Today is the birthday of the People's Artist of Azerbaijan Melik Dadashov

Today is the birthday of the People's Artist of Azerbaijan, theater and film actor Melik Dadashov.

M.Dadashov was born on June 7, 1924 in Baku.

By his first education, he was a medical professional. However, the future actor had to leave his studies and go to the Great Patriotic War. Due to a concussion received in 1943, he returned from the front and underwent lengthy treatment. Afterward, Melik worked as a musician in military units. In 1945, M.Dadashov was accepted as an actor at the Azerbaijan State Youth Theater. Then in 1950, he graduated from the Mirzaagha Aliyev Theater Institute (now Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts - ed.). After graduating, he began working at the Azerbaijan State Academic National Drama Theater.

The beginning of his career coincided with a period of rapid development of national theatrical art. At that time, Alesker Alekberov, Adil Iskenderov, and other luminaries performed on the theater stage.

The People's Artist has merits in the formation of the Azerbaijani acting school. He appeared in approximately 35 feature films.

The actor's first role was in 1961 in the film "Leyli and Majnun" by Latif Safarov based on the screenplay by Anvar Mamedkhanly, and his most famous role was Gamlo in the film "Axırıncı aşırım" ("The Last Pass"). His portrayals of Molla Sadyg in "Dəli Kür" ("The Unruly Kura"), Sheikh Nasrulla in "O dünyadan salam" ("Greetings from the Other World"), Nariman Narimanov in "Birisi gün gecə yarısı" ("The Day After Tomorrow at Midnight") and Aramen Khachaturyants in "Fəryad" ("The Cry") are remembered by everyone. It should be noted that M.Dadashov played the role of the Armenian Armen Khachaturyants in 1993 - three years before his death. His family was against him taking this role, but the actor was determined to show the essence of Armenians.

After the film was released, an interesting incident happened to the actor on the street. An elderly woman stopped the People's Artist and began shouting insults at him. Then, with tears in her eyes, she said: "Why did you act in this film? I cannot contain myself when watching it. If you happen to be with me at that moment, I would probably kill you." Then, addressing those around her, she added: "Hey, people, he is Armenian." Because of this, a law enforcement officer demanded documents from the actor. He was only released after M.Dadashov said that he had merely played the role of an Armenian.

The actor's roles in theater are also notable. He performed in William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," Leo Tolstoy's "The Living Corpse," Samed Vurgun's "Farhad and Shirin," Shikhali Gurbanov's "Without You," etc. In the last years of his life, he worked at the S.Vurgun Azerbaijan State Russian Drama Theater.

During his time as director of this theater, the repertoire was significantly enriched, and new talents emerged.

In 1974, M.Dadashov was awarded the title of People's Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR.

From the 1980s, he taught acting at the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts.

M.Dadashov died in 1996 at the age of 72.