Pavel Petrovich Kadochnikov (Russian: Павел Петрович Кадочников) (16 July [O.S. 29 July] 1915 – 2 May 1988) was a Russian actor, film director and scenario. . Among the notable roles he had as an actor were in the film Ivan the Terrible, directed by Sergei Eisenstein. He was named a People's Artist of the USSR (1979) and a Hero of Socialist Labor (1985).

Biography

Pavel Kadochnikov was born in Petrograd in 1915. In 1927 he entered a children's artistic studio, dreaming to become professional artist. But because of the severe illness of his father, Pavel, as the elder in the family, was forced to become the apprentice to a metal craftsman. However, he continued to learn in the studio. In 1929, he entered the actor's department of theatrical school of TYuZ. In 1935 he graduated from Leningrad Theatrical Institute and until 1944 was an actor in Leningrad's New TYuZ.

He began to act in the cinema in 1935. His first role was Mikhas in the film Maturity. Kadochnikov was not pleased the way he seemed on screen in his early roles, and he decided to never act more in the cinema. He did not stand by this decision. In 1937 he accepted Sergei Yutkevich's invitation and appeared in a minor role in the film The man with the gun. In many plays he performed several roles; in one of them he performed at once eight roles. In 1940 he played the roles of worker Lenka Sukhov and writer Maxim Gorky) in the film Yakov Sverdlov directed by Sergei Yutkevich. In Ivan the Terrible of Sergei Eisenstein he not only conducted the tragic line of the pretender Vladimir of Staritsa, but also played two small roles (of Chaldean and Yevstafy).

His actor's range can be seen in his lyric roles (Anton Ivanovich is angry, The tamer of tigers) and in the role of Major Fedotov in the Secret Agent by Boris Barnet. The role of Major Fedotov was a "cult" character of Soviet cinema which mixed the pathetic aspectly, manly charm and irony. For the roles he took in the patriotic movies he won the Stalin Prize (in 1948 for the Secret Agent, in 1949 for the role of Alexei Maresiev in the Story of a Real Man, in 1951 - for the role of Kovshov in the film Far from Moscow). Time and again actor appeared in the role of Maxim Gorky. From 1960s onwards, he began to move away from patriotic roles.

In 1965 Kadochnikov directed his first film, the movie The musicians of one regiment (together with Gannady Kazansky). This film is about the Civil War. It showed his interest in folklore heroes. In 1968 he filmed the fairy tale of Aleksandr Ostrovsky, entitled Snow Maiden (he also played the role of Berendey). In 1970-1980s, he did roles from the classical repertoire: Triletsky in the Unfinished play for the mechanical piano, Prince Kuchumov in Easy money, and the picturesque figures of "Russian old men" (eternal grandfather in Siberiade and uncle Roman in Here they did not fly in seagull). In Lenin in Paris he plays Paul Lafargue. In later years he played in the character roles (Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Last visit); staged films I will never forget you (about the fate of Soviet soldier and his wife, separated by war) and Silver strings (about the Russian virtuoso balalaika-player Vasily Andreev).