Iosif Tolchanov

Biography

Iosif Tolchanov was an actor and director at Vakhtangov Theatre in Moscow, Soviet Union. He was born Iosif Moiseevich Tolchan (later changed his last name to Tolchanov) on May 11, 1891, in Moscow, Russia. From 1911 - 1914 he attended Liege University in France. In 1917 - 1918 he studied acting under Boris Zakhava in Moscow, then, from 1918 - 1920 studied acting under Yevgeni Vakhtangov, and made his stage debut in 1918 in "Vory" (aka.. Thieves), a play by Anton Chekhov. From 1918 to 1980 Tolchanov was a permanent member of the troupe at Vakhtangov Theatre in Moscow. There his stage partners were such actors as Boris Zakhava, Yuri Zavadsky, Mikhail Ulyanov, Mikhail Astangov, Nikolai Plotnikov, Ruben Simonov, Vladimir Etush, Varvara Popova, Yuliya Borisova, Lyudmila Maksakova, Lyudmila Tselikovskaya, Marianna Vertinskaya, Nina Ruslanova, Irina Kupchenko, Vasiliy Lanovoy, Yuriy Yakovlev, Vyacheslav Shalevich, Andrei Abrikosov, Grigori Abrikosov, Boris Babochkin, Nikolai Gritsenko, Nikolai Timofeyev, Nikolai Bubnov, Mikhail Sidorkin, Nikolai Pazhitnov, Aleksandr Grave, and Evgeniy Karelskikh, among others. Since creating the role as Barah in 1922, Tolchanov played the character in the legendary original Vakhtangov's production of Carlo Gozzi's comedy 'Princess Turandot'. His most memorable stage performances were such roles as Pino in "Zagovor obrechennykh" and as Arbenin in "Maskarad" (1941) by 'Yuri Lermontov' directed by Andrey Tutyshkin. Tolchanov co-directed several plays at the Vakhtangov Theatre in Moscow, such as "Pyaty gorizont" (aka.. Fifth horizon) by Perets Markish, and "Dalekoe" (1935) by A. Afinogenov. He was designated People's Actor of the USSR (1962), and was awarded the State Stalin's Prize (1950) for his role as Pino in "Zagovor obrechennykh" (aka.. Treason of the doomed). Iosif Tolchanov died of a heart failure on August 24, 1981, in Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union, and was laid to rest in the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, Russia.