Erast Garin

Erast Pavlovich Garin was a Soviet and Russian actor, director and screenwriter, born in Ryazan in 1902 and active until his death in 1980. He trained in experimental theatre workshops and became one of the leading comic actors of Vsevolod Meyerhold's company, where his grotesque and expressionistic acting style was prized, and later of Soviet cinema. He received the Stalin Prize in 1941 for the role of Tarakanov in the film Musical Story and was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1977. Together with his wife Khesya Lokshina he directed several films and wrote their scripts, including Respected Comrade in 1930, Prince and the Pauper in 1942, An Ordinary Miracle in 1964 and Rasplyuev's Days of Fun in 1966. His memoirs, With Meyerhold, appeared in 1974.