Vladimir Gardin
(1877-1965)
Vladimir Gardin was a Russian Soviet author and director.
He was born on 18 January 1877 in Moscow (according to other sources, in Tver).
In 1894, he completed a Cadet Corps training course and graduated from Riga Polytechnic Institute.
Starting 1898, he was an actor of an amateur acting company at a provincial theatre. In 1904, the young performer was invited to Komissarzhevskaya Drama Theatre where he worked during the first period of the company performance.
In 1909-1912, he was an actor and director of theatres in Voronezh, Tsarytsyn, and Saratov. Starting 1912, he was one of the main actors and directors of the Soviet pre-revolutionary cinema. Until 1917, he made 33 films. In 1919, he was one of the organisers, and later the first director of State Film School in Moscow (now VGIK).
In 1922-1923, when on vacation in the Crimea, he was invited to work for VUFKU, where he made six feature and two propaganda films.
Starting 1924, he was a director and actor of Leningrad film studios: Derzhkino, Bilderzhkino, Lenfilm.
He died on 29 May 1965 in Leningrad. He is buried at Bogoslovskoe Cemetery in Saint-Petersburg.
