Sergei Bondarchuk was a Soviet and Russian actor, screenwriter, and film director. One of the leading personalities of Russian cinema during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, Bondarchuk is best remembered for his period dramas, including War and Peace and Waterloo. Sergei Bondarchuk's work earned him numerous international accolades, including the Golden Globe Award.
Vasily Lanovoy was a Soviet and Ukrainian Russian actor. He is best remembered for his association with the Vakhtangov Theatre in Moscow. He is also remembered for his service as the president of Artek Festival of Films for Children. Over the course of his career, Vasily Lanovoy was honored with many prestigious awards, including the Lenin Prize.
While he initially studied mining, medicine, and architecture, Gregor von Rezzori eventually graduated in arts. Fluent in several languages, he had a successful stint as a journalist and became known for both for his light novels and the more poignant ones such as Memoirs of an Anti-Semite.
Ukrainian and Russian theater actor and director Roman Viktyuk initially gained huge fame in the Russian stage circle. He later founded the Roman Viktyuk Theater, which later became a state theater, and also taught at the Russian Academy of Theater Arts. He died of COVID-19 in 2020.