Mikhail Boyarsky

Biography

Mikhail Sergeyevich Boyarsky was born 26 December 1949 in Leningrad in the family of Sergey Aleksandrovich Boyarsky and Yekaterina Mikhailovna Melentyeva, both Komissarzhevskaya Theatre actors. He studied piano in a music school affiliated with the Conservatory. After school, Boyarsky entered Institute of Theatre Music and Cinema, finishing in 1972, and began working in the Lensovet Theatre for Igor Vladimirov.

In the cinema, the actor made a debut in the films Bridges and The Straw Hat (1974), becoming well known in 1975 after his role in the picture Eldest Son. He found much greater popularity in the main role of Troubadour in the theatre musical The Troubadour and His Friends, with the princess played by Larisa Luppian, who soon became his wife. In 1976, he played the big bad wolf in the movie Ma-ma.

His popularity really took off in 1978 after Boyarsky starred in the musical film D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers. After that, he was typecast as a swashbuckler for two decades; he reprised his role as d'Artagnan in three sequels and portrayed other "sword and hat" characters in adventure movies like The Dog in the Manger (1978), The Prisoner of Château d'If (1988), Gardes-Marines, Ahead! (1988), Don César de Bazan (1989), Viva Gardes-Marines! (1991), Queen Margot (1996) and Taras Bulba (2009), among others. Being a singer, he also often starred in musical films. Occasionally he played against type, like in Extra Ticket or The Waiting Room.

In 2023 Boyarsky retired from acting, because of his age and health issues.

Political and social activity

In the 1996 presidential elections, Boyarsky campaigned for Boris Yeltsin, participating in the Vote or Lose program.

Boyarsky supports the policies pursued by Presidents Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev. In particular, he attributes to Putin the opening of the country's borders in the early 1990s:

K. Larina: It was not Putin who opened the borders, sorry.

M. Boyarsky: Then who did it?

K. Larina: Borders? I believe our borders were open after 1990.

M. Boyarsky: So consider that from that time on he already began to influence this...

K. Larina: Vladimir Putin?

M. Boyarsky: Vladimir Vladimirovich, yes. And now it has become possible to study in any country...

By his own admission, Boyarsky is a conservative, a supporter of the monarchy, and an opponent of communist views.

...I am completely for Putin, for his successor, for the country to develop as they intended. This is very important for me, I am simply shocked by the percentages that the communist Zyuganov has. It’s just a mystery to me how much you can step on a rake. That is why I could not afford not to go and vote for Medvedev. I am categorically against any communist proposals. Then there will be no Gazprom, no anything else, no skating rinks, no sports. There will be khrushchevkas, there will be bombed churches, it will be equal for everyone. Zyuganov will take most of it for himself, out of nomenklatura habit. Therefore, I am categorically against this. <…> This party should have been banned a long time ago.

In 2001, Boyarsky signed a letter in defense of the NTV channel.

Personal life

With Larisa Luppian, he has a son, Sergey Boyarsky (born in 1980), and a daughter, Elizaveta Boyarskaya (born 20 December 1985).

As a native of Saint Petersburg, Boyarsky is a fan of local FC Zenit.

Popular songs

Vse proidet

Gorodskie Cveti

Zelenoglazoe Taxi

Lanfren-lanfra

Spasibo, rodnaya

Pesnya mushketyorov

Syadu v skory poezd

Honours and awards

Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1984)

People's Artist of the RSFSR (1990)

Order of Friendship (2001)

Medal "In Commemoration of the 300th Anniversary of Saint Petersburg" (2003)

Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class (2009)

Order of Honour (Moldova) (2011)

Order of Honour (2020)

Filmography

Channel voice

2011 — Busy Beavers — Allagator