Samoylov P.V., (1866-1931), actor

Categories / Art/Music, Theatre/Personalia
SAMOYLOV Pavel Vasilievich (1866, St. Petersburg - 1931, Leningrad), actor, Honoured Artist of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1923). Son of V.V. Samoylov. Graduated from the Petersburg School of Commerce (1886). Started his stage career in 1888 in the provinces under the name of Sporov (his mother"s stage-name); starting in 1890, he performed under his own name. In 1890-93 he acted for F.A. Korsch"s Moscow Theatre. In 1900-04 and 1920-24 he was an actor at the Alexandrinsky Theatre (from 1920, the Petrograd State Academic Drama Theatre); in 1904-05 performed at the Komissarzhevskaya Theatre; in 1908-09, as part of F.N. Falkovsky"s non-repertory company at the New Theatre; and in 1909-11, at L.N. Andreev and A.Y. Levant"s New Drama Theatre. After he began to tour, he performed annually in St. Petersburg, acting on the stage of the Theatre of the Literary Artistic Society at Pavlova Hall, at the Comedy Theatre at the People"s House, and other stages in Petersburg. He was a representative of the so-called "neurasthenic" generation, his acting characterised by an immediate openness, a nervous impetuosity, a refined psychological element, and a concentration on the emotional experience. He found success in modern plays by Russian and foreign playwrights, playing Lvov in Ivanov, Treplev in The Seagull, and Astrov in Uncle Vanya by A.P. Chekhov; Kostomarov in Anfisa, Glukhovtsev in Days of Our Life, and Storitsyn in Professor Storitsyn by L.N. Andreev; Protasov in The Living Corpse by L.N. Tolstoy; and Osvald in Ghosts by H. Ibsen. In interpreting A.N. Ostrovsky"s characters, he used mainly psychological tactics (Neznamov in Guilty without Guilt, Zhadov in A Profitable Post, Karandyshev in The Portionless Bride and others). Samoylov"s best-known roles in classic plays include Ferdinand in Intrigue and Love by F. Schiller, Chatsky in Woe from Wit by A.S. Griboedov, Hamlet by W. Shakespeare, and Ruy Blas in Ruy Blas by V. Hugo. He performed a lot as a public reader and reciter of poetry, particularly with musical accompaniment. In the 1920s, he played in films. In 1898-1931, he lived at 6 Aptekarsky Lane (memorial plaque). Originally buried at Novodevichye Cemetery, he was moved in 1936, along with his monument, to a common grave with his father and father"s first wife, ballet-dancer S.I. Samoylova, to the Necropolis of Artists.

Reference: Якобсон В. П. Павел Самойлов: Сценич. биография его героев. Л., 1987.

A. A. Kirillov. Andreev Leonid Nikolaevich
Chekhov Anton Pavlovich
Falkovsky Fedor Nikolaevich
Griboedov Alexander Sergeevich
Hugo Victor-Marie
Ibsen Henrik
Korsch Fedor Adamovich
Levant A.Y.
Ostrovsky Alexander Nikolaevich
Pavlova Anna Pavlovna
Samoylov Pavel Vasilievich
Samoylov Vasily Vasilievich
Samoylova Sofia Ivanovna
Schiller Friedrich
Shakespeare William
Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich, Count
Aptekarsky Lane/Saint Petersburg, city, house 6
Якобсон В. П. Павел Самойлов: Сценич. биогр. его героев. Л., 1987 Alexandrinsky Theatre
Komissarzhevskaya Theatre
Literary and Artistic Society Theatre
Literary and Artistic Society Theatre
Novodevichye Cemetery
Novodevichye Cemetery
Necropolis of Artists