Boris Grigoryevich Plotnikov (2 April 1949 – 2 December 2020) was a Soviet and Russian film actor. His film debut was as Sotnikov in The Ascent, the acclaimed final film of Ukrainian director Larisa Shepitko. Plotnikov appeared in more than seventy feature films and television series.

Biography

Early life

Boris Plotnikov was born on 2 April 1949, in the city of Nevyansk, Sverdlovsk Oblast. His father worked as a mechanic and his mother as an engineer-technologist. A few years later, the Plotnikov family moved to Novouralsk. He graduated from school No. 57 in Novouralsk. He graduated from the Sverdlovsk Theater School (1970, the course of Yuri Zhigulsky) and the Philological Faculty of the Ural State University (1983).

Career

From 1970 to 1978, Plotnikov served in the Sverdlovsk Youth Theater. He made his debut in 1976 in Larisa Shepitko's internationally renowned film The Ascent, which brought him all-union fame. He played the role of Dr. Bormental in the film Heart of a Dog by Vladimir Bortko. In 1992, Plotnikov portrayed the prisoner Danilov in the mystery play of composer Alexey Rybnikov Liturgy of Catechumens. He appeared in the drama television series Empire Under Attack (2000), where he portrayed Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. In the musical melodrama Cricket Behind the Fire, Plotnikov received the leading role of the Cricket, the keeper of the home. He appeared in the role of Dr. Dmitri Ivanovich in the action movie Shadowboxing (2005) and in the crime drama Experts (2007), where he played a forensic medical worker. In 2006, director Natalya Bondarchuk invited Plotnikov to play the Chief of the Gendarmes of the Secret Chancellery, Leonti Dubelt, in the drama ''Pushkin. The Last Duel''. Boris Plotnikov also participated in the military themed series Everyone has his Own War (2011), Snipers: Love under Sight (2012), Fighters, The Last Battle (2015).

Death

He died from COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia.

Filmography