Oleg Vidov

Oleg Vidov was a Russian-American actor and filmmaker who also directed and produced, with 50 film appearances beginning in 1961. Born in 1943 in Filimonki, he spent some early years in Russia, Mongolia and East Germany before the family settled in Moscow. His first screen role, a minor one, came in 1960 in My Friend, Kolka! He entered actor's courses at VGIK in 1962 under Yakov Segel and Yuri Pobedonostsev, and as a student he had leading parts in The Blizzard and An Ordinary Miracle, both from 1964. After graduating in 1966 he kept up an active film career. Foreign directors cast him in Hagbard and Signe, Battle of Neretva (1969) and Waterloo (1970). In 1978 he finished director's courses at VGIK and made the short film Crossing. In the United States he helped secure international distribution rights to the Soyuzmultfilm animation library in 1992 and worked to popularize Soviet animation around the world.