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1-50 of 354
- Actor
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Boyishly cute, diminutive and strong as a bull, but as graceful as any gazelle or swan, Mikhail Baryshnikov is a household name even to non-balletomanes. Widely considered to be one of the greatest and biggest names in dance.
Mikhail began his ballet studies in his native Riga, Latvia. He was accepted by the Leningrad Choreographic School, the associate school of the Kirov Ballet. One of his instructors there was [=nlinkm0701090], who had taught Rudolf Nureyev - who defected in Paris and was already making a name for himself in America. Among Baryshnikov's friends at the school were Alexander Godunov (nicknamed Sasha) and "ballerina assoluta" Natalia Makarova.
Mikhail joined the Kirov Ballet of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) and his technique and balletic abilities were so great, he skipped the corps and was immediately put in a soloist position. While doing quite well in Russia, even finding an audience fan-base, the government and dance seemed to be too limiting and frustrating for him. Like other Russian dancers before him and after him, he would soon defect.
When the Kirov was touring in Canada, Baryshnikov defected and then quickly became a member of the National Ballet of Canada. Later on, he joined the American Ballet Theatre becoming one of the company's principal dancers. During this time he was reintroduced to 'Gelsey Kirkland' of New York City Ballet, whom he had previously met in Russia, becoming partners both on the stage and in real life. The celebrated partnership went on to become legendary, with their most well-known work being Baryshnikov's version of Tchaikovsky's ballet "The Nutcracker".
In 1977, Mikhail made his film debut in The Turning Point (1977), a part written especially for him, where he played Yuri, a superstar ballet defector from Russia who beds more ballerinas than he dances with. Gelsey was also slated to co-star, but she wanted "no part of Hollywood", had objections to the story-line and soon after the two split. The movie went on to be nominated for 11 Oscars, including one for Mikhail.
Throughout his life Mikhail had idolized George Balanchine, the great choreographer and ballet master of the early 20th century for his innovation within the art of modern ballet. Thus, in addition to his occasional casting in films, Baryshnikov applied to and became a student of the great Balanchine, learning his choreography styles, taking a sabbatical from the ABT. Mikhail danced "Prodigal Son" and numerous other ballets at NYCB under Balanchine's direction and continued with NYCB until he was offered the position of Artistic Director at ABT. He briefly resumed the role of principal dancer, but was forced to quit professional ballet due to injuries. In the 1990's, he co-founded the White Oak Dance Project, and in 2000 received a lifetime of achievement award at the Kennedy Center Honor Awards.
Baryshnikov has been called the greatest male dancer of the 20th century and continues to dance, model and act, both in film and in the theater.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Elya Baskin is a Soviet Latvia-born American actor, best-known for his work on Spider-Man 2 (2004), The Name of the Rose (1986) and Spider-Man 3 (2007). He was born on August 11, 1950 in Riga, USSR [now Latvia] as Elya Zalmanovich Baskin to Zalman and Frieda Baskin, both of Russian Jewish descent. He attended and is a graduate of Moscow's prestigious Theatre and Variety Arts College and won a Festival of Young Actors Award at the Moscow Comedy Theatre; Baskin was virtually assured of a successful career in the Soviet Union. About his choice of profession in the former USSR he has said: "In Russia, being an actor when it was still the Soviet Union was one of the most prestigious professions. It was like being a doctor here. You had to graduate from one of very few theatre schools, which were all four-year colleges. Without the degree, nobody would hire you. We worked very hard because we wanted to get through the four years and get the diploma, but after you graduate and go to the theatre, the actors don't work like actors work here. That's what fascinated me more than anything else here, how professional people were, how hard they worked, and how much harder it was to get work. In Russia we were always taught that we had the best theatre schools, but when I came here and started to work, I saw how wrong we were. You really have to be the best to get the part here."
Then he built a formidable reputation on the European stage. Baskin immigrated to the United States in 1976 when pre-perestroika emigration rules were relaxed in 1976 and he came to Hollywood, although he spoke no English. About the change from stage to screen work, he said: "In Moscow, theatre was my passion, my love, and I did very little television and film. Once I came here, I thought that because of the language barrier -I didn't know that you don't loop the films like we do in Europe- I'll try to pursue TV and films. For some reason I lost interest in theatre. Film work became so much more fascinating, the whole building of the character, no continuity, the whole camera aspect. Those are the things that really fascinated me. The language was the biggest challenge. Instead of concentrating on the development of the character, you're thinking about your mouth, about putting your tongue in the right position so people can understand you. I've worked for 20 years, and I will never be able to do a role in English like I would do it in my native tongue, and I know it. Of course, with the years it becomes easier, and more often than not I'm cast as a character with an accent."
Baskin fit the bill in Hollywood for ethnic character portrayals, especially characters with a Slavic background and an amiable demeanor. About his being stereotyped, he said: "I feel that, of course, I'm stereotyped. But what can you do? I can't imagine that some director would cast me as a sheriff from Alabama. But you can do exactly what you said: With every character, they're different people, and it's up to you what you do with them. This is your challenge. It doesn't matter how limited your piece of the pie that you can use, you always try to do the best that you can. How can I be upset for not being cast as a Southern sheriff? That's what you call acting; you try to utilize whatever you can to be a different person every time."
He achieved his international breakthrough, however, at the hands of Hollywood giant Paul Mazursky, who cast him opposite Robin Williams as the clownish Russian circus performer Anatoly in the masterful serio-comedy, Moscow on the Hudson (1984) where the actor's birdlike arm-flapping became one of the film's most poignant and memorable images. An additional collaboration with Mazursky followed, the 1989 smash Enemies: A Love Story; in the meantime, Baskin began to rack up a litany of roles in additional A-list projects, including 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984), Vice Versa (1988), and Love Affair (1994). The Pickle (1993) re-teamed Baskin and Mazursky for a third occasion; unfortunately, it failed to match the critical or commercial success of its predecessors.
Baskin remained popular through the end of the following decade, with a memorable comedic turn as Vladimir on the sitcom Mad About You, and prominent roles in films such as Spider-Man 3 and The Dukes (both 2007). He has continued playing guest roles on TV in such series as The West Wing, Alias, The Closer, Criminal Minds, Heroes, and Cold Case.
Baskin emigrated to the United States in 1976 and became a United States citizen on April 1, 1985. He and his wife Marina have been married since 1995. They have one child, a daughter, Michelle.- Cynthia Lynn was born on 2 April 1937 in Riga, Latvia. She was an actress, known for Hogan's Heroes (1965), Mission: Impossible (1966) and The Six Million Dollar Man (1974). She died on 10 March 2014 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Writer
Rutanya Alda was born on 13 October 1942 in Riga, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union. She is an actress and writer, known for The Deer Hunter (1978), Mommie Dearest (1981) and Amityville II: The Possession (1982). She was previously married to Richard Bright.- Director
- Writer
- Editor
The son of an affluent architect, Eisenstein attended the Institute of Civil Engineering in Petrograd as a young man. With the fall of the tsar in 1917, he worked as an engineer for the Red Army. In the following years, Eisenstein joined up with the Moscow Proletkult Theater as a set designer and then director. The Proletkult's director, Vsevolod Meyerhold, became a big influence on Eisenstein, introducing him to the concept of biomechanics, or conditioned spontaneity. Eisenstein furthered Meyerhold's theory with his own "montage of attractions"--a sequence of pictures whose total emotion effect is greater than the sum of its parts. He later theorized that this style of editing worked in a similar fashion to Marx's dialectic. Though Eisenstein wanted to make films for the common man, his intense use of symbolism and metaphor in what he called "intellectual montage" sometimes lost his audience. Though he made only seven films in his career, he and his theoretical writings demonstrated how film could move beyond its nineteenth-century predecessor--Victorian theatre-- to create abstract concepts with concrete images.- Actress
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Natasha Shneider was born on 22 May 1956 in Riga, Latvian SSR, USSR. She was an actress, known for 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984), 2012 (2009) and Catwoman (2004). She was married to Alain Johannes and Serge Kapustin. She died on 2 July 2008 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Natalia Ryumina is a Latvian born British actress. She grew up in a multilingual family, speaking Russian, Latvian, Ukrainian, English and German. After graduating from Jazep Medin Riga School of Music, where she had trained as a classical singer, she moved to London to study at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and work with the world famous American acting coach Jack Waltzer. During her studies she also worked as a fashion model for various designers, including Vivienne Westwood, and was the lead singer in a British heavy metal band Into The Woods. Her first television appearance was in a BBC drama Holby City, followed by a number of other productions, including Waterloo Road and Moving On. Her film work includes feature films Their Finest by Lone Scherfig, and most recently, Anton by Oscar nominated Zaza Urushadze and The Inheritance by Chad Barager and Kevin Speckmaier.- Director
- Producer
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Bill Rebane was born on 8 February 1937 in Riga, Latvia. He is a director and producer, known for Twister's Revenge! (1988), The Capture of Bigfoot (1979) and The Alpha Incident (1978). He was previously married to Barbara J. Rebane.- Katrina Blaua was born in February 1997 in Riga, Latvia. She is an actress, known for Mutiny (2024), Nelugtie Viesi (2023) and Fear No One (2021). She has been married to Marcis Zebergs since 25 September 2024.
- Ilze Taurins was born on 29 August 1933 in Riga, Latvia. She is an actress, known for Burke's Law (1963), The Wild Wild West (1965) and The Gallant Men (1962).
- Agata Mutsenietse was born on 1 March 1989 in Riga, Latvian SSR, USSR. She is an actress, known for Zakrytaya shkola (2011), Podval Gospodina Grinberga (2023) and Solovey-Razboynik (2012). She was previously married to Pavel Priluchnyy.
- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
Vilis Lapenieks was born on 10 November 1931 in Riga, Latvia. He was a cinematographer and actor, known for Kojak (1973), The Creature Wasn't Nice (1981) and Newman's Law (1974). He died on 3 July 1987 in North Hollywood, California, USA.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Rosa von Praunheim was born on 25 November 1942 in Riga, Ostland [now Latvia]. He is a director and writer, known for Anita: Dances of Vice (1987), Horror Vacui (1984) and Tough Love (2015). He was previously married to Carla Egerer.- Stephen Berne was born in 1887 in Riga, Latvia. He was an actor, known for La bestia magnífica (1952), Hanged Man's Soul Against the Black Whip (1959) and El Monstruo Resucitado (1953). He died on 2 March 1968 in Mexico, D.F., Mexico.
- Producer
- Executive
- Actor
Byron Habinsky is an American film producer. In the fall of 1989, having just turned 11 years old, Habinsky and his family immigrated to the United States and settled in the Bronx borough of New York City.
With an innate interest in cinema and acting, Habinsky got his start on stage. He has appeared as Phil in Hurlyburly, portrayed Chris Keller in Arthur Miller's All My Sons and played the role of Valentin in Kiss of the Spider Woman. It is that range and versatility that soon landed him on the big screen and he began fielding offers to appear in film and television.
Being an entrepreneur for most of his adult life, Habinsky has successfully started and grown a number of businesses in various industries and now had his sights set on producing. In 2011 Habinsky Executive Produced The Sea Is All I Know (2011), a critically acclaimed drama starring Academy Award winner Melissa Leo and journeyman actor Peter Gerety. He followed that up by Executive Producing Not in Tel Aviv (2012), an Israeli dark comedy that went on to play a number of notable film festivals and has won the praise of critics and audiences alike. Both pictures successfully found distribution. In 2013, Habinsky founded Delirium Picturehouse to focus on acquiring, developing and producing high-quality motion pictures.
Today, Habinsky fully oversees all of Delirium Picturehouse's current properties as the company forges ahead in creating meaningful as well as commercially viable content.- Of Jewish origins, Wolf Ruvinskis Manevics was born in 1921 in Riga (Latvia), but fearing persecution during World War II his family relocated to Argentina, where they lived in extreme poverty. In spite of his deprived childhood, Wolf excelled in sports and became interested in wrestling. When he was 19 years old he started his professional career and toured South America, the United States and Mexico, where he decided to stay. Although he stayed on the ring until the 1960s - in matches with top Mexican wrestlers, as El Santo, Black Shadow, El Médico Asesino and Lobo Negro - Wolf was also a tango singer and a magician, and in 1949 he was called to act on the stage and in films. One of his biggest successes was La bestia magnífica (1952), the first in a series of movies centered on Neutron, a character he created. His popularity was firmly established with his role as the handsome rural boy who becomes the victim of a mad scientist in the cult film tt0044416, he was a regular performer in all kinds of movies until the 1990's and was nominated for an Ariel as Best Supporting Actor for Juego limpio (1995). He was also a businessman, and married three times: to Beatriz Perez, to dancer Armida Herrera, and to actress Lilia Michel until his death in 1999.
- Nina Maslova is a Soviet and Russian theater and film actress. Honored Artist of the Russian Federation.
She didn't intend to become an actress. However, fate brought her to Moscow, where she followed the guy with whom she was in love. True, she first entered the Moscow Irrigation Institute, where she studied for two years - 1964-1965. Then the girl with a spectacular appearance was offered to try herself in the theater. And in 1965 she became a student at the Moscow Art Theater School. However, she studied there only until 1967, then she was expelled. But already in the same 1967 she was accepted into VGIK, from which she graduated in 1971, the workshop of Sergey Gerasimov and Tamara Makarova.
She got her first filming experience in the 1967 short film 'We Wish You Success'. In 1969, she starred in a feature film for the first time - in the film Obvinyayutsya v ubiystve (1969), she played the beautiful Elya. The actress gained wide recognition after minor, but very striking roles - the first beauty in the evening school Vika Korovyanskaya in the serial television film The Long Recess (1973), Tsarina Marfa Vasilyevna in the comedy Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession (1973) and Elena Orlova in the comedy melodrama Afonya (1975). - Actor
- Producer
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The multi-talented comedian, pianist, singer and home-spun poet Heinz Erhardt was born in Riga, the son of a successful bandmaster. After his parents split up, he had a somewhat unsettled upbringing, spent, alternately, with his mother in St. Petersburg, with his grandparents in Riga and with his father in Hannover. Forced to change school some fifteen times, he eventually completed his education -- though failing to matriculate -- and commenced musical studies at the Leipzig Conservatory under the distinguished concert pianist and educator Professor Robert Teichmüller. He then had a stint as a piano salesman, but soon put his talents to better use 'tickling the ivories' and performing as a cabaret artist and stand-up comic in cafés and on radio in Danzig. He made his proper stage debut at the Riga Schauspielhaus in 1932 in a play, for which he had also composed the music. Then followed several years of financial hardship supporting his new family, a wife and four children. However, in 1938 he was invited by the actor and emcee Willi Schaeffers to join the popular satirical revue Kabarett der Komiker in Berlin. Erhardt quickly established a singular reputation as humorist, as well as persisting with his musical vocation. Though a non-swimmer, he was conscripted to serve as a pianist with the orchestra of the German Navy during the Second World War.
After the war, he resumed work on the stage in Hamburg and had a huge national hit as presenter of a weekly radio series ("So was Dummes") which spotlighted his forte for spontaneous wit, pun poetry and double entendre. Eventually, the screen beckoned, initially finding him cast in minor supporting parts or as a singing pianist. As his radio fame grew, the bespectacled, cherubic, corpulent Erhardt became an instant cinematic favorite. His starring debut in Der müde Theodor (1957) was a box-office blockbuster, followed with a back-to-back hit in Widower with 5 Daughters (1957). A kind of querulous equivalent to Hollywood's S.Z. Sakall, Erhardt often lampooned bourgeois values and philistine preoccupations. Thus, even his more irritating characters, like Paul Perlacher in Der Haustyrann (1959), were never dislikeable.
In order to escape his typecasting as a comedian, Erhardt founded his own television production company in 1961, though the venture lasted a mere two years.The public seemed more than reluctant to accept Erhardt in any genre other than comedy. Following this disappointment, he returned to the small screen, inevitably in his familiar comic guises, including a recurring role as good-hearted but hapless taxation officer Willi Winzig. He also proceeded to publish several best-selling compilations of his comic poetry and profited from numerous record sales of his live performances. Sadly, in December 1971, Erhardt suffered a paralysing stroke and lost the facility of speech, which effectively put an end to his career. He died eight years later in Hamburg at the age of seventy, six months after receiving Germany's highest award, the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Federal Cross of Merit).- Lilita Ozolina is a Soviet and Latvian theater and film actress. Honored Artist of the Latvian SSR.
Born in Riga, in a family of intellectuals: mother Albertina, worked as an assistant director at a German film studio, father Arvid, was a test pilot. At the age of ten, she auditioned for the role of a shepherdess in the film Ekho (1960), but she was not taken. After 8 years, Lilita entered the People's Film Actor Studio at the Riga Film Studio. During her school years, she planned to become a doctor. And in parallel with her studies, she underwent vocational training at a medical school and practiced as a nurse at the Republican Children's Clinical Hospital in Riga. Since 1966, she began working at the Jan Rainis Art Theatre. In 1969, Lilita graduated from the film actor studio, and in 1971 - the acting department of the J. Vitols Latvian State Conservatory.
She made her film debut, playing the role of Velta in the film Kad lietus un veji sitas loga (1968), which was filmed by one of the studio's teachers, director Aloizs Brencs. This was followed by other film work. However, it was her role as Marta in Dolgaya doroga v dyunakh (1982) that brought her popularity. Having played Marta, she became the star of the Soviet screen. Her photographs were instantly sold out at the kiosks, and young mothers named their daughters after her heroine. The success of the film was followed by numerous film offers. She starred in the musical Isa pamaciba milesana (1982), in the comedy Salavecisa personiga dzive (1982), in the political detective story Dvoynoy kapkan (1986) and others. - Director
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Alan Melikdjanian is the son of a well-known Soviet-era Russian circus performer Vilen Melikdjanian. At a very young age, he developed impressive drawing skills, designing characters and worlds in countless caricatures and comic strips. He considered pursuing a career in animation, but eventually his interests evolved into filmmaking. Alan started his early attempts at films typically: armed with a friend's wind-up 8mm camera and a series of old books about trick photography. At age 12, Alan immigrated to the United States with his family. He began to study film academically. As a student he created a series of ambitious projects that incorporated good story-telling and creative use of subtle (and not so subtle) visual effects. Directing the short film "The Realm" earned him a Best Thesis Director award at film school. He graduated from college with a BFA Degree in Film Production. Quickly gaining several professional credits as director, he has continued to work in other capacities, such as editor, visual effects supervisor and composer.- Nikita Tarasov was born on 3 December 1979 in Riga, Latvian SSR, USSR. He is an actor, known for Attraction (2017), Forgotten Experiment (2023) and Battle for Sevastopol (2015).
- Dana Abyzova was born on 12 May 1989 in Riga, Latvian SSR, USSR. She is an actress, known for Na tvoey storone (2019), Gogol. A Terrible Vengeance (2018) and Papashi.
- Producer
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Ingster was born in 1903 in Riga of what is now Latvia. He worked with Sergei Eisenstein in Russia before arriving in the United States in 1930. In the 1930's, he worked as a writer for several movies, among them The Story of Alexander Graham Bell. His directorial debut was in the 1940 classic "Stranger on the Third Floor," in which he was also a writer. Two of his other efforts were as contributing writer of the controversial 1943 propaganda film "Song of Russia" and writer-director of the 1949 comedy "The Judge Steps Out."
In the 1950's and 1960's, Ingster gravitated to television, where he produced episodes of various series, including 25 episodes of "Wagon Train," 18 episodes of "The Roaring 20's," 11 episodes of "Cheyenne," and 38 episodes of "The Man from U.N.C.L.E."
Ingster was married at least four times: to Leni Stengel (m.1930), Wilma (m. 1938), Zita Perczel (m.1944 - d. 1954), and Christiane (nee Deleval, later Oshay) (m.1955-his death). By the latter marriage, he had a son, Michael (c.1962-). Ingster died in Woodland Hills California on August 7, 1978.- Juris Zagars was born on 26 January 1961 in Riga, Latvia. He is an actor, known for Troubled Minds (2021), Bezvests Pazudusas (2020) and In from the Cold (2022).
- Vladimir Koshevoy was born on 1 September 1976 in Riga, Latvian SSR, USSR [now Latvia]. He is an actor, known for Crime and Punishment (2007), Petropolis (2022) and Liturgiya oglashennykh (2018).