
Acting
Born July 23, 1946 · Rostov-na-Donu, Rostovskaya oblast, RSFSR, USSR
Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy (23 July 1946 — 2 December 1995) was a Soviet actor and film director. His best known roles are in films such as Stalker, At Home Among Strangers, and The Bodyguard. Prior to pursuing an acting career, Kaydanovskiy attended technical college where he trained to become a welder. In 1965 he started studying acting at The Rostov Theatre School and the Shchukin theatrical school in Moscow. Before completing the course he took his first part in the film The Mysterious Wall and upon graduation in 1969, he worked as stage actor, making his debut at the Vakhtangov Theatre in 1969. In 1971, he was invited to join the prestigious Moscow Arts Theatre, a rare privilege for a 25-year-old graduate. He made his major film debut in At Home Among Strangers, and over the next few years appeared in some two dozen films, including the satirical comedy Diamonds for Dictatorship of the Proletariat and The Life of Beethoven. At his peak in the '70s Kaidanovsky was among the USSR’s most popular actors, and it was at this point that famed Soviet director Andrei Tarkovsky, impressed by the looks and the acting technique of Kaidanovsky in Diamonds, invited him to play the title role in his new film, Stalker. The role earned Kaydanovskiy international acclaim. In 1985 he directed A Simple Death, which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. In 1993 he directed Just Death, which was about the death of Leo Tolstoy.

The Arrival of a Train
1996

Secrets Shared with a Stranger
1996

Magic Hunter
1994

The Devil's Breath
1993

Tear of the Prince of Darkness
1993

Parajanov: The Last Spring
1992

The Dream of a Ridiculous Man
1992

The Pass
1988

New Adventures of a Yankee in King Arthur's Court
1988

Ten Little Indians
1987

Khareba and Gogia
1987

The Theater Is My House
1987

Two Tickets to India
1985

Contract
1985

I'm Sorry
1982

Kafedra
1982

Fact
1981

And I'm With You Again...
1981

The Rescuer
1980

Rafferty
1980

The Return
1980

Story of an Unknown Man
1980

Stalker
1979

Pilot Pirx's Inquest
1979

The Bodyguard
1979

Who Will go to Truskavets?
1978

The Life of Beethoven
1978

The Turning Point
1978

Forward March, Time!
1977

That Was in Kokand
1977

Golden River
1977

The Importance of Being Earnest
1976

Fiery Bridge
1976

My Calling
1976

Diamonds for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat
1976

The Lost Expedition
1975

Going My Way
1975

Under the Roofs of Montmartre
1975

At Home Among Strangers, a Stranger Among His Own
1974

Vanyushin's Kids
1974

Failure of Engineer Garin
1973

The Fourth
1972

The Gambler
1972

The Mathematician and the Devil
1972

Hound of the Baskervilles
1971

The Fifteenth Spring
1971

And There Was Evening, And There Was Morning
1971

Drama on the Hunt
1970

A Quiet Day at the End of the War
1970

A Nest of Gentry
1969

First Love
1969

Anna Karenina
1967

The Mysterious Wall
1967