Mihai Volontir (9 March 1934 – 15 September 2015) was a Soviet and Moldovan actor. People's Artist of the USSR (1984).[1]

Mihai Volontir
Volontir in a 1960s film
Born(1934-03-09)9 March 1934
Died15 September 2015(2015-09-15) (aged 81)
OccupationActor
Years active1957-2015

Biography

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The "Vasile Alecsandri Theatre" in Bălţi

Volontir was born on 9 March 1934 in the village of Glinjeni, Moldova. He attended the Pedagogical Institution in Orhei from 1952 to 1955.

After over a decade of working in theatre, Volontir began appearing in films made at the Moldova-Film studio in 1967. He became famous in the late 1970s after his roles in In the Zone of Special Attention and The Gypsy film series. The films were so popular that he is still strongly associated with his character, Budulai, a wise lone gypsy. His performance resulted in increased tolerance towards gypsy communities in the Soviet Union. The film series was revived fifteen years later with a new production as well as a TV series.

Volontir worked at the Vasile Alecsandri Theatre in Bălţi, where he was employed as an actor from 1957 until his death in 2015.

He was also a supporter of the Romanian identity.[2]

17 September 2015, the day of his funeral, was declared a day of National Mourning in Moldova.[3]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1968 Se cauta un paznic Ivan Turbinca
1968 Eto mgnovenie Mihai Adam
1972 That Sweet Word: Liberty! Carlos Caro
1973 Dmitriy Kantemir Dmitri Kantemir
1973 Chetvyortyy
1974 Muzhchiny sedeyut rano Andrey Rezlog
1975 Tütak säsi Cabrayil
1977 Koren zhizni Lukyan Batyr
1978 In the Zone of Special Attention Praporshchik Volentir
1978 Agent sekretnoy sluzhby
1979 Centaurs Evaristo
1979 Bezotvetnaya lyubov Passerby
1981 Ot Buga do Visly Vershigora, commander of guerrilla connection
1981 Hit Back Praporshchik Volentir
1982 Olenya okhota Golovin
1982 Incident at Map Grid 36-80 Skiba
1982 Eta muzhskaya druzhba Anton Greku
1983 Bud schastliva, Yuliya Radu
1984 Obvineniye
1985 Ya za tebya otvechayu
1986 Vilkolakio pedsakai
1989 Vernymi ostanemsya
1990 Stuk v dver
1992 Vinovata li ya... (final film role)

Awards

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Peter Rollberg (2009). Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema. US: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 741–742. ISBN 978-0-8108-6072-8.
  2. ^ "De Facto 12 aprilie 2016" (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 2016-04-14.
  3. ^ "17 сентября объявили днем национального траура: страна простится с Михаем Волонтиром". publika.md. 15 September 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
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