Mher Mkrtchyan

He studied in Leninakan Art College and Theatre Studio, then finished at the Acting Department of Yerevan Institute of Fine Arts and Theatre. Since 1953 he has performed in the Sundukyan Drama Theatre of Yerevan. He also directed many successful productions, best of them Maxim Gorky's "The Lower Depths". His cinema career began in 1955. His famous roles in _Oh How It Hurts 66 (1967)_ (qv), _Entführung im Kaukasus (1967)_ (qv), _Mimino (1977)_ (qv) earned him the reputation of one of the leading comedy actors in the Soviet Union. But that reputation sometimes overshadowed his real talent and emotional deepness which he put in such classics of Armenian cinema as _Yerankyuni (1967)_ (qv),_Menq enq, mer sarere (1970)_, _Hayrik (1973)_ (qv), _Life Triumphs (1977)_ (qv), _The Song of the Old Days (1982)_ (qv), _Mer mankutyan tangon (1985)_ (qv). Certainly he was the most famous and internationally recognized Armenian artist of the 2nd half of 20th century.::Artak A.