People’s Artist of the RSFSR, director and screenwriter Gleb Panfilov died at the age of 89, Interfax reports with reference to the director of the Lenkom Theater Mark Varshaver. In recent months, he was recovering from illness – in May it was reported that Panfilova hospitalized with a stroke.
Gleb Panfilov was born on May 21, 1934 in Magnitogorsk. In his early years he worked on Sverdlovsk television, where he made several films. In 1966, he began working at Lenfilm, where he made his first feature film, No Way Through the Fire. In 1970, Panfilov made the film “The Beginning” with Inna Churikova in the title role (During the filming, Panfilov married Churikova).
Panfilov is the director of the films “Vassa”, “In the First Circle”, “Mother”, “Theme”, “Ivan Denisnovich”. In 1986 he made his debut as a theater director at the Lenkom Theater with a production of Hamlet starring Oleg Yankovsky.
Gleb Panfilov is a laureate of festivals in Locarno, Venice and Berlin. In 1990, at the Cannes Film Festival, he was awarded a special prize for outstanding artistic achievement for the film “Mother”.
Gleb Panfilov’s wife, actress Inna Churikova, died on January 14, 2023 at the age of 79.
