Vishnevsky, Alexander

1861

1943

Russian actor. Attended the same school as the playwright Anton Checkov. Was considered to have a good singing voice and often toured the provinces, playing the Romantic lead, before he joined the Moscow Art Theatre in 1898. In the MAT theatre’s first production of ‘Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich’ he played the role of Boris Gudonov and later went onto star in the leading role of ‘Uncle Vanya’. He was the first actor to be awarded the Hero of Labour in 1933.