Mihai Volontir (9 March 1934 – 15 September 2015) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR ( rus, Народный артист СССР, Narodny artist SSSR), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. Nomenclature and significan ...

(1984).

Biography

Volontir was born on 9 March 1934 in the village of Glinjeni,

. He attended the Pedagogical Institution in

Orhei Orhei (; Yiddish ''Uriv'' – אוריװ), also formerly known as Orgeev (russian: Орге́ев), is a city, municipality and the administrative centre of Orhei District in the Moldova, Republic of Moldova, with a population of 21,065. Orhei ...

from 1952 to 1955. After over a decade of working in theatre, Volontir began appearing in films made at the

Moldova-Film ''Moldova-Film'' ( ro, Moldova-film, russian: Молдова-фильм) is a Moldovan film studio and production company founded in 1952 in the Moldavian SSR. History Moldova-Film was founded in 1947 in Chişinău as a branch of the Central Stu ...

studio in 1967. He became famous in the late 1970s after his roles in ''

In the Zone of Special Attention ''In the Zone of Special Attention'' (russian: В зоне особого внимания, V zone osobogo vnimaniya) is a 1978 Soviet action movie, directorial debut of Andrei Malyukov. It achieved cult film status among several generations of t ...

'' and ''The Gypsy'' film series. The films were so popular that he is still strongly associated with his character, Budulai, a wise lone gypsy. His performance resulted in increased tolerance towards gypsy communities in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. The film series was revived fifteen years later with a new production as well as a TV series. Volontir worked at the ''Vasile Alecsandri Theatre'' in Bălţi, where he was employed as an actor from 1957 until his death in 2015. He was also a supporter of the Romanian identity. 17 September 2015, the day of his funeral, was declared a day of National Mourning in Moldova.

Filmography

Awards

Order of the Republic (Moldova) The Order of the Republic ( ro, Ordinul Republicii) is Moldova's highest order. It is awarded by the President of Moldova for exceptional merits in all fields which benefit Moldova and humanity as a whole. The order was established in July 1992 a ...

Vasilyev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR The Vasilyev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR was an annual State Prize established by the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR in 1965. Three Vasilyev Brothers prizes were awarded annually from 1966 until 1990 for cinematographic works of all kinds ( ...

(1980) *

(1984)

References

External links

*
Volontir biography and photos
1934 births 2015 deaths People from Șoldănești District Moldovan MPs 1990–1994 Moldovan male stage actors Moldovan male film actors People's Artists of the USSR People's Artists of the Moldavian SSR Recipients of the Moldavian SSR State Prize Recipients of the Vasilyev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR Recipients of the Order of the Republic (Moldova) {{Moldova-politician-stub

Biography

Filmography

Awards

See also

References

External links