 The Great Andrei Mironov... Thanks to his films and his friends` memoirs he became a kind of collective image of the ideal actor possessing the power over all genres in cinema and theatre. Yet, what is probably more important, Andrei Mironov was an amazingly radiant personality on stage and on screen.
Andrei Mironov (his first surname was Menaker) was born into the family of actors. He was born on March 7, yet his parents decided: "Let`s record his birthday on March 8. That`ll be a present for women". He really became such a present: hardly any representative of the fair sex could resist the actor`s immense charms.
In 1958 Andrei Mironov finished a secondary school and entered the Shchukin Drama School. Among his fellow students Andrei stood out for his maniacal neatness: he was always wearing perfectly ironed clothes and smelling of exquisite perfume. He used to return home from school by taxi, even though quite often he had to borrow money for that.
In his fourth year of studies Mironov debuted with the film "A esli eto lyubov?" (But What If This Is Love?) (1961). After graduating the Drama School in 1962 he was invited to the Satire Theatre by its stage director Valentin Pluchek, and soon made his theatre debut with the role of Garik in the stage play "24 chasa v sutki" (Round the Clock). True stage popularity of Mironov started with his role of Tushkanchik in "Zhensky Monastyr" (The Nunnery) (1964).
The actor`s first serious role in cinema was his work in the film "Moy mladshiy brat" (My Younger Brother) (1962) by Aleksandr Zarkhi. Soon there was released Genrikh Oganisyan`s comedy - "3+2" (1962), in which Mironov played one of the three young friends.
Henceforth the cinematic fate was favorable to the actor. He was in the films not frequently, yet regularly. In 1965 he was invited by the film director Eldar Ryazanov to play the role of the scoundrel Dima Semitsvetov in the comedy "Beregis avtomobilya" (Beware of the Car) (1966). The picture was a great success, while Mironov`s role was acknowledged one of the best by critics.
The fame of Andrei Mironov was growing. The roles came one after another, each of them different from others. In the historical biography "God kak zhizn" (Year as Long as Life) (1965) by Grigori Roshal he played Friedrich Engels, in the ironical phantasmagoria "Tainstvennaya stena" (The Mysterious Wall) by Irina Povolotskaya he was Sergeant Karpukhin, in Alexei Korenev`s comedy "Urok literatury" (A Lesson in Literature) (1968) ? Felix, and finally in the famous comedy "Brilliantovaya ruka" (The Diamond Arm) (1968) by Leonid Gaidai he appeared as the amusing swindler nicknamed Graf (Earl).
It was in The Diamond Arm where Andrei Mironov debuted as a singer and hence started singing songs in many films and during recitals. Later, in 1978 he even made the record ?Andrei Mironov Sings?.
The year 1971 saw the release of a number of films starring Andrei Mironov, among them the captivating heroic adventure feature "Dostoyanie respubliki" (The Property of Republic) by Vladimir Bychkov. In the same year he played in an episode of Eldar Ryazanov`s comedy "Stariki-razboyniki" (Old Men: Robbers) and two years later starred in Ryzanov`s adventure comedy "Neveroyatnye priklyucheniya italyantsev v Rossii" (Unbelievable Adventures of Italians in Russia) (1974): Mironov played a CID lieutenant and performed all the stunts himself.
The Italians? were followed by Mironov`s roles in the TV vaudeville Lev Gurych Sinichkin (1974) directed by Aleksandr Belinsky , Leonid Kvinikhidze`s musical comedies "Solomennaya shlyapka" (The Straw Hat) (1974) & "Nebesnye lastochki" (Swallows in the Sky) (1976), in Mark Zakharov`s features "12 stulyev" (Twelve Chairs) (1977) & "Obyknovennoye chudo" ( An Ordinary Miracle) (1978), and Naum Birman`s films "Shag navstrechu" (A Step Towards) (1975) & "Troye v lodke, ne schitaya sobaki" (Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)) (1979).
The lack of serious dramatic film roles was oppressing for the versatile actor. The 1980s were the hardest years in his life. In spite of the disease (furunculosis) Mironov su ffered from, he went on working much in cinema and theatre, and toured much around the country, invariably being a crowd-puller.
Unfortunately not all his roles of the 1980s can be considered successful. Among his best works are the roles full of genuine lyricism in the films "Budte moim muzhem" (Will you be my husband) (1981) by Alla Surikova, "Skazka stranstviy" (The Story of the Voyages) (1982) by Aleksandr Mitta, and "Moy drug Ivan Lapshin" (My Friend Ivan Lapshin) (1984) by Aleksei German.
The last work of Andrei Mironov in cinema was Mr. First in Alla Surikova`s musical story "Chelovek s bulvara Kaputsinov" (A Man from Boulevard des Capucines) (1987) that was a great success.
On the 14th of August 1987 Andrei Mironov was playing on stage of the Riga Opera Theatre in Marriage of Figaro when he suddenly felt bad. In the morning of August 16 the actor died of cerebral apoplexy (it turned out that he had had inborn aneurism of brain vessels).
Many actors frankly confess that Andrei Mironov was the best of them. As the time goes by the fact is becoming more and more evident.
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