Mikhail Sergeyevich Boyarsky (born 26 December 1949) is a Russian actor and singer. He is best known for playing swashbucklers in historical adventure films; the role of d'Artagnan in the 1978 Soviet adaptation of Alexander Dumas' Three Musketeers elevated Boyarsky to the nationwide fame.

Biography

Mikhail Sergeyevich Boyarsky was born 26 December 1949 in Leningrad in the family of Sergey Aleksandrovich Boyarsky and Yekaterina Mikhailovna Melentyeva, both Komissarzhevskaya Theatre actors. He studied piano in a music school affiliated with the Conservatory. After school, Boyarsky entered Institute of Theatre Music and Cinema, finishing in 1972, and began working in the Lensovet Theatre for Igor Vladimirov. In the cinema, the actor made a debut in the films Bridges and The Straw Hat (1974), becoming well known in 1975 after his role in the picture Eldest Son. He found much greater popularity in the main role of Troubadour in the theatre musical The Troubadour and His Friends, with the princess played by Larisa Luppian, who soon became his wife. In 1976, he played the big bad wolf in the movie Ma-ma. His popularity really took off in 1978 after Boyarsky starred in the musical film D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers. After that, he was typecast as a swashbuckler for two decades; he reprised his role as d'Artagnan in three sequels and portrayed other "sword and hat" characters in adventure movies like The Dog in the Manger (1978), The Prisoner of Château d'If (1988), Gardes-Marines, Ahead! (1988), Don César de Bazan (1989), Viva Gardes-Marines! (1991), Queen Margot (1996) and Taras Bulba (2009), among others. Being a singer, he also often starred in musical films. Occasionally he played against type, like in Extra Ticket or The Waiting Room. In 2023 Boyarsky retired from acting, because of his age and health issues.

Political and social activity

In the 1996 presidential elections, Boyarsky campaigned for Boris Yeltsin, participating in the Vote or Lose program. Boyarsky supports the policies pursued by Presidents Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev. In particular, he attributes to Putin the opening of the country's borders in the early 1990s: "K. Larina: It was not Putin who opened the borders, sorry. M. Boyarsky: Then who did it? K. Larina: Borders? I believe our borders were open after 1990. M. Boyarsky: So consider that from that time on he already began to influence this... K. Larina: Vladimir Putin? M. Boyarsky: Vladimir Vladimirovich, yes. And now it has become possible to study in any country..." By his own admission, Boyarsky is a conservative, a supporter of the monarchy, and an opponent of communist views. "...I am completely for Putin, for his successor, for the country to develop as they intended. This is very important for me, I am simply shocked by the percentages that the communist Zyuganov has. It’s just a mystery to me how much you can step on a rake. That is why I could not afford not to go and vote for Medvedev. I am categorically against any communist proposals. Then there will be no Gazprom, no anything else, no skating rinks, no sports. There will be khrushchevkas, there will be bombed churches, it will be equal for everyone. Zyuganov will take most of it for himself, out of nomenklatura habit. Therefore, I am categorically against this. <…> This party should have been banned a long time ago." In 2001, Boyarsky signed a letter in defense of the NTV channel. In 2003, Boyarsky supported Valentina Matviyenko during the election campaign for governor of St. Petersburg. He has repeatedly supported the construction project of the Gazprom City skyscraper (since 2007, Okhta Center), starring in commercials for this project. In 2009, he issued an open letter to President Dmitry Medvedev for the construction of the Okhta Center. At the same time, many city residents actively opposed the project, and in December 2010, the decision to build it on the historical Okhtinsky Cape was canceled. On 6 February 2012, Boyarsky was officially registered as a trusted representative of the presidential candidate and then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Since April 2013, Boyarsky has been the leader of the Movement for the Rights of Smokers. In March 2014, Boyarsky supported the annexation of Crimea and signed a letter to President Putin in support of the annexation. In the 2016 Russian legislative election, Boyarsky became a trusted representative of the United Russia party. In January 2018, Boyarsky was registered as a trusted representative of Vladimir Putin for the 2018 Russian presidential election. In June 2018, Boyarsky spoke out in favor of raising the retirement age. In December 2018, in a conversation with the general director of TV Rain, Natalya Sindeyeva, Boyarsky spoke in favor of introducing censorship in the field of cinema and theaters and for the re-establishment of artistic councils. In February 2022, he supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In February 2023, Canada sanctioned Mikhail Boyarsky for being involved in Russian propaganda and spreading misinformation relating to the 2022 war in Ukraine.

Personal life

With Larisa Luppian, he has a son, Sergey Boyarsky (born in 1980), and a daughter, Elizaveta Boyarskaya (born 20 December 1985). As a native of Saint Petersburg, Boyarsky is a fan of local FC Zenit.

Popular songs

Honours and awards

Filmography