Nikolay Konstantinovich Cherkasov (14 September 1966) was a Soviet and Russian actor. He was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1947.
He is best known for his collaboration with director Sergei Eisenstein, playing the title roles in the historical epics Alexander Nevsky (1938) and Ivan the Terrible (1944/1958).
Career He was born in Saint Petersburg (later Petrograd in 1914, and Leningrad from 1924 to 1991) into the family of a railway clerk. From 1919 he was a mime artist in Petrograd's Maryinsky Theatre, the Bolshoi Theatre, and elsewhere. After graduating from the Institute of Stage Arts in 1926, he began acting in the Young Spectator's Theatre in Leningrad.
Cherkasov debuted in film with a supporting role as the hairdresser Charles in Vladimir Gardin’s Pushkin biopic The Poet and the Tsar (1927). Cherkasov was one of Stalin's favorite actors and played title roles in Sergei Eisenstein's monumental sound films Alexander Nevsky (1938) and Ivan the Terrible (Part I, 1944; Part II, 1946, though it was suppressed by Soviet authorities and not released widely until 1958). He also played Jacques Paganel in the 1936 adaptation of Jules Verne's The Children of Captain Grant. In the 1947 comedy Springtime, Cherkasov appeared alongside other icons of Soviet cinema, Lyubov Orlova and Faina Ranevskaya. For the role of Alexander Popov in the film Alexander Popov in 1951, he received a Stalin Prize of the second degree. In 1957, Cherkasov portrayed Don Quixote in director Grigori Kozintsev's screen adaptation of the novel.
In 1941, Cherkasov was awarded the Stalin Prize; in 1947, he was named a People's Artist of the USSR. He wrote his memoirs, "Notes of a Soviet Actor" in 1951. He died in Leningrad in 1966 and was buried in Tikhvin Cemetery, the "Necropolis of the Masters of Art", at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
The image of Cherkasov in the role of Alexander Nevsky is on the Soviet Order of Alexander Nevsky, because there are no known portraits of Nevsky himself."Житие благоверного супермена". lenta.ru. 21 October 2013
Filmography Year Title Role Notes1927The Poet and the TsarCharles, the barber1928His ExcellencyTall clown1928My SonPat1929Moon LeftKaluginlost film1929Siblingepisode1930Riders of the WindKomsomol member1932The Counterepisode1934Crown Prince of the RepublicWaitor1934Do I Love You?student1934Who is Your Friendpoliceman1935Happinessepisode1935Red Army DaysKolka Loshak1935Marriage of Jean KnokkeCaptain Hans Pfal1935The BorderGaidul1936Girl FriendsWhite army Officer1936The Children of Captain GrantJacques Paganel1937Baltic DeputyProfessor Dmitriy Illarionovich Polezhayev1937-1938Pyotr Pervyy (part 1, 2)Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia1937For the Soviet HomelandCommander-in-Chief1938Treasure IslandBilly Bones1938Alexander NevskyAlexander NevskyStalin Prize of first degree (1941)1938FriendsBeta the Ossesian1939Lenin in 1918Maxim Gorky1940Concert on ScreenConcert MC1942The Defense of TsaritsynPeasantUncredited1942His Name Is Sukhe-BatorBaron Ungern1943Sixty DaysAntonov19451958Ivan the Terrible (part 1, 2)Ivan the TerribleStalin Prize of first degree (1946)1947In the Name of LifeLukich, the attendant1947SpringtimeArkadi Mikhailovich Gromov, director1947New HomeMikhail Andreevich Kostousov, academician of architecture 1947PirogovLyadov1948Pamyati S. M. EyzenshteynaSelf1949Ivan PavlovMaxim Gorky1949Alexander PopovAlexander PopovStalin Prize of second degree (1951)1949The Battle of Stalingrad (part 1, 2)Franklin D. Roosevelt1949Happy Sailingcaptain LevashovStalin Prize of third degree (1950)1950MussorgskyStasov, the criticStalin Prize of first degree (1951)1953Rimsky-Korsakov1955They Knew MayakovskyMayakovsky1957Sung by Yves MontandSelfuncredited1957Don QuixoteDon Quixote1962Wakengo Rapids Are NoisyCaptain Stantontv-movie1963Dunaevsky's MelodiesSelf1963All Remains to PeopleAcademician Fyodor Alekseevich DronovLenin Prize (1964)1965Nights of FarewellGedeonov1965Great Friendship Pagesnarrator1966Little TragediesBaronlast role
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