Vladimir Alekseyevich Konkin (Russian: Владимир Алексеевич Конкин, August 19, 1951, Saratov, USSR) is a Soviet/Russian cinema and theatre actor, best known for his roles in films How the Steel Was Tempered (1975, Pavel Korchagin) and The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed (1979, Vladimir Sharapov). Vladimir Konkin, a Meritorious Artist of Russia (2010), is also a published author of short stories and essays and a Russian TV presenter.

Biography

Vladimir Konkin was born in Saratov, into the family of a railroad engineer who worked on the Privolzhskaya Railway. As a schoolboy Vladimir studied at the theatre studio courses of Natalia Sukhostav; after graduation he enrolled into the Saratov Theatre college, joining the class of Dmitry Lyadov. After graduating from the college in 1972 Konkin joined the Kharkhov Theatre for Children (TUZ); a year later he found himself in the Mossovet Theatre in Moscow. In 1974 he joined the Kiev Dovzhenko Film Studios as an actor. His debut in the Nikolai Mashchenko film How the Steel Was Tempered (1975, after Nikolai Ostrovsky's autobiographical novel made him famous and earned him the Lenin Komsomol Prize.

In 1974–1978 he acted in several successful films, including Andrei Konchalovsky’s A Lover’s Romance, Boris Ivchenko’s Marina, Georgy Kalatozishvili’s The Caucasian Story. Konkin, who never served in the Army (due to a heart condition), ironically played mostly military men, his characters being invariably romantic, mild and intelligent. Stanislav Govorukhin The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed (1979) marked the peak of Vladimir Konkin's cinema career.

In 1979 Konkin joined the Moscow Ermolova Theatre (where he played young Vladimir Lenin in the Kazan University stage production) but continued to appear in films, notably Fathers and Sons (directed by Vyacheslav Nikiforov, as Arkady Kirsanov) and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Stanislav Govorukhin, Doctor Robinson). In the 1980s and 1990s he worked in several theatres, including Taganka Theatre (where in 1995 he played Zakhar Bardin in Maxim Gorky’s Enemies). His best known role in the 2000s was that of Colonel Kobylyansky in the history drama Romanovs - the Crown.


Family
Vladimir Konkin and his wife Alla Lvovna Konkina spent 39 years together, before in 2010 she died of cancer. They had twin sons, Yaroslav and Svyatoslav, and a daughter Sophia.