Alexander Boyarsky

Alexander Boyarsky (10th of July 1938, Leningrad, Russian SFSR – 8th of September 1980, Golden Sands, Bulgaria) – an actor of Riga Russian Drama Theatre (1964–1980), half-brother of the famous Russian actor Mikhail Boyarsky.

Alexander Boyarsky was born into the family of actors Sergei and Elga Boyarsky. After his parents divorced, he remained with his mother and, from 1947 onwards, lived in Latvia. He graduated from secondary school in Jelgava in 1956 and enrolled at the A. Ostrovsky Leningrad Theatre Institute. Upon graduating in 1961, he joined the Lensovet Theatre in Leningrad, later he was performing at the A. Pushkin Russian State Academic Drama Theatre (Alexandrinsky Theatre).

In 1963 Boyarsky moved to the Riga Russian Drama Theatre, where he worked under director Arkady Katz. During his career there he performed more than twenty-five roles. Among his most notable performances were Dima the Waiter in Duck Hunting by Alexander Vampilov and one of his final stage roles—Rodion Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment.

His performances were described in the book The Riga Russian Drama Theatre (1983):

"Alexander Boyarsky portrayed Dima the waiter in Alexander Vampilov's Duck Hunting with extraordinary elegance and charm: a human automaton, outwardly restrained and polite, unquestioningly accepting everything—foolishness, whim, and even outright meanness—yet inwardly driven by a single passion: to seize as much from life as possible, by whatever means. The actor avoided unnecessary gestures; his voice remained subdued, his movements precise and economical. He glided silently across the stage, interfering in nothing, yet somehow managing to be everywhere." (p. 183)

Regarding Boyarsky's portrayal of Raskolnikov, the authors wrote:

"In the role of Raskolnikov, Alexander Boyarsky spared no effort in revealing the full complexity of the human psyche, conveying the suffering and anguish of the protagonist. This performance commands respect for Boyarsky as an independent-minded and highly intelligent artist, deeply immersed in the role and having accumulated considerable emotional experience for it, which undoubtedly enriched the production." (p. 229)

In an interview published in the newspaper Literatūra un Māksla (18 August 1978), Alexander Boyarsky said:

"With every role I strive to emphasize the importance of the intelligentsia in our lives. Please understand me correctly—I do not mean education, profession, or social status, but rather a person's inner world, humanity, compassion—in short, everything we call the soul. That is why the world of Dostoevsky and Turgenev is so close to me... A person must be able to pity others, to understand them, and, naturally, to fight evil. That is why I enjoy portraying negative characters. The essential thing is their form, their sharpness. With one vivid stroke, like a scalpel, one must expose evil and evoke in the audience feelings of contempt and revulsion. To unmask the waiter in Duck Hunting or Meletus in Edward Radzinsky's Conversations with Socrates, one must be merciless toward these characters. All of this must be presented in synthesis. This was also the approach we took with the director when staging Crime and Punishment. We were fascinated by the idea of revealing Raskolnikov's tragedy, his downfall, and his illusory determination."

Alexander Boyarsky's personal charm, remarkable acting talent, and ability to create psychologically convincing characters made him a favourite among both audiences and colleagues. He was widely expected to enjoy a brilliant career, but fate intervened. Boyarsky died tragically at the age of forty-two on 8 September 1980 at the Golden Sands resort in Bulgaria, where the theatre was on tour. He was buried at the First Forest Cemetery in Riga.

He also appeared in a number of supporting and episodic roles in films produced by the Riga Film Studio, Lenfilm, and several other studios.

In 1976 Alexander Boyarsky married Olga Razumovsky, an actress of the Riga Russian Drama Theatre. Since 1980 she has performed at the A. Lunacharsky Sevastopol Russian Drama Theatre and currently resides in St Petersburg.

Their daughter, Elga Boyarsky, was born in 1977.

Roles at the Riga Russian Drama Theatre:

• Yakov Laptev in Yegor Bulychov and Others by Maxim Gorky (1964);
• Chino in the musical West Side Story by Arthur Laurents, with music by Leonard Bernstein (1965);
• Pastukhov in The Torn Rouble, based on a novella by Sergei Antonov (1967);
• The Young Man in A Night Story by Krzysztof Choiński (1967);
• Joas in the comedy The Ninth Righteous Man by Jerzy Jurandot (1968);
• Anselmo in the musical Man of La Mancha by Dale Wasserman and Joe Darion (1969);
• The Actor in The Lower Depths by Maxim Gorky (1970);
• Christos in the comedy Television Interference by Cara Saconi (1971);
• The Dauphin in Joan of Arc by Andrejs Upīts (1972);
• The Teacher in S. Manu's production Alcor and Mona, based on Mihail Sebastian's The Star Without a Name (1973);
• Meletus in Conversations with Socrates by Edward Radzinsky (1974);
• Antonio in The Cylinder by Eduardo De Filippo (1976);
• The Waiter in Duck Hunting by Alexander Vampilov (1976);
• Duke of Cornwall in Shakespeare's King Lear (1977);
• Evald in Wild Strawberries by Ingmar Bergman (1978);
• Rodion Raskolnikov in The Murderer, based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment (1978);
• Gayev in Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard (1979);
• Prince Serpukhovskoy in The Story of a Horse, based on Leo Tolstoy's Kholstomer (1979);
• Abram in Tailors' Days in Silmači by Rūdolfs Blaumanis (1980).

Filmography:

• Sviridov's adjutant – The Army of the Wagtail Is Fighting Again (Cielaviņas armija atkal cīnās), directed by Aleksandrs Leimanis, Riga Film Studio (1968);
• Officer – Shoot Instead of Me (Šauj manā vietā), directed by Jānis Streičs, Riga Film Studio (1970);
• Joseph Kaminsky – The Last Fortress, directed by Vasile Brescanu, Moldova-Film Studio (1972);
• Alexandrovich – Peters, directed by Sergei Tarasov, Riga Film Studio (1972);
• Zharkovsky – Oleg and Aina, directed by Aleksandrs Leimanis, Riga Film Studio (1973);
• Émile Roux – The Price of Truth, directed by Aleksei Speshnev, Gorky Film Studio (1978);
• Krashevsky – At the Turn of the Ages (Laikmetu griežos), directed by Gunārs Piesis, Riga Film Studio (1981, released posthumously).

From the memoirs of Russian actor Mikhail Boyarsky about his elder half-brother:

(Smena magazine, 11 July 2003, "Mikhail Boyarsky Owes His Life to His Brother")

"My brother was my childhood idol. Sasha was ten years older than I was, and with our actor parents constantly occupied, he inevitably became my mentor. To be more precise, my parents raised me, but I imitated my brother in everything. He was extraordinarily erudite, well-read, and intelligent. He could teach himself French with ease, and after moving to Riga he even performed in Latvian as well as Russian. He read Saint-Exupéry in the original, played the piano—and had taught himself that too. Friends from other cities, struggling with some particularly difficult crossword puzzle, could telephone him at two in the morning, and, still half-asleep, he would immediately supply the correct answer. There seemed to be no field of knowledge in which he was not well informed. He was also more striking in appearance than I was—tall, graceful, and slim. He was a genuinely cultivated man, serious and refined. Compared with him I was a clumsy country bumpkin. It seemed to me that Sasha had read every book in existence. He read through the night. I would fall asleep—he was reading. I would wake up—and he was still reading. He has remained forever beyond my reach. I adored him. Never before or since have I shared such complete mutual understanding with anyone. We were like Siamese twins, despite the ten-year age difference. He was the very best thing in my life, my other half—and even more than a half.

It was an incredible comfort to know that I had such a wall to lean on, such support, such intellect."

Eryka Tunina

Sources of information:

Toms Čevers. Skumjais skatuves bruņinieks. – 100 izcili Latvijas aktieri. 1. daļa. Rīga: LU Akaēmiskais apgāds, 2018. g., 114.–123. lpp.

110-летию со дня основания Русского театра в Риге посвящается. – Автор З. Сегаль. Составитель хроники – Т. Власова. – Рига, Издание Рижского театра русской драмы, 1994.

Рижский театр русской драмы: очерк истории. 1940–1983. Л. Акуратере, Л. Берзиня, Л. Дзене, С. Радзобе, Г. Саулите. – Рига: Зинатне, 1983.

Рижский театр русской драмы – 100. Сост. Зиновий Сегаль и Татьяна Власова. – Рига: Авотс, 1983.

«Своей жизнью Михаил Боярский обязан брату». – Журнал «Смена», 11 июля 2003 

„Mēs darām kopīgu darbu” (interviju ar A. Bojarski pierakstījis V. Avots) „Literatūra un Māksla”, 1978. 18. augusta, 7. lpp.;

Боярская Е. «Театральная династия Боярских». –  Олма-пресс, 2005, 416 стр.

«25 лет назад погиб актер Александр Боярский». – Телеграф, 8 сентября 2005.