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IMDbPro

Arkady Raykin(1911-1987)

  • Actor
  • Director
  • Writer
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Arkady Raykin in My s vami gde-to vstrechalis (1954)
Arkady Isaakovich Raykin was born on October 24, 1911, in Riga, Russian Empire (now Riga, Latvia). His father, named Isaak Raykin, worked at the Riga sea port. In 1922 his family moved to Petrograd (now St. Petersburg, Russia). There young Raykin took his first acting lessons at the local drama club. In 1935 he graduated from Leningrad Theater and Film Institute, where his classmate was actor Georgi Zhzhyonov. Raykin began his acting career at Leningrad Theater of Young Workers (TRAM). At that time Raykin also began his film career by playing small roles, often uncredited.

His great acting talent unfolded in stand-up comedy. His hallmark momentalism, his razor-sharp wit, and a free-spirited humor won him the love of millions. In 1939 Raykin became the winner of the 1st National All-Soviet Competition of Comedians, where he performed two numbers, a parody of Charlie Chaplin and "Mishka" (Little Bear). In 1939 he became one of the founders of Leningrad Theater of Estrada and Miniature Comedy. During the Second World War, Arkady Raykin made numerous performances for the Red Army soldiers, who were fighting the Nazis on the front-line. In 1942, during the siege of Leningrad, Raykin became the Artistic Director of Leningrad Theater of Miniatures. His witty performances helped to lift the spirits of the survivors in Leningrad, while the city was besieged by the Nazis. Raykin was decorated for his courage and for the numerous stage performances he made during the war.

Arkady Raykin was the undisputed leader among comedians in the Soviet Union. He was often called a Russian Chaplin. Raykin had a special way of using comedy to ridicule the Soviet communism by satirizing the inefficient bureaucracy and absurdity of the Soviet system. Despite the politically sensitive performances and despite his being a Jew, Arkady Raykin was lionized both popularly and officially. He performed to consistently "sold out" audiences and toured all over the former USSR and abroad for over 50 years. In 1982 he moved his theatre company from Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) to Moscow. There he opened the State Theatre of Miniatures which is now Arkady Raykin Satyricon Theatre, run by his son, actor Konstantin Raykin.

Arkady Raykin was designated the title of People's Artist of the USSR (1968), was awarded the State Lenin Prize (1980), and also received the highest civilian award in the Soviet Union, the Hero of Socialist Labour (1981). He died of a heart failure on December 20, 1987, in Moscow, and was laid to rest in the Novodevichye Cemetery in Moscow, Russia.
BornOctober 24, 1911
DiedDecember 20, 1987(76)
BornOctober 24, 1911
DiedDecember 20, 1987(76)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Awards
    • 2 wins

Photos9

Nikolai Chistyakov, Arkady Raykin, and Bronislava Tronova in My s vami gde-to vstrechalis (1954)
Leonid Gallis and Arkady Raykin in My s vami gde-to vstrechalis (1954)
Georgi Gumilevsky and Arkady Raykin in My s vami gde-to vstrechalis (1954)
Arkady Raykin
Arkady Raykin in My s vami gde-to vstrechalis (1954)
Arkady Raykin in My s vami gde-to vstrechalis (1954)
Arkady Raykin and Lyudmila Tselikovskaya in My s vami gde-to vstrechalis (1954)
Muslim Magomayev, Edita Pekha, Arkady Raykin, Dalvin Shcherbakov, Galina Spoludennaya, and Lyudmila Zykina in Kogda pesnya ne konchaetsya (1965)

Known for

Lyudi i manekeny (1975)
Lyudi i manekeny
7.8
TV Mini Series
  • Actor(as Arkadi Rajkin)
Lyudmila Tselikovskaya and Sergey Datskevich in My s vami gde-to vstrechalis (1954)
My s vami gde-to vstrechalis
7.0
  • Gennady Vladimirovich Maksimov
  • 1954
Muz mnoha tvárí
  • Actor(as Arkadi Rajkin)
  • 1958
Veceras improvizujemo Rajkina
TV Movie
  • Writer
  • 1966

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor

  • Korolevskiy buterbrod (1985)
    Korolevskiy buterbrod
    • Narrator (voice)
    • Short
    • 1985
  • Pyotr Martynovich i gody bolshoy zhizni (1976)
    Pyotr Martynovich i gody bolshoy zhizni
    • 1976
  • Lyudi i manekeny (1975)
    Lyudi i manekeny
    • TV Mini Series
    • 1975
  • Volshebnaya sila iskusstva (1970)
    Volshebnaya sila iskusstva
    • (as Arkadi Rajkin)
    • TV Movie
    • 1970
  • Alisa Freyndlikh, Gennadi Korolkov, Anatoliy Papanov, and Georgiy Vitsin in Vchera, segodnya i vsegda (1969)
    Vchera, segodnya i vsegda
    • Artist Repkin
    • Director of Button Factory Krugozorov
    • Director of Garment Factory Slonovnikov ...
    • TV Movie
    • 1969
  • Svetlana Starikova in Two hours earlier (1967)
    Two hours earlier
    • Cameo
    • TV Movie
    • 1967
  • Skazki russkogo lesa (1966)
    Skazki russkogo lesa
    • Khlestakov (1966)
    • TV Movie
    • 1966
  • Muslim Magomayev, Edita Pekha, Arkady Raykin, Dalvin Shcherbakov, Galina Spoludennaya, and Lyudmila Zykina in Kogda pesnya ne konchaetsya (1965)
    Kogda pesnya ne konchaetsya
    • Mime
    • 1965
  • Yuriy Tsarev in The Bath House (1962)
    The Bath House
    • 1962
  • Muz mnoha tvárí
    • (as Arkadi Rajkin)
    • 1958
  • Lyudmila Tselikovskaya and Sergey Datskevich in My s vami gde-to vstrechalis (1954)
    My s vami gde-to vstrechalis
    • Gennady Vladimirovich Maksimov
    • 1954
  • Kontsert frontu (1942)
    Kontsert frontu
    • Projectionist
    • 1942
  • Vladimir Belokurov and Vladimir Kononov in Wings of Victory (1941)
    Wings of Victory
    • American Journalist
    • 1941
  • Doktor Kalyuzhnyy (1939)
    Doktor Kalyuzhnyy
    • Monya Shapiro (as A. Raykin)
    • 1939
  • Ognennye gody (1939)
    Ognennye gody
    • Rubinchik
    • 1939

Director

  • Mir Domu Tvoemu
    • Director
    • TV Special
    • 1987
  • Lyudi i manekeny (1975)
    Lyudi i manekeny
    • Director (as A. Raykin)
    • TV Mini Series
    • 1975

Writer

  • Lyudi i manekeny (1975)
    Lyudi i manekeny
    • screenplay
    • TV Mini Series
    • 1975
  • Veceras improvizujemo Rajkina
    • story
    • TV Movie
    • 1966

Personal details

Edit
  • Alternative names
    • Arkadi Rajkin
  • Born
    • October 24, 1911
    • Riga, Russian Empire [now Latvia]
  • Died
    • December 20, 1987
    • Moscow, USSR [now Russia](heart failure)
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Portrayal

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Artistic Director of Leningrad Theater of Miniatures (1942 - 1987). Worked with writers: V. Polyakov, V, Mass, M. Chervinsky, Mikhail Zhvanetsky.

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