Vladimir Basov

Vladimir Pavlovich Basov (; 28 July 192317 September 1987) was a Soviet Russian actor, film director and screenwriter. People's Artist of the USSR (1983). Biography Vladimir Basov was born in the Urazovo village, Voronezh Governorate (now Belgorod Oblast) to Pavel Basov (Basultainen) and Aleksandra Basova. His father was a Tartu alumnus of Finnish ethnicity who joined Bolsheviks during the revolution. "Basov" was his party alias later adopted as a family name. He served as an officer and political commissar up until his death in 1931. Vladimir's mother Aleksandra Ivanovna was a daughter of a Russian Orthodox priest from Pokrovsk. She met Pavel during the Civil War; he was a runaway and asked for shelter. During the 1920s she taught peasant children Russian language and literature. According to Vladimir Basov Jr., his father had Russian, Finnish and Georgian roots. In 1941 Vladimir Basov joined the Great Patriotic War. He served in the Red Army as an artillery officer, mortar battery commander, then, as a staff officer in the 28th Special Artillery Division in the rank of Kapitan. He was awarded the Medal "For Battle Merit" in 1943 and the Order of the Red Star in 1945 for displaying outstanding heroism during the capture of a Nazi military base. He was wounded in action, but continued serving until the war ended. In 1947 Basov entered VGIK. He studied direction under Sergei Yutkevich and Mikhail Romm and graduated in 1952 to work on the Mosfilm studio. As a director Basov made 18 films, and one teleplay. Among his most acclaimed pictures is the TV adaption of Mikhail Bulgakov's play The Days of the Turbins and a big-screen spy thriller The Shield and the Sword (1968) which he also co-wrote. He is credited with writing screenplays to most of his movies.