Today is the birthday of the Azerbaijani actor who played the legendary Mikhaylo.

Today is the birthday of the prominent dramatic actor of theater and cinema, People's Artist of Azerbaijan and Russia, Nodar Shashigoglu.

BAKU.WS reminds that the actor was born on March 13, 1927, in the city of Batumi (Georgia).

Although his mother was a housewife and his father was an officer, he was closely connected with theatrical art from childhood. The thing is that his uncle Ulvi Rajab (his father's brother, repressed in 1937) was one of the founders of the Azerbaijan Drama Theater, and his aunt Nino Tsaguria (his mother's sister) was a singer at the opera theater in Tbilisi.

In 1950, Nodar Shashigoglu graduated from the Shchukin Higher Theater School in Moscow. He was invited to the Vakhtangov Academic Theater, where he worked for a year, and then moved to the Taganka (Moscow Theater of Drama and Comedy).

In 1953, he made his film debut in Sergei Yutkevich's film "The Great Warrior of Albania Skanderbeg," where he played the founder of the Turkish Empire, Mehmed the Conqueror. He then starred in the lead role in the film "Andriesh" and was invited to work at the Odessa Film Studio.

The year 1958 brought the actor nationwide fame. The image he created of the legendary partisan Mikhailo in Tofig Tagizade's film "On Distant Shores," based on the novel of the same name by Hasan Seyidbeyli and Imran Kasumov, entered the history of cinema art.

In 1964, the actor returned to the theater stage and began performing at the Leningrad Pushkin Drama Theater (formerly the Alexandrinsky). He became a leading actor of the "Alexandrinka," playing Don Juan in "The Little Tragedies," Cyrano in "Cyrano de Bergerac," Creon in "Antigo-Sun," Bagration in "Field Marshal Kutuzov," and Gilbert in "Mary Tudor."

From 1970 to 1983, he appeared in the films "Angle of Incidence," "Say That You Love Me," "Bay of Joy," and "Sworn Record."

He worked in Russian theaters for more than 30 years, and from 2003, Nodar Shashigoglu became a leading actor at the Azerbaijan Russian Drama Theater named after Samad Vurgun.

When the actor returned to Baku, he had a dream of playing King Lear. And it came true in May 2005 in the play of the same name directed by Alexander Sharovsky based on William Shakespeare.

On July 21, 1962, he was awarded the honorary title of "Honored Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR," and on December 1, 1982 — "People's Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR." On March 12, 2007, he was awarded the "Shohrat" Order.

He passed away on April 12, 2013. He is buried at the Alley of Honorary Burial in Baku.