fame with the title role in the classic film Chapaev and later, in the 1950s, he played a sharp anti-communist character on stage in Moscow, for which he was censored by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

At age 14 Boris Babochkin joined the Red Army and served for one year in the same front on Volga and the Urals with the legendary commander Chapayev, whom he would later portray, although they never met.

In 1920 Boris Babochkin entered a local drama school in Saratov, but he soon dropped out and moved to Moscow to pursue an acting career.

From 1927 to 1940 Boris Babochkin lived and worked in Leningrad.

Boris Babochkin married a young ballerina, Yekaterina Georgieva, and they became involved in the city's cultural life.

Boris Babochkin continued his studies of theatre and film, and made his film acting debut at Lenfilm Studio in 1927.

In 1937, when Dikiy was arrested and imprisoned in the Gulag camps, Boris Babochkin was hurt and suffered an emotional crisis.

In 1937 Boris Babochkin stepped in as artistic director of the Bolshoi Drama Theater in Leningrad and worked in that position until 1940.

In 1940 Boris Babochkin was summoned by the Soviet leadership and moved back to Moscow, a move that he later described as the biggest mistake in his life.

In 1952 Boris Babochkin became artistic director of the Moscow Drama Theater named after Pushkin.

Boris Babochkin banned the play and restricted the world-famous actor, known as Chapayev, from public performances.

Boris Babochkin's acting career was suppressed until the death of his high-ranking Communist opponent Furtseva.

From 1955 until his death in 1975, Boris Babochkin was a permanent member of the troupe at the Maly Theatre in Moscow.

Boris Babochkin was the youngest actor designated People's Artist of the RSFSR.

Boris Babochkin was awarded the Stalin Prize and USSR State Prize.

Boris Babochkin received numerous awards and decorations in recognition of his best known film role as Chapaev.

Outside of his acting career, Boris Babochkin taught a class at Moscow Film School ; he wrote numerous articles and critical works about film and theatre.

Boris Babochkin died of a heart attack while driving his Volga on 17 July 1975, in Moscow, and was interred in Novodevichy Cemetery.