The fans of the great Armenian actor Mher Mkrtchyan will be provided with the opportunity to newly discover the famous artist.
Famous Armenian actor to be newly presented by books and movies
The fans of the great Armenian actor Mher Mkrtchyan will be provided with the opportunity to newly discover the famous artist. Photos and stories highlighting the life of Frunzik Mkrtchyan will be published. The initiative belongs to the widow of the actor Tamar Hovhannisyan.
The cinema critic Zaven Boyajyan is the editor of the project. He states with joy that it is a great project. “If successful, the first book of the project will be published in the middle of this year. We will make three books and movies, parallel to the books. The first book will be a photo album. The book will be published in three languages: Armenian, English and Russian. It contains 250-300 photos, which have never been published and are from the archive of Tamar Hovhannisyan”, - said Boyajyan.
Mher Mkrtchyan was born in Leninakan (now Gyumri), the Armenian SSR. Frunzik studied in Leninakan Art College and Theatre Studio and then graduated from the Acting Department of Yerevan Institute of Fine Arts and Theatre. Beginning from 1953, the actor performed in the Sundukyan Drama Theatre of Yerevan.
Frunzik also directed many successful productions, the best of which was Maxim Gorky's "The Lower Depths". The cinema career of Mher Mkrtchyan began in 1955.
Frunzik’s famous roles in Rolan Bykov's "Aybolit-66" (1966), Leonid Gaidai's "Kidnapping, Caucasian Style" (1966), and Georgi Daneliya's "Mimino" (1977) earned him a reputation as one of the Soviet Union's leading comedy actors. But that reputation sometimes overshadowed his real talent and emotional depth which he put into his roles in such classics of Armenian cinema as "Yerankyuni" ("Triangle") (1967), "Menq enq, mer sarere" ("We, Our Mountains") (1969), "Hayrik" ("Father") (1973), "Nahapet" (1977), "Hin oreri yerge" ("Old Days' Song") (1982), "Mer mankutyan tangon" ("Tango of Our Childhood") (1985). Among his many awards was the USSR State Prize for 1978.
Mher Mkrtchyan died in Yerevan, Armenia, on December 29 in 1993. The house-museum of Frunzik functions currently in the second capital of the Republic of Armenia, Gyumri, where one can find rich materials concerning the life and the creative way of the great Armenian actor, as well as his personal things.
Even though he was known as a comedic actor, Mkrtchyan's personal life was filled with tragedy. His first wife, Donara Mkrtchyan, became mentally ill and was sent to a mental institution for the rest of her life. Mkrtchyan became a single parent of two young children. His son inherited his mother’s mental illness. Thousands of people attended the funeral of their beloved actor.
