Bohdan Stupka
Bohdan Stupka: The Biography of the Great Actor
Date of Birth: 27.08.1941
Birthplace. Education. Bohdan Stupka was born in Kulykiv, Lviv Oblast, in a family of an artist of the Lviv Opera and Ballet Theater named after Ivan Franko and a housewife. In 1961, he graduated from the Kyiv Institute of Theater Arts named after Karpenko-Kary.
Career. From 1961 to 1978, he worked as an actor at the Lviv Ukrainian Drama Theater named after Maria Sankovetska.
From 1978, he was an actor at the Kyiv Ukrainian Drama Theater named after Ivan Franko.
From 1999 to 2001, he held the position of Minister of Culture and Arts of Ukraine in the government of Viktor Yushchenko.
From 2001, he was the artistic director of the National Academic Drama Theater named after Ivan Franko in Kyiv.
He played over 100 roles in theater and about 50 in cinema (including films like 'The White Bird Marked with Black', 'Nikolai Vavilov', 'The Way to Paradise', 'Fire and Sword', 'East-West', 'Driver for Vera', 'Self').
Views and Assessments. Bohdan Stupka once said that his dream was for Ukrainian culture to be known worldwide. His principles were decency and tolerance. The most pleasant aspect of his work was dealing with different people. He especially valued intelligence in people.
Awards. Bohdan Stupka was a People's Artist of Ukraine (1980) and a People's Artist of the USSR. He was a laureate of the National Taras Shevchenko Prize of Ukraine, the USSR Prize, and the International Konstantin Stanislavski Prize. He was also a winner of the All-Ukrainian program 'Regional Leaders' (2002).
Bohdan Stupka received the Russian 'Nika' award for his role in the film 'Driver for Vera' (2005). In 2007, he was awarded the prestigious Russian 'Triumph' Prize for outstanding achievements in the arts. He also received the Independent Critics Prize 'Crystal Turandot' (Moscow).
Bohdan Stupka was awarded the Order of 'For Merit'. He was a member of the Academy of Arts of Ukraine.
Family. His wife, Larysa Semenivna (1942), was a ballerina, an artist of the Kyiv Opera and Ballet Theater named after Taras Shevchenko. His son, Ostap Bohdanovych (1967), is an actor at the National Academic Drama Theater named after Ivan Franko, Honored Artist of Ukraine.
Hobbies. Bohdan Stupka was interested in painting, historical books, and tennis.
Death. He passed away on July 22, 2012, at the Feofania Capital Clinic after a severe long-term illness. 'In January, my father was diagnosed with bone cancer. He didn’t like to complain, so hardly anyone knew about it. The disease progressed rapidly during these months, and a few days ago he felt very bad,' said his son Ostap Stupka immediately after the death of the master. 'In Feofania, where the actor was treated for several months, he suffered a stroke on the night of July 21-22, followed by a coma. 'We could not pull him out of critical condition. Bohdan Stupka died of acute heart failure,' the doctors said.
23.07.2012