Viktor Rukhmanov, Honored Artist of the RSFSR. Biography

Viktor Rukhmanov — the early years

Viktor Rukhmanov was born in 1930 in Kharkov. His parents were freelance workers in the Red Army (the so-called civilian specialists who were involved in various jobs), so the boy's grandparents were involved in the upbringing.

In 1938, the future actor fell ill with diphtheria. Doctors did not hope that he would survive, but almost two months later the disease receded.

"When I recovered on day 56 thanks to my mom, she was told: "You know, Mom, you've never had a child, and he was born so big right away," Rukhmanov recalled in an interview published on the Telegram channel of the Moscow Academic Satire Theater.

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After the outbreak of World War II, Rukhmanov's parents went to the front, and in October 1941, the occupation of Kharkov began. The boy and his grandmother managed to hide in one of the villages. When the city was liberated, 13-year-old Rukhmanov joined unit No. 5159 of the railway troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front and became the regiment's son. He participated in operations to liberate Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Poland, and on June 24, 1945, he marched through Red Square during the first Victory Day Parade.

During his years of service, Rukhmanov was awarded the medals "For Bravery" and "For Victory over Germany", as well as the Orders of the Patriotic War I and II degrees.

Viktor Rukhmanov — career in theater and cinema

After the war, Rukhmanov returned to Kharkov and got a job on a collective farm picking weevils from sugar beets. At that time, his aunt was playing in a ballet operetta at the Kharkov Musical Comedy Theater. The future artist often went to her performances, and since he could sing, he was also offered small roles, and then accepted into the troupe.

Leonid Semiletov, a senior colleague, drew attention to the talent of the young actor. It was he who advised Rukhmanov to enroll in a theater school. After that, Victor went to Moscow and became a student at the Moscow Art Theater Studio school. Oleg Tabakov, Evgeny Urbansky, Valentin Gaft and other famous actors studied with him in the same course.

After graduating in 1957, Rukhmanov was invited to the Satire Theater. The actor served there for 69 years. He performed more than two dozen roles, including Shpekin in "The Inspector General", Prostakov in "Nedorosli", Alonzo in "Don Juan", Zinziver in "The Magic Rings of Almanzor", etc. His recent works include a teacher in The Taming of the Shrew, a charlatan in The Cabal of Saints, a grandfather in The Evening Departure of the Society of the Blind, and an elder in Lysistrata.

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In addition, Rukhmanov acted as a second director in productions of such plays as Maxim Gorky's The Last and John Howard Lawson's Miracles in the Living Room.

Rukhmanov also appeared on movie screens. He played in the films-performances "Maryuta is looking for a groom" (1964), "The Tavern "13 Chairs" (1966-1980), "Little comedies of the Big House" (1973) and others. He also starred in the issues of the satirical film magazine "Wick", as well as in the TV series "Medical Mystery" and "Citizen Chief-3". In total, there are more than 15 works in his filmography.

In 1986, Rukhmanov was awarded the title of "Honored Artist of the RSFSR." In 1993, he was awarded the Chekhov Prize for his role in the play "The Youth of Louis XIV."

On January 14, 2026, the press service of the Satire Theater announced Rukhmanov's death. The actor was 95 years old.