10 Facts about Andrei Mironov

Andrei Mironov on a Russian stamp in 2001. Photo by Public domain. Wikimedia

10 Facts about Andrei Mironov

Andrei Aleksandrovich Mironov (March 7, 1941 – August 16, 1987) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor who starred in some of the most popular Soviet films, including The Diamond Arm, Beware of the Car, and Twelve Chairs. Mironov was also a well-known singer. 

Mironov was born in Moscow to Russian Maria Mironova and Russian Jew Aleksandr Menaker. His parents were both actors. Mironov’s parents, Aleksandr Menaker and Maria Vladimirovna Mironova, were a well-known comedic duo in Russia.

He had survived a stroke in 1981 and a bout of meningitis that left him in pain and with blisters on his abdomen for the rest of his life, but he persevered and continued to act until his unfortunate death.

1. Andrei Mironov attended the Vakhtangov Theatre School

Andrei Mironov. Photo by Creative commons. Wikimedia

During the early 1950s, Mironov attended the Vakhtangov Theatre School. He studied acting at the Moscow Shchukin School from 1958 to 1962. Mironov was a permanent member of the trope at the Moscow Theatre of Satire from June 18, 1962, to 1987.

2. Andrei Mironov made his film debut in 1961 

Moscow Academic Theatre of Satire in night light. Photo by Andrey Korzun. Wikimedia

As a student, Andrey Mironov received his first small part in Yuly Raisman’s film “What If It’s Love?” After graduating from the Drama School in 1962. He was invited by the Moscow Theater of Satire’s stage director Valentin Pluchek to play Garik in the stage play “Round the Clock.” He rose to prominence with the films “My Younger Brother” (1962) and “Three Plus Two.”

Mironov made a few but frequent appearances on the big screen. Eldar Ryazanov, the film director, asked him to play the scoundrel Dima Semitsvetov in the comedy “Beware of the Car” in 1965. (1966). The film was a huge success, and critics praised Mironov’s performance as one of the best. His celebrity as an actor was growing.

3. Andrei Mironov died on stage

He lost consciousness on stage while performing the lead role in The Marriage of Figaro during one of his tours through Latvia in 1987. 

He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead two days later. His death was caused by excessive internal brain bleeding caused by a congenital cerebral aneurysm caused by many years of heavy smoking.

People of all ages crowded the sidewalks around Moscow’s Garden Ring Road’s Satire Theater, hoping to catch a last glimpse of their favorite star before his burial in Vagankovo cemetery.

It was the largest outpouring of affection for a popular actor since a massive crowd packed Taganka Square in 1980 to mourn the death of poet and balladeer Vladimir Vysotsky, who wrote biting, satirical verse.

4. Andrei Mironov, released his first album in 1978

Andrei Mironov on a Russian stamp in 2001. Photo from Wikimedia

Andrey Mironov made his singing debut in “The Diamond Arm,” and he went on to sing songs in many films and recitals after that. Later, in 1978, he released the album “Andrey Mironov Sings.”

In 1971, a number of films starring Andrey Mironov were released.They included the enthralling heroic adventure “The Property of Republic” by Vladimir Bychkov. He appeared in an episode of Eldar Ryazanov’s comedy “Old Men: Robbers” the same year, and two years later in Ryzanov’s adventure comedy “Unbelievable Adventures of Italians in Russia”. Mironov portrayed a CID lieutenant and did all the stunts himself.

5. Andrei Mironov had two daughters

Andrei Mironov had two daughters: one was his own, and the other is adopted from his first marriage. The great actor never separated his daughters, preferring to spend as much time as possible with both. This was not always possible because Mironov was rarely at home due to constant filming.

6. Andrei Mironov, married twice

Andrei Mironov’s wife. Photo by Андрей Николаевич Миронов. Wikimedia

The actor married for the first time in 1971 to 24-year-old actress Ekaterina Gradova. This marriage was a labor of love, but it did not last long. Masha Mironova was born as a result of this union.

Mironov was a traditional husband. He wouldn’t let Katya wear make-up or even hold a glass of wine. The only thing his beloved woman’s fingers should smell like are berries and spirits. He was a gentle husband and a funny father because he was afraid to stay with little Masha because, as he himself said, it is lost when a woman cries. The couple split up in 1974, and officially divorced two years later, in 1976.

He met his second wife, actress Larisa Golubkina, while still in his official first marriage. He tried to persuade her to play at a wedding for ten years. Golubkina was convinced that what came before Andrei was completely frivolous. Andrei took in her daughter, Masha.

7. Andrei Mironov was a gift for all women

On the eve of International Women’s Day, a son was born into the family of famous Soviet pop artists Maria Mironova and Alexander Menaker. His mother decided to record the date of his birth on March 8.

That was because that strong and intelligent woman was always certain that her son, would be the best holiday gift for all women in the USSR. A few years later, he truly became a gift. Very  few of the young ladies could resist the Minrov  enchantment.

8. A planet is named after Andrei Minrov

A minor planet named 3624 Mironov was discovered in 1982 by Soviet astronomers Lyudmila Karachkina and Lyudmila Zhuravleva.

9. Andrei Minrov’s parents changed his name

Andrei Mironov. Photo by Creative commons. Wikimedia

The boy’s parents made an important decision, and changed his name from Andryusha Menaker to Andrei Minrov.  They decided to change his name because, of the so-called “fight against cosmopolitanism” in the USSR.

Cosmopolitanism, the ideology that considers one person to be a citizen of the world rather than a citizen of an independent state or nation, began to flourish in many capitalist countries. 

10. Andrei Minrov worked with top-notch actors as well

Watch Out for the Automobile, directed by Eldar Ryazanov, featured Mironov in a supporting role. Mironov collaborated with a stellar cast.